Conference of Birds

Farid Ud-Din Attar

ANNOTATION

Here is the great 12th-century mystical poem in an inexpensive unabridged translation.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Conference of the Birds is one of the great works of world literature. In this new reissue of C. S. Nott's classic prose translation, this epic poem explores the nature of the spiritual path through an allegory of the brave birds who go in search of their king through the valleys of exultation and despair that represent the stages of the seeker as he travels toward enlightenment. Interspersed throughout their journey are timeless tales of prophets and kings, saints and sinners, lovers and scoundrels.

Farid ud-Din Attar was the predecessor of the great Persian Sufi poet Jalalludin Rumi. They are reputed to have met when Rumi was a boy. Rumi obviously found much inspiration in Attar and uses the same technique of weaving wisdom within entertaining and amusing tales.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Attar, along with Chaucer and Dante, is a great genius of community and how that involves the path toward enlightenment. We are these bird-beings searching for the source of what we are together.
 — Coleman Barks

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Peter Avery (Translator), John Heath-Stubbs (Translator)

From the Publisher
An illustrated gift edition of the quatrains of Omar the tentmaker, which have more admirers today than ever before? Edward Fitzgerald's rendition stands as a monument to the translator's art.

Product Description:
First Published in 1859 The Title "RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM" is too well known for introduction. This Book is tastefully and colorfully illustrated and is recommended as a Coffee Table Book.

I Want Burning: The Ecstatic World of Rumi, Hafiz, and Lalla

A translator of Rumi, Hafiz, and Lalla brings their words to life in an electric performance at a small club. The room is filled with awe for these thirteen- and fourteenth-century poets as the breathy, in-your-face narrator, Coleman Barks, holds his audience's attention in a death grip for the entire 74 minutes. The accompanying exotic music is as rough and interesting as the author's blue-collar voice--music so erotic and intrusive that for most listeners it will be either a fascinating listening focus or a huge distraction. The editor's sparse introductions are marvelously unpretentious. He seems to respect the listener's openness to the poems, rather than trying too hard to orchestrate how they are comprehended.