The Conference of the Birds: The Selected Sufi Poetry of Farid Ud-Din Attar

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece. Required reading for every human being
Review: Even though I am a decendant of Farid Ud Din Attar, I can say without bias that this book is excellent. A must read, filled with many lessons and hidden analects.

Rating:
Summary: Is it enough to say I cried?
Review: 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!!!

Rating:
Summary: A good story about discovering oneself
Review: 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.