About the book
BOOK SUMMARY
A mystical Persian poem follows birds on their spiritual quest to Mount Qaf in search of their king Simorgh, weaving together religious, metaphysical and worldly themes.
Published 1177
Epic Poetry
384 pages
Cute and clever bird metaphors
June 1, 2026
There is probably a more sophisticated way to talk about a classic work of medieval Sufi poetry, but I would describe it as cute and clever. The setup is great. A bunch of birds get together to find a leader, and each bird represents some human flaw or weakness. To reach their king, they have to travel through seven valleys, and each valley represents something they have to learn or become in order to get over themselves. It’s all some metaphor for becoming one with God.
Along the way, the wisest bird tells a bunch of parables to make the point. These ranged from interesting to inspiring to confusing to funny. Some of the short ones felt like very old-school stand-up comedy bits. I definitely did not understand everything that was going on, but I loved the structure.
kelsi’s reading diary 