The Conference of the Birds

I made the mask featured in these photographs as a response to The Conference of the Birds by Farid Ud-Din Attar. This mask captures the moral of The Conference of the Birds by showing that Simorgh- or God- is within every living creature. The top of the mask is comprised of feathers in order to emulate the thirty birds that fly to find Simorgh. On the bottom of the mask, I repeatedly wrote the word “Simorgh”. This is to show that Simorgh and the birds are one- as described on page 219 of The Conference of the Birds.

“They gazed, and dared at last to comprehend

They were Simorgh and the journey’s end.

They see the SImorgh-at themselves they stare

And see a second Simorgh standing there;

They look at both and see the two are one,

That this is that, that this, the goal is won.”

I found this Sufi concept- that God is within us all and that we are a reflection of him- to be extremely powerful. It has such beautiful implications. If every person is a part of the divine then everyone must be treated respect. Further, if we all have God inside of us, then we should never be timid or lack self-confidence like the Finch who initially refuses to go on the journey to find the Simorgh.

The oneness of humanity and God also helps explain other parts of Sufism. For example, it helps justify why Sufis focus on the internal- rather than the external. If God is within us, then the best way to worship him is to turn inwards. This concept also helps to explain why Sufis emphasize individuals finding their own connection to God. Since we all have God within us, our unique ways of reaching out to God are all inherently divine.

In order to convey the message of my mask I photographed it in three ways. Two of my images contain mirrors as a direct allusion to The Conference of the Birds. One is simply an image of my own face which I used in order to show the mask in greater detail.