The Conference of the Birds

A version of the metaphor “the birds were on fire” appears throughout the poem, which is used to indicate religious elevation or intensity. Though the poet repeats many metaphors to create a narrative cohesiveness to disjointed stories, Attar’s decision to use fire as a metaphor for religious fervor is especially noteworthy for its subversiveness. The Zoroastrians, a religious group that occupied Iran prior to Islam, worshipped fire. This would have been considered idol worship, which is not allowed in Islam. Attar’s constant reference to fire as a symbol of religious fervor would have been scandalous to Islamic orthodoxy, and underscores Sufism as a religious sect in conflict with this orthodoxy.

In Islam, it is forbidden to drink alcohol, but figurative language containing wine or stories about drunkenness appear often throughout the poem. Attar usually portrays these things positively as a method to question the validity of common religious and social conventions. They are also used, in terms of the religious persecution of Sufis, as a metaphor for the forbidden intoxication of mysticism.

Joseph is the most frequently mentioned character in the hoopoe’s stories. He is a biblical character, the favorite son of Jacob, who was hidden in a well by his jealous brothers and sold as a slave in Egypt. His physical beauty is often a symbol for the divine, and he appears throughout the book concerning themes of gratitude, authority tempered by understanding, and mercy.