In what manner are kings and rulers portrayed in Attar's The Conference of the Birds?

The first 200 words of this essay...

Saurabh Shah

ARLT 100 - Prof. Reid

April 30, 2004

In what manner are kings and rulers portrayed in Attar's The Conference of the Birds?

In this story of a search for the ideal, spiritual king Simorgh, Attar utilizes a number of literary tools to illustrate Sufi goals. Being an allegory, each of the birds are seen as devotees, the hoopoe as the sheikh, and Simorgh as Allah. Yet in the midst of the lessons and often reprimands that are given by the hoopoe, lessons are demonstrated through stories of other common characters in Sufi literature, such as Majnun, al-Bistami, Rabia, and Shah Mahmoud and Ayaz. These stock characters allow readers to relate to the material through previous knowledge that they may already have. Shah Mahmoud falls amongst the many kings, either with or without names, which are used to exemplify various lessons through the actions that they commit. Oftentimes, the kings are portrayed as lovers or beloveds, with Attar's compassion being shown through his tone. One can categorize the kings being paralleled into different stages of the Sufi path, going from the lost devotee to Allah Himself. Yet in this social and religious commentary,