“If Simorgh unveils its face to you, you will find
that all the birds, be they thirty or forty or more,
are but the shadows cast by that unveiling.
What shadow is ever separated from its maker?
Do you see?
The shadow and its maker are one and the same,
so get over surfaces and delve into mysteries.”

—  Farid ud-Din Attar, ‘The Conference of the Birds’, edited and translated by Sholeh Wolpé

"The Simorgh" is an interpretation of the creature from Persian Mythology bearing the same name. According to legend, the Simorgh is an ancient being that has witnessed the creation and destruction of the universe three times, granting it profound wisdom and insight into the cycles of existence. Its lifespan supposedly spans 1,700 years before it bursts into flames and is reborn from the ashes.

In Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar's tale, "The Conference of Birds", the birds of the world gather to choose their king, and the wisest among them, the Hoopoe, suggests seeking the Simorgh as their leader. Embarking on a journey through seven valleys of Quest, Love, Understanding, Independence and Detachment, Unity, Astonishment and Bewilderment, and Deprivation and Death, only 30 birds reach the dwelling of the Simorgh, where they realize that they are they and the Simorgh are, in the end, one in the same.