The Conference of the Birds

Farid ud-Din Attar's Conference of the Birds is a twelfth-century Persian Sufi poem of some 4,500 lines in which all the birds of the world gather under the hoopoe's leadership to seek the Simurgh, their mythical king-bird. They cross seven valleys — Quest, Love, Knowledge, Detachment, Unity, Bewilderment, and Annihilation — each representing a stage on the Sufi path of progressive self-effacement in the divine. Of the thousand birds that set out, only thirty reach the Simurgh's court, where they discover that si morgh (thirty birds in Persian) and Simorgh are the same: the seeker and the sought are one.

The standard English scholarly translation is by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis (Penguin Classics, 1984), who rendered Attar's rhymed Persian couplets into English heroic couplets. Earlier verse renderings include Edward FitzGerald's partial prose translation (1889); Sholeh Wolpé's contemporary free-verse version (W. W. Norton, 2017) is widely used in teaching. Peter Brook's 1979 stage adaptation introduced the work to wider Western audiences. The poem ranks alongside the Masnavi of Rumi and the Gulistan of Saadi as a canonical work of classical Persian literature, and Rumi credited Attar as one of his great teachers.

I am a mirror set before your eyes, And all who come before my splendour see Themselves, their own unique reality.

The Simorgh speaks to the thirty birds (final section)

First lines

Dear hoopoe, welcome! You will be our guide; It was on you King Solomon relied To carry secret messages between His court and distant Sheba's lovely queen. He knew your language and you knew his heart — As his close confidant you learnt the art Of holding demons captive underground, And for these valiant exploits you were crowned.

Contents

Reception

A canonical work of classical Persian literature alongside Rumi's Masnavi and Saadi's Gulistan, in continuous study in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish literature programs. Major English translations by Edward FitzGerald (partial, 19th century), Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis (Penguin, 1984), and Sholeh Wolpe (Norton, 2017) differ substantially in idiom and length; the Davis-Darbandi remains the standard scholarly verse rendering. Peter Brook's 1979 stage adaptation introduced the work to a wider English-speaking audience.

Frequently asked

What is The Conference of the Birds about?

It is a twelfth-century Persian poem by the Sufi poet Attar in which all the world's birds, led by the hoopoe, journey through seven allegorical valleys to find the Simurgh — their mythical king-bird. Of the thousand that set out, thirty complete the journey, only to discover that "si morgh" (thirty birds) and Simorgh are the same word: the seeker and the sought are one.

Which English translation of The Conference of the Birds is the standard one?

The standard scholarly verse translation is by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis (Penguin Classics, 1984, ISBN 9780140444346), which renders Attar's Persian rhymed couplets into English heroic couplets. Sholeh Wolpé's 2017 W. W. Norton translation offers a more contemporary free-verse rendering used widely in university courses.

What are the seven valleys in The Conference of the Birds?

The seven valleys are the structural framework of the poem, representing stages of the Sufi path: Quest, Love, Knowledge, Detachment, Unity, Bewilderment, and Poverty and Annihilation. Each valley strips the traveller of attachments and self-regard until the individual self dissolves into the divine — the state Sufis call fana.