Muslim Journeys: Selections from “The Conference of the Birds” by Farid ud-Din Attar An Epic Masterpiece of Persian Literature Poetry and Music performed by Wordstage

Composed in the twelfth century in north-eastern Iran, Farid ud-Din Attar’s great mystical poem, The Conference of the Birds is among the most significant of all works of Persian literature. It is a marvelous,allegorical rendering of the Islamic doctrine of Sufism—an esoteric system concerned with the search for truth through God. In the poem, the birds of the world, each representing a human fault which prevents man from attaining enlightenment, gather to decide who is to be their king, as they have none. Over the course of the poem, the hoopoe, wisest of all birds, leads the group of thirty to the dwelling place of the legendary Simorgh, a mythical Persian bird roughly equivalent to the Western phoenix, but all they find there is a lake in which they see their own reflection. By turns witty and profound, The Conference of the Birds transforms deep belief into magnificent poetry. WordStage’s performance of this mystical work will use selections from the poem as the text, accompanied by an original score derived from Middle Eastern musical traditions.