The Conference of the Birds Literary Elements

Epic Poem

The settings of the poem includes a river, seven valleys and the dwelling place of simurgh.

The narrator of the poem is Hoopoe and the poem represents the point of view of the poet about the paths towards enlightenment and the struggles of this journey.

Philosophical, Mystic, Symbolic, Thoughtful, Ruminative, Optimistic.

The protagonist of the poem is hoopoe, who stands for virtue in the world. He asks all the birds to search for simurgh and make him their leader. The antagonists in the poem are the evils which causes hindrance in a man's journey towards enlightenment.

The major conflict in the poem is between man and the evils. When a person embarks on a journey towards self-awareness and enlightenment, he encounters various hurdles in the form of evils.

The climax in the poem comes when the hoopoe bird suggests that the simurgh should become their leader.

The different valleys through which the birds pass foreshadows the survival of the morally fittest.

The understatement in the poem is that a man passes through various phases when he sets on a journey towards enlightenment. These phases are the trials which tests the strength of a man. Another understatement is that God is formless and he is present in everything, in all the creatures of this universe. Instead of finding him in the outer world, we should try to find him in our own hearts. The author has emphasized the Sufi and Muslim beliefs about God and the struggle of man. He has also understated that instead of finding a leader, who may rule over us, we must strive to rule our 'nafs' and try to live without a master. We have all the answers within us and the divinity also persists within us so there is no need to find someone who would guide us in our actions.

There are allusions to sins, enlightenment, Sufism,, Sufi fraternity, Sufi paths, seven phases of enlightenment and sheikh in Sufism.

There are images of meeting, birds, migration, valleys, sins, Sufi paths, crossing the river, self-awareness, nature and divinity within all the creatures employed by the poet.

The paradox in the poem is that the birds had the divinity within themselves but they were finding someone who would help them in getting the glimpse of the divine.

There is a parallelism between ascending towards enlightenment and getting free from the burden of sins. As a bird crosses the valleys, he becomes more enlightened and he gets rid of his sins.

An example of metonymy is the hopooe bird which represents all the sufi sheikhs who lead their followers. An example of synecdoche are the evils which have been personified through the birds. The evils stand for all the hurdles which a man encounters during his journey towards enlightenment.

The birds and the sins have been personified in the poem.