The Conference of the Birds
Attar
(Author)
Sholeh Wolpé
(Translator)
Description
Considered by Rumi to be "the master" of Sufi mystic poetry, Attar is best known for this epic poem, a magnificent allegorical tale about the soul's search for meaning. He recounts the perilous journey of the world's birds to the faraway peaks of Mount Qaf in search of the mysterious Simorgh, their king. Attar's beguiling anecdotes and humor intermingle the sublime with the mundane, the spiritual with the worldly, while his poem models the soul's escape from the mind's rational embrace.
Sholeh Wolpé re-creates for modern readers the beauty and timeless wisdom of the original Persian, in contemporary English verse and poetic prose.
Product Details
Price
$14.95
$13.90
Publisher
W. W. Norton & Company
Publish Date
April 17, 2018
Pages
384
Dimensions
5.4 X 1.1 X 8.0 inches | 0.65 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9780393355543
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About the Author
Attar was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and Sufism.
Sholeh Wolpe is an Iranian-American poet and writer. The author of more than ten books of poems, translations, and anthologies, she is the recipient of a PEN/Heim grant, the Midwest Book Award, and the Lois Roth Persian Translation prize, among others. Wolpe lives in Los Angeles.
Reviews
Wolpé's translation of this epic is sure to be as timeless as the masterpiece itself.--Reza Aslan, author of Zealot
What Sholeh Wolpé has done exceedingly well is to bring this medieval poem over into lively, contemporary English that feels absolutely right and not at all forced.--Edith Grossman, author of Why Translation Matters
In Sholeh Wolpé's version, this sly, knowing Sufi classic will surprise and delight a new generation of readers.--Jack Miles, general editor of The Norton Anthology of World Religions
Sholeh Wolpé's stunning new translation--the first in over 30 years--renders Attar's engaging, singular voice with wit and flourish.... Most importantly, Wolpé offers Attar's masterwork not as a curiosity from a bygone age, but as a text of living wisdom whose message is always timely.
As close to the original as a reader can come in translation, and imbued with the same kind of revelation, it makes clear why Attar remained such a strong influence on Rumi. The reader travels, along with the poet's birds, to greater spiritual insight through transcendent verse.--Roger Sedarat, Queens College
What Sholeh Wolpé has done exceedingly well is to bring this medieval poem over into lively, contemporary English that feels absolutely right and not at all forced.--Edith Grossman, author of Why Translation Matters
In Sholeh Wolpé's version, this sly, knowing Sufi classic will surprise and delight a new generation of readers.--Jack Miles, general editor of The Norton Anthology of World Religions
Sholeh Wolpé's stunning new translation--the first in over 30 years--renders Attar's engaging, singular voice with wit and flourish.... Most importantly, Wolpé offers Attar's masterwork not as a curiosity from a bygone age, but as a text of living wisdom whose message is always timely.
As close to the original as a reader can come in translation, and imbued with the same kind of revelation, it makes clear why Attar remained such a strong influence on Rumi. The reader travels, along with the poet's birds, to greater spiritual insight through transcendent verse.--Roger Sedarat, Queens College
