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The Conference of the Birds

The Conference of the Birds

Overview

Conference Of The Birds is one of the great works of world literature. In this new reissue of C. S. Nott's classic prose translation, this epic poem explores the nature of the spiritual path through an allegory of the brave birds who go in search of their king through the valleys of exultation and despair that represent the stages of the seeker as he travels toward enlightenment. Interspersed throughout their journey are timeless tales of prophets and kings, saints and sinners, lovers and scoundrels.

Farid ud-Din Attar was the predecessor of the great Persian Sufi poet Jalalludin Rumi. They are reputed to have met when Rumi was a boy. Rumi obviously found much inspiration in Attar and uses the same technique of weaving wisdom within entertaining and amusing tales.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9798200846498
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication date: 09/28/2021
Product dimensions: 5.80(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Attar was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and Sufism.

Sholeh Wolpe is an Iranian-American poet and writer. The author of more than ten books of poems, translations, and anthologies, she is the recipient of a PEN/Heim grant, the Midwest Book Award, and the Lois Roth Persian Translation prize, among others. Wolpe lives in Los Angeles.

Sholeh Wolpe is an Iranian-American poet and writer. The author of more than ten books of poems, translations, and anthologies, she is the recipient of a PEN/Heim grant, the Midwest Book Award, and the Lois Roth Persian Translation prize, among others. Wolpe lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Introduction 11

Acknowledgments 25

The Birds of the World Gather 27

The Birds Confer and Make Excuses 39

The Birds Prepare for the Journey 81

The Birds Begin the Journey 107

The Birds Complain and Boast 119

The Birds Voice Their Fears 163

The Birds Ask About the Beloved 185

The Seven Valleys 249

The Journey of the Birds 321

Epilogue 345

Appendix: Correspondences Between This Translation and the Lines of the Persian Original 367

Bibliography 377

What People are Saying About This

Coleman Barks

Attar, along with Chaucer and Dante, is a great genius of community and how that involves the path toward enlightenment. We are these bird-beings searching for the source of what we are together.

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Poetry
Fiction
Religion
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Literary Styles & Movements - Fiction
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Fiction - Other
Inspirational & Religious Poetry
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Arabic & Middle Eastern Poetry
Islamic & Sufi Poetry
Religious Life - Islam
Sufism & Islamic Mysticism
Spirituality - General
Spiritual life->Sufism
Poetry
Fiction
Religion
Fiction Subjects
Literary Styles & Movements - Fiction
Islam
Spirituality
General & Miscellaneous Religion
Fiction - Other
Inspirational & Religious Poetry
Mysticism
Arabic & Middle Eastern Poetry

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