Simorgh

The Persian Sufi Mystic poet Farid u-din Attar wrote the narrative Simorgh, which is translated as "thirty birds," in his book Conference of the Birds. The narrative describes the desire of a flock of birds looking for a leader. They decide that the fabled Simurgh should rule them, and they set out to find him. They pass through seven valleys, each of which represents a different step in the quest for completeness. The birds start to leave one by one since they can't complete the difficult voyage. Only thirty birds eventually make it to Simurgh and all they see is a mirror of themselves in a lake rather than their spiritual leader. The birds recognize that they are not distinct from the cosmos as they come to terms with reality, and they are one with it.