The Conference of the Birds (Penguin Classics)

Farid ud-Din Attar, also known as Attar of Nishapur, a Persian poet, was born in Nishapur, Iran in 1145. In his early career as a pharmacist, he helped many people in his home town. Later he abandoned his pharmacy and traveling to different countries became his intense interest. After meeting some Sufi leaders in India, he started promoting Sufi ideas as he returned to Nishapur. Attar's master piece, "The Conference of the Birds", is a poetic moral story of a flock of birds in the journey of seeking truth, the God. With aimless life style, birds around the world gather in a garden try to find out if there is a meaning in life and if there is a God. An intelligent bird, called hoopoe, led these birds and started their long journey of searching for truth, the meaning of existence. By using riddles and answers, hoopoe advised and encouraged all birds to be brave, grateful and to be truthful. Life is not an easy game and we all live to be reborn and we are born to learn how to live a fulfilling life.Translated by Afkham Darbandi(Davis's wife) and Dr. Dick Davis, this exceptional book catches man's heart for almost one thousand years. If you like Rumi and Hafez, you will enjoy this book much more profoundly. As a poem, it is exquisite and spectacular; as an epic allegory of seeking God, it is majestic and noble; as a spiritual guidance, this book leads you to your intellectual self. I read this book many years ago and at that time I was mainly focusing on the spiritual part of the book. After becoming a serious birder, revisit of this book brought me to a higher level of realization. I consider myself a fast reader. However, this is not a book you will want to read without a thought or many thoughts. You need to read this book like tasting a good wine and, you will swallow its essence only when you understand life should be embraced with love not hate, with peace not war.Happy birding and happy reading!WingsSpirit.com

i was hesitant to read a translation in rhymed verse, but was quite surprised by how well this work was done. The verses are a wonderful presentation of this mystical work by Attar.

Ask a well-educated Iranian for advice on reading the Persian classics and high on his/her list will likely be "The Conference of the Birds," a medieval poetic allegory written by Farid ud-Din Attar. Attar began his professional life as a well-educated pharmacist, and, after some years of listening to the cares and concerns of his patients, devoted himself instead to travel and the study of philosophy. These travels, which extended throughout the Middle East, Turkistan, and India, left him most profoundly impressed by the Sufi approach to Islam and culminated in the writing of "The Conference of the Birds." This lengthy verse poem tells of the search of the world's birds for a magical leader, symbolizing the quest of the human soul for unity with the Supreme Being.Precisely who among the Sufi philosophers and authors of his age most influenced Attar is not well documented, but there is no doubt of the the impact he in turn would have on the work of Rumi and Hafez, the Sufi poets today best known in the West. To further round out your appreciation of the impact that Attar's classic has had over the centuries, treat yourself to the recently published "The Canticle of the Birds: Illustrated Through Persian and Eastern Islamic Art." In this expensive but exquisitely illustrated volume, Dr. Michael Barry of Princeton University has brought to bear his deep knowledge of Persian, Central Asian, and Indian art and thought.

I can't compare this poem to the original Farsi as I don't read that language, but this translation is amazingly readable. The reader gets enough notes and extra information to understand a bit of the context, but it never interferes with immersing oneself in this allegory of the journey toward union with the divine beloved. The individual birds on this journey come to life for the reader and the 13th century narrative literally takes off!

I lost this book while moving, and had somewhat forgotten about it, when I saw a Youtube from Let's talk religion, and ordered it again. Only minus is the small print. the translation of this version is much better than the one I remember, because it is poetical. The old one was just plain text.

I read this book in Sindhi translation some twenty years ago and even in my teen age I could feel great peace in the journey of soul and I say it certainly is a great book who wish to know the theme of Sufism. The author, Farid u din 'Attar', is a great Sufi and Iranian philosopher of all times who has written over a hundred books and many of these relate to Sufism. Attar gifted one of his books 'Elahinameh' to Rumi when Rumi's family was migrating from Blukh to Benzantine (present Turkey) to escape Mongol invasion.The book is authentic simplified source to understand central idea of Sufism and stages in the journey of soul. The book came without any defects in a water proof envelope 5 Stars definitely.

At first I was excited, because, wow, it even rhymes, even though it is a translated work. But then, it seemed like something was wrong. In order to rhyme, much coherence was lost. The only reason I could figure out what was going on, was because I already knew the story. Many of the terms seemed outdated. It appears to be an abridged translation. And, why isn't the main bird character a hoopoe, like in other versions. The newer translation by Sholeh Wolpe is better. It doesn't rhyme, but it is much easier to understand what Attar is saying.