*Time*	Stanza	Start of stanza
0:24	1	Once on a time from all the Circles seven
2:08	2	And first with Heart so full as from his Eyes
2:28	3	O Birds, by what Authority divine
5:37	4	One Night from out the swarming City Gate
6:27	5	Thus spoke the Tajidar: and the wingd Crowd
7:28	6	The Pheasant first would know
8:50	7	One day Shah Mahmud riding with the Wind
11:04	8	Then came The Nightingale from such a Draught
12:42	9	So with Division infinite and Trill
12:54	10	O watering with thy melodious tears
13:40	11	Like that fond Dervish waiting in the throng
14:24	12	Then came the subtle Parrot in a coat
15:30	13	To whom the Tajidar—'O thou whose Best
16:04	14	For what said he that dying hermit
16:31	15	Then like a Sultan glittering in all Rays
17:31	16	Were it, 'twas answer'd, 'only to return
18:15	17	For so Creation's Master-Jewel fell
18:43	18	Then from a Ruin where conceal'd he lay
19:34	19	He that a Miser lives and Miser dies
20:19	20	Aye said The Partridge, with his Foot and Bill
20:58	21	To whom the Tajidar—As idly sold
21:24	22	Never was Jewel after or before
22:17	23	Then The Shah-Falcon tossing up his Head
22:56	24	O blind indeed—the Answer was 'and dark
23:24	25	A certain Shah there was in days foregone
24:21	26	Then on a sudden swoop'd The Phoenix down
24:42	27	A certain Sultan dying his Vizier
25:39	28	Then from a Pond where all day long he kept
26:10	29	To whom more angrily than all
26:34	30	A Shah returning to his Captal
28:06	31	Then from a Wood was heard unseen to coo
28:27	32	Till checkt—'O You who with your idle Sighs
28:54	33	When Yusuf from his Father's Home was torn
29:58	34	And after these came others—arguing
31:14	35	To whom the Tajidar whose Voice for those
34:45	36	He ceased and for awhile Amazement quell'd
35:16	37	Some said their Hearts were good indeed to go
35:52	38	Shah Mahmud absent on an Enterprise
36:57	39	And then with drooping Crest and Feather
37:35	40	For did not God his Prophet take to Task?
37:57	41	For like a Child sent with a fluttering Light
38:16	42	When the rebellious Host from Death shall wake
38:41	43	Another Story told how in the Scale
39:52	44	And then came others whom the summons found
40:31	45	There was a Queen of Egypt like the Bride
41:17	46	And then came one who having clear'd his Throat
41:48	47	But he was sternly checkt. 'I tell thee this:
42:14	48	The third night after Bajazyd had died
43:01	49	But, said Another 'then shall none the Seal
43:12	50	But the Chief replied—
43:32	51	Just as another Holy Spirit fled
44:03	52	Others were sure that all he said was true:
44:34	53	And then, the same or like Excuse
45:01	54	As of an aged Indian King they tell
46:31	55	Then after cheering others who delay'd
49:02	56	For lo, to what worse than oblivion gone
49:25	57	And as the World upon her victims feeds
50:12	58	Behold, dropt through the Gate of Mortal Birth
51:12	59	And woe to him who feeds the hateful Beast
51:46	60	For should the Greyhound whom a Sultan fed
52:06	61	Nay would one follow and without a Chain
53:17	62	One day the Prophet on a River Bank
54:22	63	And after Death?
54:30	64	For ev'n as Yusuf (when his Brotherhood
55:21	65	So Sultan Mahmud coming Face to Face
56:24	66	So spake the Tajidar: but Fear and Doubt
57:08	67	Let him that with this Monarch would engage
57:53	68	One night Shah Mahmud who had been of late
59:40	69	So said the cheery Tale: and, as they heard,
1:00:21	70	The Road! The Road!' in countless voices cried
1:01:51	71	—A Road indeed that never Wing before
1:05:11	72	Till loom in sight Kaf's Mountain Peak
1:06:42	73	Such is when reacht the Table Land of One
1:10:17	74	The Moths had long been exiled from the Flame
1:11:15	75	After declaring what of this declared
1:13:35	76	Till of the mighty Host that fledged the Dome
1:15:05	77	Then cried the Spokesman 'Be it even so:
1:18:42	78	This was the Parliament of Birds

Artwork
Cover: Page from a manuscript of Mantiq al-Tayr (Conference of the Birds), by Attar of Nishapur (Farid al-Din Attar), Isfahan, Iran, c. 1610
Inset: The Concourse of the Birds, Folio 11r from a Mantiq al-tair (Language of the Birds), c. 1600, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Inset: Photo of statue of Attar of Nishapur, Feb 25, 2012, from Wikimedia Commons
Insert: Background art: “The Concourse of the Birds”, Folio 11r from a Mantiq al-tair (Language of the Birds) c.1600 Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Conference of the Birds,also known as Bird Parliament or Speech of the Birds, is a masterpiece of Persian literature by poet Farid ud-Din Attar, popularly known as Attar of Nishapur. The premise of the poem is a gathering of the various birds of the world called to select a sovereign leader, which they lack. The wisest of the birds, the hoopoe, suggests that they journey to find the legendary Simorgh, a benevolent female winged creature large enough to carry off an elephant and so old that it possesses the wisdom of the ages. In doing so, they must cross seven dangerous valleys to reach the distant China in which the Simurgh dwells. Each of the bird species at the gathering represents a human fault which stands in the way of enlightenment, and each speaks to try to decline the daunting challenge. In spite of their apprehensions they are persuaded to make the eventful journey. Many perish along the way of thirst, heat, illness, predators, panic, violence, and so on.Thirty survive to reach a lake in which they see their own reflection and realize that they collectively are the Simorgh. This reading is of the translation by Edward FitzGerald, noted for his translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

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Item Info
EAN - DVD case	0701236969627
EAN - CD jacket	0687700169765
Media	MP3 CD
Package	DVD Case
Author	Farid ud-Din Attar (c. 1145 - c. 1221) a.k.a. Attar of Nishapur
Translator	Edward FitzGerald
Recording
Read by	Josh Mitteldorf
Length	1 hour and 19 minutes
Type of Reading	Solo