The Canticle of the Birds by ‘Attâr’ or the Art of Spiritual flight

Leili Anvar and Frédéric Ferney read passages of the poem (in English with passages of the original Persian text) accompanied by a Persian musician, playing the parts of the hoopoe and of different birds, dervishes, sages, fools, and princesses, telling stories sometimes tragic, sometimes comic, always meaningful, they invite the audience to enter the poetic world of ‘Attâr and to embark on the journey of love and wisdom. Ardently yearning to find their monarch, all the world’s birds gather in sonorous assembly. Guided by the hoopoe, the messenger of Solomon, the birds take wing towards the Sîmorgh, the Divine Being, who dwells on the heights of mythical Mount Qâf, on the edge of the horizon of the rising Sun. Only the hoopoe knows how long and arduous the journey will be. The birds will have to cross seven valleys, first that of the Quest, then those of Love, of Insight into Mystery, of Detachment and Serenity, of Unity, of Awe, and lastly of Poverty and Nothingness, to reach at length the Royal Throne. At first each bird, still prisoner to earthly ties, hesitates to take wing. So the hoopoe tells each bird a parable, a tale within a tale urging each winged creature to cast aside its worldly goods, loves and certainties, to give up its ego in order to undertake the journey. For at the end of the path rises the Sun-like Beloved Being. This Performance has been first created in its English version for the Sufi Festival of Jodhpur and Nagaur 2015.