In Manṭiq al-ṭayr, completed around 1177, ʿAṭṭār tells of the birds who, led by the hoopoe, set out to find the Sīmurgh. They cross the valleys of quest, love, insight, detachment, unity, bewilderment and annihilation; thirty arrive and find that the Sīmurgh is a mirror of themselves.
Conference of the Birds
ʿAṭṭār’s allegory of the birds who cross seven valleys to find their king, the Sīmurgh.
Also: Mantiq al-tayr