Favorite Quotes: "The Conference of the Birds" by Farid Attar

Image of folio from Metropolitan
Museum of Art

Afkham Darbandi & Dick Davis translated from Persian into English Farid Attar's Mantiq al-Tayr (منطق الطير). The title they chose is The Conference of the Birds. The National Endowment for the Humanities included it in its Muslim Journeys Bookshelf.

There are several translations, and the copy I read included a prologue and an epilogue, which is a revised edition of the first Darbandi & Davis published translation. The ISBN is 9780140444346, and the length is 278 pages. I thought the prologue & epilogue were valuable.

To call Darbandi & Davis translators is quite a misnomer. Their rhyming couplets are so much more than translating.

I also read a picture book version by Rabiah/Alexis York Lumbard, which I hope to write a separate blog entry about.

Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story - Storified on Twitter

Where the Two Seas Meet: Al-Khidr and Moses-The Qur'anic Story of al-Khidr and Moses in Sufi Commentaries as a Model for Spiritual Guidance by Hugh Talat Halman

Where the Two Seas Meet: Al-Khidr and Moses-The Qur'anic Story of al-Khidr and Moses in Sufi Commentaries as a Model for Spiritual Guidance by Hugh Talat Halman, published by Fons Vitae

I reviewed Hugh Talat Halman's children's book about al-Khidr. The American Muslim published more details on this latest volume. I have not read this book.

Spiritual Gems of Islam by Jamal Rahman

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat reviewed Spiritual Gems of Islam: Insights & Practices from the Qur'an, Hadith, Rumi & Muslim Teaching Stories to Enlighten the Heart & Mind by Jamal Rahman. I have not read the book.

With enthusiasm and authenticity, the author taps into the wisdom of Islam with insights and practices from the Qur'an, Hadith (the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad as well as the hadith qudsi, which are God's words communicated through the Prophet), the 14th century Sufi poet Rumi, and Muslim teaching stories. Read more ...

Illuminated Verses: Poetries of the Islamic World

 Poets House and City Lore held Illuminated Verses: Poetries of the Islamic World in 2011. 

You can read essays written on the occasion of the conference (PDF).

Review: Tales from the Land of the Sufis by Mojdeh Bayat and Mohammad Ali Jamnia

Tales from the Land of the Sufis by Mojdeh Bayat and Mohammad Ali Jamnia. Boston, Massachusetts, Shambhala Publications; 1994. 179 pp, paperback.

Review: Samarkand by Amin Maalouf

Maalouf, Amin. Samarkand. New York: Interlink Books; 1996. ISBN: 1566561949. Paperback. 301 pp.

This is the first historical fiction novel I've reviewed for this blog. Typically, I'm not thrilled with historical fiction because I had at one time entertained the idea of becoming a professional historian and the historical fiction I had read seemed heavy on the fiction side of the equation.