Walker Talks, on Attar of Nishapur – a live stream
Attar of Nishapur, the 12th century Sufi poet, composed his poetry while working as an herbalist and perfume-maker, making medicines and potions as well as poems, in the city of Nishapur. This was in the land once known as Khorasan, at the time of the Seljuk dynasty of ancient Persia, now Iran.
Attar’s classic poem “The Conference of the Birds” is a vast allegory of each soul’s individual pilgrimage toward the One, told as an adventurous journey undertaken by a community of birds. This work, as well as many others, helps us to understand what Rumi must have meant when he said, “Attar travelled all the way through the seven cities of love, while I have only just arrived at the bend of the first alley.”
An almost-monthly series of talks by Walker Brents III (9 or 10 talks a year for more than two decades) on various topics in poetry, mythology, folklore, philosophy, etc. Although primarily a live stream viewable on our YouTube channel and Facebook page, it’s also fine if you slip into the darkened shop to listen in person.
You can find the live stream at this link: https://www.youtube.com/@bird_beckett/streams