Week 10
In week 10 of the course, we read The Conference of the Birds. This traditional Sufi story has been reproduced in the form of cartoons and plays because of its important religious message. In it, a host of birds of all types embark on a quest to find a king. One by one, different birds drop out of the journey. These birds represent the humans who fail to reach enlightenment or stop trying for one reason or another. In the end, 30 birds remain. The 30 birds arrive at the alleged home of Simorgh in hopes of convincing him to be king. What they find instead of Simorgh, however, is a lake in which they see their own reflection. It dawns on them that God is within all creatures and all creation.
This is a crucial tenant of Sufi Islam. God–instead of being a distant, separate entity from all that is earthly and mortal–is present within everything and can be seen everywhere. My origami artwork attempts to reflect this ideal. I constructed an origami pigeon from a single piece of paper. Fully folded, it appears to have a slight reddish tint upon it’s back. Unfolded and opened however, and the word “Allah” appears written within. This is my attempt at a visualization of this ideal. While not always readily visible, God is present within. One must take the time to peel back the layers and study to obtain this enlightened knowledge. Just as the 30 birds must complete the journey over land to find this out, each muslim must embark on their own personal spiritual journey.