poetry

I shed tears of sorrow when I read the story of the grand Shaikh, a master of the outward and inward Islamic sciences who, tortured by the pangs of love's uncontrolable fire, recounces his faith. What follows is so beautifull that it can only be captured by reading the book!!!

An enjoyable read. Having no knowledge of the language in which the original was written, it's impossible to tell how true to the original the translation is, but I found this English verse rendition flowed very well.

The story is essentially an exemplary tale of how to lead a good, ascetic life (the denial of "the Self") and how few can actually achieve that. It is replete with illustrative yarns, as the hoopoe (the leader of the birds), counters the other birds' foibles, and their excuses not to make the journey. Therefore the theme is a familiar one - how to strive for and achieve spiritual fulfilment by use of the allegory of a difficult journey. Yet it is written with such clarity, wit and insight, it's nonetheless a refreshing read.

This book is about birds who set out on a voyage to find G'd (Simorgh). Using a number of parables and metaphors, the author uses the voyage as a process of self discovery. In the voyage, many birds fall by the wayside, while their leader questions them why they are giving up; these questions are the same questions, in theory, everyone should be asking themselves.

The translation is very good, though sometimes I questioned the fidelity of it, since it was rhymed in Persian and the author made it rhyme in English as well.

As a comparison, Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist has some similar lessons (such as seeking oneself), but Farid's work is much more subtle and interesting from the point of view of allegories and symbolism. Of course, in the end there is a surprise in both, but I will leave it to the reader to find out.