Simorgh

This book is a fully interactive, fully animated audio visual eBook, that includes a short version of the 12th century poem, The Conference of The Birds, a long Sufi poem, written by the Persian poet, Farid ud-Din Attar. The English translations used in this book are chosen from the original translation of, The Conference of The Birds, by Professor Dick Davis and Afkham Darbandi.



Enjoy reading the poem in English and Farsi in a fun, fully interactive animated environment.

Listen to the professional reading of the poem in both languages.

Play a game to learn about the creative process behind designing the birds.


The story centers around birds of different breeds as they embark together on a journey of self-realization. The story seeks to symbolize elements of the human condition as each bird represents a particular human characteristic, e.g., ego, greed, avarice, beauty, pride, power, etc. and describes how they are seemingly satisfied with how they perceive themselves.  But on a journey they embark upon to find someone to be their king , they find they are stronger as a community and are strengthened by allowing others to complete their true ‘self’. There they realize that the “Simorgh” they were looking for is none other than themselves,


Simorgh is the title of the short animated film, directed and produced by Meghdad Asadi Lari. The film is a chorographical piece that incorporates Persian music, calligraphic art and ornamental design to tell the traditional Persian story of life that deals with the fragility of self-worth.


This book is designed to familiarize the international audience with the poem, the short animated film, and the creative process behind designing the characters and the visual elements of the film.


Since the birds presented in this book were inspired and designed based on Persian Calligraphic Art, the creative process behind designing the birds is also covered in this book by bringing a fun puzzle game into the book so that the reader can understand how and where the Persian letters have been used to form the shape of each bird.


The book also includes the reading of the poems, both in English and original language, Farsi.



Watch the short animated film here:

www.simorghanimation.com