Farid Ud-Din Attar. The Conference of the Birds Essay - 2

Farid Ud-Din Attar. The Conference of the Birds - Essay Example A good illustration of how the context of the story helps to clarify the meaning is shown in the case of when the hoopoe is telling the tale of a poor fisher boy whom King Mas’oud befriends. Later when the king upon casting the boy’s line successfully lands a sizeable catch, he then gives to the boy. The next day the king decides to make the boy a partner to his throne The story is taken from a religious allegory and can be interpreted probability to be a fable regarding God’s grace. However once we put the story into its real context the allegory gains more prominence. The hoopoe had just been asked by a bird why he is spiritually flourishing unlike the other birds that seem to be getting nowhere (Williams 49). The hoopoe explains that this is so because Solomon has glanced at him. The Hoopoe tells the birds that this glance is worth far more than prayer but continues to explain that this does not mean that an individual does not need to pray, but rather one should continue to pray continuously until Solomon glances at him. In this story of the fisher boy, we see that the boy has been unceasingly fishing (in the same spot every day, which represents the spiritual â€Å"fishing† of constant prayer (Williams 51). According to the Hoopoes previous explanation, the king’s visit is the glance of Solomon. This story is mostly demonstrative of individual effort and grace plus the reality that both are indispensable for spiritual advancement (Davis, 8). The point of a tale may at times seem rather elusive at the first reading; therefore, it is advisable to read it again or to refer to some previous text to remind you what the question being answered by the hoopoe is. This case with the stories resembles the story of the king and the fisher boy from which we got our excerpt. Throughout the poem, two themes in particular are intricately interwoven into the very fiber of the poem. These are the need to destroy the Self, and the weight