Bird Parliament E-Book

Edward FitzGerald

• Herausgeber: Alicia Editions
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

A philosophical poem in prose - An allegory of the Sufi journey to realization of the nature of God.
Farid ud-Din Attar was one of the most important Persian Sufi poets of the second half of the 12th century. In the poem, the birds of the world gather to decide who is to be their sovereign, as they have none. Each bird represents a human fault which prevents human kind from attaining enlightenment. Bird Parliament is a deeply meaningful and spiritual work.

Leseprobe

Bird Parliament

Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr

Farid ud-Din Attar

Translated byEdward FitzGerald

Alicia Editions

Contents

Bird Parliament

Once on a time from all the Circles seven

Between the stedfast Earth and rolling Heaven

THE BIRDS, of all Note, Plumage, and Degree,

That float in Air, and roost upon the Tree;

And they that from the Waters snatch their Meat,

And they that scour the Desert with long Feet;

Birds of all Natures, known or not to Man,

Flock'd from all Quarters into full Divan,

On no less solemn business than to find

Or choose, a Sultan Khalif of their kind,

For whom, if never theirs, or lost, they pined.

The Snake had his, 'twas said; and so the Beast

His Lion-lord: and Man had his, at least:

And that the Birds, who nearest were the Skies,

And went apparell'd in its Angel Dyes.

Should be without—under no better Law

Than that which lost all other in the Maw—

Disperst without a Bond of Union—nay,

Or meeting to make each the other's Prey—

This was the Grievance—this the solemn Thing

On which the scatter'd Commonwealth of Wing,

From all the four Winds, flying like to Cloud

That met and blacken'd Heav'n, and Thunder-loud

With Sound of whirring Wings and Beaks that clash'd

Down like a Torrent on the Desert dash'd:

Till by Degrees, the Hubbub and Pell-mell

Into some Order and Precedence fell,

And, Proclamation made of Silence, each

In special Accent, but in general Speech

That all should understand, as seem'd him best,

The Congregation of all Wings addrest.

And first, with Heart so full as from his Eyes

Ran weeping, up rose Tajidar the Wise;

The mystic Mark upon whose Bosom show'd

That He alone of all the Birds THE ROAD

Had travell'd: and the Crown upon his Head

Had reach'd the Goal; and He stood forth and said:

'O Birds, by what Authority divine

I speak you know by His authentic Sign,

And Name, emblazon'd on my Breast and Bill:

Whose Counsel I assist at, and fulfil:

At His Behest I measured as he plann'd

The Spaces of the Air and Sea and Land;

I gauged the secret sources of the Springs

From Cloud to Fish: the Shadow of my Wings

Dream'd over sleeping Deluge: piloted

The Blast that bore Sulayman's Throne: and led

The Cloud of Birds that canopied his Head;

Whose Word I brought to Balkis: and I shared

The Counsel that with Asaf he prepared.

And now you want a Khalif: and I know

Him, and his whereabout, and How to go:

And go alone I could, and plead your cause

Alone for all: but, by the eternal laws,

Yourselves by Toil and Travel of your own

Must for your old Delinquency atone.

Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse

Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse,

Yourselves would know that, though you see him not,

He is with you this Moment, on this Spot,

Your Lord through all Forgetfulness and Crime,

Here, There, and Everywhere, and through all Time.

But as a Father, whom some wayward Child

By sinful Self-will has unreconciled,

Waits till the sullen Reprobate at cost

Of long Repentance should regain the Lost;

Therefore, yourselves to see as you are seen,

Yourselves must bridge the Gulf you made between

By such a Search and Travel to be gone

Up to the mighty mountain Kaf, whereon

Hinges the World, and round about whose Knees

Into one Ocean mingle the Sev'n Seas;

In whose impenetrable Forest-folds

Of Light and Dark "Symurgh" his Presence holds;

Not to be reach'd, if to be reach'd at all

But by a Road the stoutest might apal;

Of Travel not of Days or Months, but Years—

Life-long perhaps: of Dangers, Doubts, and Fears

As yet unheard of: Sweat of Blood and Brain

Interminable—often all in vain—

And, if successful, no Return again:

A Road whose very Preparation scared

The Traveller who yet must be prepared.

Who then this Travel to Result would bring

Needs both a Lion's Heart beneath the Wing,

And even more, a Spirit purified

Of Worldly Passion, Malice, Lust, and Pride:

Yea, ev'n of Worldly Wisdom, which grows dim

And dark, the nearer it approaches Him,

Who to the Spirit's Eye alone reveal'd,

By sacrifice of Wisdom's self unseal'd;

Without which none who reach the Place could bear

To look upon the Glory dwelling there.'

One Night from out the swarming City Gate

Stept holy Bajazyd, to meditate

Alone amid the breathing Fields that lay