Stain Your Prayer Rug with Wine 207they can begin the journey, however, the birds must first declare their
absolute obedience to the hoopoe, promising that
Whatever he commands along the Way
We must, without recalcitrance, obey.The oath is necessary, the hoopoe explains, because the journey
will be perilous and fraught with physical and emotional adversity, and
only he knows the Way. Consequently, he must be followed without
question, regardless of what he demands.
To reach the Simurgh, the birds will have to traverse seven treach-
erous valleys, each representing a station along the Way. The first is
the Valley of the Quest, in which the birds must “renounce the world”
and repent of their sins. This is followed by the Valley of Love, where
each bird will be plunged into seas of fire “until his very being is
enflamed.” Next is the Valley of Mystery, where every bird must take a
different path, for “There are so many roads, and each is fit / For that
pilgrim who must follow it.” In the Valley of Detachment, “all claims,
all lust for meaning disappear,” while in the Valley of Unity, the many
are merged into one: “The oneness of diversity / Not oneness locked
in singularity.”
Upon reaching the sixth valley, the Valley of Bewilderment, the
birds—weary and perplexed—break through the veil of traditional
dualities and are suddenly confronted with the emptiness of their being.
“I have no certain knowledge anymore,” they weep in confusion.
I doubt my doubt, doubt itself is unsure
I love, but who is it for whom I sigh?
Not Muslim, yet not heathen; who am I?Finally, at the end of the journey, the birds arrive at the Valley of
Nothingness, in which, stripped of their egos, they “put on the cloak
that signifies oblivion” and become consumed by the spirit of the uni-
verse. Only when all seven valleys have been traversed, when the birds
have learned to “destroy the mountain of the Self ” and “give up the
intellect for love,” are they allowed to continue to the throne of the
Simurgh.