The Conference of the Birds, pgs. 29-75 Summary

The hoopoe, wise Solomon's friend, announces to a dozen birds that, needing a king, they must shake off Self and fly to Simorgh. The Way is long and requires heart. If as pilgrims they renounce Self, Simorgh who is nearby yet veiled, transcendent, all-powerful, magnificent, and mysterious, will sacrifice his inner soul for them. First appearing in China, Simorgh lets one feather float down, and from it throughout the world people imagine his shape.

When the hoopoe finishes his speech, the birds are enthusiastic but soon hesitate and make excuses. Nightingale pleads that he cannot be parted from his one love, the rose, to which the hoopoe responds that this is superficial and delusional, as the thorny rose needs no defender, her beauty fades, and she laughs at the nightingale, not...