Simurgh in the Poetry of Farid al-Din ‘Attar
Raza Ashraf Zadeh/Fatima Fayyaz
First popularized by the tales of Zal, Rustam and Asfandyar, Simurgh the mythical bird has captured the imagination of the readership of the Persian poetry and even beyond. Every lexicographer of Persian language has attempted at a definition of ‘simurgh’ in his peculiar way, reflecting their respective knowledge and interpretation. To quote from the lexical work of Anjuman Ara’:
“Sirung, rhyming with birung, is employed in the meanings of Simurgh, was a physician. It is a popular belief that Simurgh was a large bird, from the mountainous range of Caucasus, living in isolation and had initiated Zal and Rustum, into multiple disciplines. Farid al-Din ‘Attar, 13th century Persian poet, celebrates Simurgh in his magnum opus Mantaq al-Tair, as a protagonist.
It has also been mentioned that a recluse named Simurgh, once lived in the mountainous range of Alborz as ‘Abdul Wasi’ Jabali muses:
Courtesy has lost its writ, and fidelity became instinct.
From them only their name remains, like Simurgh and Kimia.
Simurgh has also been called Sirang, or made of thirty colours:
I have not seen your countenance but a thought of it
I have not seen Sirang, but in fables.
Rada Quli Khan argued that Simurgh was the name of a physician, as Su’ne was a devout about whom Avesta informs us that he flourished a century before Zoroaster and passed away a couple of years after the introduction of the Zoroastanism.
Not much focus has been given on this aspect in the Islamic tradition and the only reference repeated again and again is about it dwelling in the Koh-Kaf or the Caucasus. However, multiple tales have been recounted with Simurghas the archetypal protagonist:
God, in the beginning created a bird, devout in nature and endowed with all the sublime attributes. He envisaged his face in the human form and the wings were all of bright contrasting colours and four wings were made from the four directions and he was bestowed with an aquiline beak, and his body was also that of an eagle. He called it ‘Anqa or sphinx. Almighty, then revealed it upon Moses, son of Imran, the creation of this mythical bird, in the form of a couple of a male and a female. The wild beasts of Jerusalem would be its prey. And this bird would be counted as a pride for the children of Israel.
So time passed by and after the demise of Moses and Aaron and the rest of the children of Israel. Simurgh flied around the regions of Najaf, Hijaz and the dominions of Qais al-‘Am, wildly preying on animals and the children of human beings alike, all around till the time of the Prophet Khalid, son of Sinan. All the masses protested to Khalid against ‘Anqa’’s devouring the children callously. They prayed to the God to make him sterile, hence his species became extinct and was only to be found in the images on the floor and similar places. Though unreliable, this fable has some points of significance. Foremost amongst them is that ‘Anqa’ is the female partner of Simurgh, and hence belongs to the same genus. This bird is also renowned as a cannibal and for this very reason Sam forsakes the son, on the Alborz mountain where lies the nest of Simurgh. The story of Zal also mentions his cannibalism.
God blessed Simurgh with affection/ and he did not give it a thought to devour the children.
Simurgh descended from the cloud and played the harp,/ which he had taken from that hot stone.
He brought that playing to the Alborz mountain / as it was there that group had made its nest.
He brought that to the children to play / and from that may not see his wailing cries.
The fourth factor is the beauty of the fowl, for which it is celebrated, at different layers of interpretation in the mystical poetry. Similarly, many fables have been recounting the tales of Simurgh and Anqa, where he is recounted as the master-bird, a concept whose origin lies in Avesta, where he is named Saen Morogha and in Pehlavi, as Sen Murv, or Simurgh, who is the lord and chief of all the birds and the primordial bird to be created.
In Behram Yasht (Yasht 14, para 35 and 36), its varengine quality has been mentioned and it has been eulogized as the bird of birds. Here Ahura Mazda makes a will to Zarathustra to make an amulet by rubbing the wing of Simurgh on his body so that no one may ever defeat him anywhere in the whole world, and this bird may become his guardian and that he may command respect from every one.
The enigma of Rustam’s victory over Asfandyar may thus be resolved, and so is the Simurgh’s support to Zal and later on to Rustum, this is the nature of Zoroastran power and provides a precedence for the world of wrestlers, which is richly contrasted against the brazen body of Asfandyar.
In its essence, the Simurgh’s wing is an amulet for those who hold it, however in the epic romances of Zal and Rustum it transformed into a mediator. Another mythical bird, which is a blend of Simurgh and ‘Anqa’ is found in the literary allusions to this bird. Its quality of varengine and being the bird of birds in the later developments of Persian literature is of significance. It resides on the top of the tree of Hervesp Tukhm, which is known for being a guardian against any kind of harm, in the essence of its name. Whenever the Simurgh flies from that tree, the tree grows thousands of new branches and whenever it comes down to sit again on the tree, thousands of its branches are broken and seeds scatter everywhere. These seeds fall down with the rainfall and grass grows on it abundantly. The Shahname describes the Simurgh’s abode on top of the Alborz mountain, where in the poetic oeuvre of Farid al-Din Attar, Simurgh lives in Tuba, which complies with the version recorded in Menu Khirad. The Islamic outlook that it takes now transforms it from Hervest Tukhme into Tuba, where every morning it emerges from its nest and his wings spread the lands, then fruits grow on, trees grow from its effects and vegetation on earth....
This was an excerpt from The Annual Review of Eurasian Studies 2012. You may read the remaining article, with end-notes, by purchasing the review.
