The Epistle of the Bird

The Epistle of the Bird
by Avicenna (c. 980-1037)

INTRODUCTION Will anyone among my brothers lend me an ear that I may tell him one part of my burden? Perhaps he can lift from me some of my sorrow through sharing. In fact a friend cannot purify his brother from impurity unless he has preserved his own clarity from resentment in the time of difficulty. Where is such a sincere friend for you? When friendship has turned into trafficking in which one returns, when a need comes along and stops visiting as soon as the need is gone, a comrade is no longer visited unless a misfortune has occurred, and a friend will not be remembered unless a wish is remembered, except for the brothers of Truth who have been assembled by divine kinship and brought together by celestial closeness. They have observed the Truth with inner sight and cleansed their innermost secret from all stains of doubt. A society such as theirs will not be united except by the herald of a divine summons.

TESTAMENT O Brothers of Truth! Spread in the world and join together! Open your hearts to one another, and let each unveil his heart before his brother, so that you may instruct and perfect one another!

     O Brothers of Truth! Conceal yourselves like hedgehogs when they retract their heads and display your inner being and cover your appearance! For, I swear by God, that indeed concealment is for your outside and manifestation is for your innermost being.

     O Brothers of Truth! Strip off your skins as the snakes do, and crawl like ants (worms). Be like scorpions whose weapons are in their tails, for the devil does not deceive Man except from behind! Take poison so that you may live! Love death in order that you may keep on living! Be ever in flight and never settle in a nest to which you return, for birds are captured in their nests! If lack of wings hinders you, get them by force and win! Indeed the best of vanguards are those who are strong in flight. Be like the ostriches, who swallow hot stones and vipers, who gulp down hard bones, and salamanders, who wrap themselves in flames with confidence! Be like bats who never appear by day! Indeed bats are the best of birds.

     O Brothers of Truth! The most farsighted among people is the one who prepares himself for the day to come, and the most short-sighted of them is the one who fails to perfect himself.

     O Brothers of Truth! It is not surprising that an angel avoids evil and a beast commits a shameful deed, but the wonder is man who sins by running towards sexual desires and indeed by following or submitting to them damages his human form, and yet his nature has been enlightened by his intellect. By the everlasting existence of God, an angel is lower in rank than a man who firmly resists his evil desires and does not depart from his way, and yet again a human being submissive to evil desires which appeal to him is lower than a beast.

STORY Let us revert to the beginning of the story. I said that a party appeared in order to hunt. They spread theirs snares, set up their net, scattered bait and hid themselves in the bushes. I was one of the flock of birds when they (the hunters) saw us, they whistled to draw our attention. We saw an agreeable amount of food and companions. No doubt entered our hearts nor suspicion kept us back from our goal. We hastened towards them and fell down into snares. Suddenly the rings closed around our necks, and the fetters entangled our wings, and the cords tightened around our feet. We hurried to move but what we gained was more distress. We consigned our bodies to non-being, and each of us busied himself with his own work, and we held our hearts empty of the sorrow over agreement. We were like this for a time, until we became used to the trap and became quiet in our cages.

     Then one day, when I looked through the meshes of the nets, I saw a group of birds that had removed their heads and wings from the fetters and had come out of their cages, ready to fly. The remainders of the old straps were still tied to their feet, but it did not hinder them, for they were bound together through freedom, nor did it bother them, because their lives were purified. They reminded me of what I had forgotten and it spoiled all that to which I had become accustomed. It troubled me so that I was dissolved with grief or my soul departed from me with regret.

     I called and cried out to them from behind my bars to come close and teach me how to find a solution which would result in the deliverance from what distressed me. They remembered the deceptions of the hunters and ran even farther away. I beseeched them in the name of old friendship, sustained companionship and preserved covenant. It touched their hearts and filled them with confidence and banished doubt from their breasts. They came to me and r asked them about their state. They related that they had suffered from the same affliction that I did and had been disappointed and accustomed to misfortune.

     Then they cured me, the snare was removed from my neck and the fetters from my wings, and the door of the cage was opened. They told me to take advantage of the deliverance. I requested them to free also my leg from the hobble. They said “If we had the power we would have hastened first to release our own legs. How can the sick cure you?”

     Arising I flew from the cage. They said to me “There are regions ahead of us which you must cross before you will be safe. Follow our tracks so that we may save you and guide you on the right way!” The flight took us between two flanks of the mountain of God, through a green and fertile, no a rather barren and devastated valley. We flew until we put its borders behind us. We crossed that region and reached the summit of the mountain. There in front of us were eight mountain-tops that eyes could not reach. We said to one another to hasten and not to rest until we had passed these regions.

     When we had put these difficulties behind us, we arrived at the sixth of the summits and alighted on the seventh. When we had come within the boundaries, one of us said to the other, “Perhaps it is time for you to rest, when indeed fatigue has weakened us and moreover there is a far distance between us and our enemies.” We saw that we could bestow upon our bodies some rest. For wandering in peace of mind leads to deliverance faster than carrying on in exhaustion.

     We alighted on top of the mountain. The green gardens, which had within their interior walls meadows, fruit-bearing trees and streams of living water, captured one’s sight with forms whose gracefulness puzzled the intellect and amazed the minds by their splendor. One heard songs of grief and delightful melodies and inhaled fragrances which surpassed the perfume of musk and fresh ambergris.

     We gathered fruits and drank from springs and stayed there until we had cast off exhaustion. Then one of us said to the other; “There is no trap like (having a feeling of) security nor any refuge like caution, nor is any fortress to protect one from suspicions. Indeed our stay in this place has taken so long that it may result in ignorance, and behind us our enemies chase us to find our halting place. Let’s get up, move and emigrate from this region. It may be pleasant to abide here, it is even more pleasant (to reach) salvation.”

     We agreed upon departure and left the place. We landed on the eighth mountain whose summit was so high that it reached the highest heaven. On its slopes lived birds with, that I had never experienced sweeter melodies, more splendid colors, more graceful figures or more de-lightful companionship than theirs. When we took up residence in their vicinity we enjoyed so much beneficence, affection, intimacy and assistance from them that we could not pay back the least of it. When we had established friendship with them, we informed them of what had happened to us. They showed sympathy and solicitude.

     They said to us “Beyond this mountain there is a city in which the greatest King abides. If any unjustly treated person goes to him and puts his trust in Him, the burden will be lifted from him through His strength and protection.” We relied on what they said and headed toward the city of the King until we alighted in his courtyard and awaited His permission.

The new arrivals were made to enter. We were admitted to His palace and found ourselves in His courtyard which was so vast that no description could do it justice. When we had crossed it, before us a curtain was lifted disclosing a courtyard next to it so spacious and radiant that it made the first one seem little in our eyes.

MISSION Finally, we reached the chamber of the King. When the curtain was lifted before us we beheld the King in His beauty so radiant that our hearts were captured by Him. We were so amazed that it prevented us from making our complaint. He understood what had overcome us, and restored our strength by His kindness so that we were encouraged to speak to Him and narrate our story before Him. Then He said: “None is able to unbind the snares from your legs except those who tied them. I will send them a messenger so as to oblige them to satisfy you and remove the snares from your legs. Now depart and be satisfied.”

Now we are on the path accompanied by the Messenger. My brothers are pressing around me, demanding that I tell them the story of the magnificence of the King. I shall describe Him with utmost concision. I said: “He is he King in whose possession is whatever picture of beauty un-mingled with ugliness and perfection untroubled with defect you have in your mind. Every perfection in the true sense is accomplished in Him, and every defect even in the sense of metaphor is completely banished from Him. For His beauty is a face and his generosity a hand and whoever serves Him finds eternal bliss and whoever cuts himself off from Him loses this world and the next.”

     Which brother, when my story struck his ear, said; “I see that your intellect is touched and insanity has fallen upon you. No, by God, you did not fly, it is your reason that has flown away and you were not hunted rather your mind was hunted. How does Man fly or a bird speak?

It seems that yellow-bile has overflowed in your temperament or dryness has overcome your brain. Here is a remedy; “Drink a decoction of thyme dodder (epithymum); prepare for yourself baths in tepid and fresh water and inhale the oil of nymphea, choose luxurious meals and avoid staying up late and reduce worries!

     Since before this we knew you as a reasonable fellow among us. By God, who knows what is in our hearts, we are worried about you and on account of the disturbance of your state we are disturbed too.”

ACQUITTAL The more they say the less I would accept and the worst of discourse is that which is wasted. Seeking help from God and acquittal (bara‘a) (from me) unto people. Whoever professes otherwise would suffer loss. “And those who do wrong shall surely know by what overturning they will be overturned” (Qur’an XXVI: 227).