“Conference of the Birds” written by Farid ud-Din Attar, is a frame narrative poem that focuses on the preference of an individual between spiritual or substantial morals.
This poem narrates the journey of thirty birds that go on a search for their almighty king, the Simurgh. The birds go through seven valleys in where they learn a different moral. Through the journey most of the birds give up because they are not willing to give up to certain things in order to receive spiritual purity and tranquility. This is very similar to how men undergoes different trials in life to find or follow spiritual purity and internal happiness and peace. Sometimes man may give up on this path because man are not willing to give up the material things that make man “happy.”
In addition, Farid ud-Din Attar strongly implements Islamic traditions throughout the poem. “Conference of the Birds” is a very visual poem, its format and images are based in Attar’s Sufism by describing the different types of journeys, the quest for oneness with God, and the meaning of life.
Exploring world literature 