Conference of the Birds by Farid Al-Din Attar
The "Conference of the Birds" is a 12th-century Sufi allegory that has been described as the Islamic "Canterbury Tales". Written by an Iranian Sufi, Farid ud-Din Attar, who was a major influence on the work of Rumi, it is the story of the birds' quest for an ideal king, and an allegory for the Sufi (or mystical Islamic) path to enlightenment. Though hugely popular and influential in the Islamic world, it is still relatively unfamiliar in the West. In this edition, the poet Raficq Abdulla has reinterpreted key extracts to make the insight of Sufism accessible to a contemporary reader. Each page is decorated with illustrations taken from Persian manuscripts in the Oriental collection at the British Library. The poem uses the birds' journey to describe the stages of Sufi enlightenment, and each bird represents a human archetype. At the end of the tale, the birds discover tht what they are seeking is none other than themselves: in Sufism, enlightenment is unity with the Divine, and the way to God is inward, through one's own soul.
RAFICQ ABDULLA was awarded an MBE in 1999 for his ecumenical work among Muslims, Jews and Christians. He has written and presented numerous radio programmes about Islam for the BBC, including a series of talks on the Prophet Muhammad and the Four Caliphs, and programmes on Jalaluddin Rumi. He has written award-winning screenplays for Channel 4, poetry and articles for a range of journals, and he is a frequent book reviewer. He is the author of Words of Paradise, a collection of new interpretations of selected poems by Rumi (Frances Lincoln, 2000) and has gained popularity as an accomplished public speaker and performer of his poetry. He lives in W12.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780711217584 |
| ISBN 10 | 0711217580 |
| Title | Conference of the Birds |
| Author | Farid Al-Din Attar |
| Series | Sacred Wisdom S |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Quarto Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2002-10-17 |
| Number of pages | 96 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |