The Conference of the Birds

Hosted by Chris Piuma and Suzanne Conklin Akbari

There are so many roads, and each is fit
For that one pilgrim who must follow it.
How could a spider or a tiny ant
Tread the same path as some huge elephant?
Each pilgrim’s progress is commensurate
With his specific qualities and state
(No matter how it strives, what gnat could fly
As swiftly as the winds that scour the sky?)
Our pathways differ—no bird ever knows
The secret route by which another goes.
Our insight comes to us by different signs;
One prays in mosques and one in idols’ shrines—
But when Truth’s sunlight clears the upper air,
Each pilgrim sees that he is welcomed there.

The Conference of the Birds, by the medieval Persian poet Farid ud-Din Attar, tells the story of a group of birds seeking a king—or perhaps seeking spiritual enlightenment. They elect a wise hoopoe to guide them to the fabulous Simorgh. The hoopoe’s description of the difficult journey ahead weaves in many parables, tales about Sufi mystics, figures from the Quran, and historical people like Aristotle and Socrates. Suzanne and Chris discuss how this book has been read—as spiritual guide, or as a collection of well told stories—and about the possibilities opened up by the poem.