The Simurgh is a fabulous and benevolent bird from Persian mythology, a gigantic creature often described as nesting in the Tree of Life. A symbol of wisdom and healing, it protects and guides the heroes of the great Iranian epic tales.
Simurgh
Simurgh
7 min read
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- A central creature of pre-Islamic Iranian mythology, attested as early as the Zoroastrian tradition (the Avesta, around the 1st millennium BC)
- Described as a giant bird nesting in the Tree of All Seeds, scattering the seeds to make the earth fertile
- Plays a major role in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh (Book of Kings), around the year 1000, where it raises and protects the hero Zal
- Mystically reinterpreted by the Sufi poet Attar in 'The Conference of the Birds' (around 1177) as a symbol of the divine
- A symbol of benevolence, healing, and wisdom, sometimes associated with the phoenix of other traditions
Works & Achievements
The Simurgh takes in and raises the abandoned albino child, teaching him wisdom before returning him to mankind. The foundation of the Iranian heroic lineage.
The bird guides Zal to save Rudabeh through an incision and bring Rostam into the world, the greatest hero of the Persian epic. One of the oldest accounts of a caesarean birth.
Wounded by Esfandiyar, Rostam is healed by the Simurgh, who draws out the arrows and closes his wounds. A demonstration of the bird's medical power.
In Attar's The Conference of the Birds, the Simurgh is the king sought beyond seven valleys, revealing the unity of the soul and the divine. A summit of Persian mystical poetry.
Suhrawardi makes the Simurgh an image of light and knowledge in his doctrine of illumination. A bridge between myth and philosophy.
Timurid and Safavid court painters immortalize the bird with its dazzling plumage in illuminated manuscripts. High points of the Persian art of the book.
Anecdotes
In the Book of Kings (Shahnameh) by Ferdowsi, the hero Zal is born an albino, with white hair, and his frightened father abandons him at the summit of Mount Alborz. It is the Simurgh who takes the infant into her nest and raises him as one of her own chicks, until a shepherd returns him to humankind.
Before leaving Zal, now grown to adulthood, the Simurgh gives him one of her feathers: the hero need only burn it for the wondrous bird to appear and come to his aid. This motif of the talisman-feather returns several times during the great moments of the Iranian epic.
When Rudabeh cannot give birth to the future hero Rostam, Zal burns the magic feather. The Simurgh appears and teaches him how to perform an incision to save both mother and child: the legend thus describes one of the oldest accounts of a birth by caesarean section.
Later, mortally wounded in his fight against Prince Esfandiyar, Rostam once again calls upon the Simurgh. The bird removes the arrowheads, heals his wounds by passing a feather over them, and reveals to him the secret to defeating his opponent, who was reputed to be invulnerable.
In the 12th century, the Sufi poet Attar plays on words: in Persian, “si morgh” means “thirty birds.” In The Conference of the Birds, thirty birds cross seven valleys to reach King Simurgh; once they arrive, they understand that the Simurgh they had been seeking is their own reflection — they themselves, the thirty birds.
Primary Sources
The Simurgh descended from the sky and seized the child; it carried him to its nest on Mount Alborz and fed him among its own young, without doing him any harm.
Take one of my feathers, said the bird; when you are in need, cast it into the fire, and at once you will see me come to you like a cloud.
When the thirty birds at last beheld the face of the Simurgh, they saw that the Simurgh was the thirty birds, and that the thirty birds were the Simurgh.
The bird Sēnmurw has its nest upon the Tree of All Seeds, in the midst of the sea Vourukasha; when it takes flight, it scatters the seeds that the rain spreads across all the earth.
Key Places
Mountain range in northern Iran where, according to the Shahnameh, the Simurgh has its nest and raises the child Zal. A boundary between the world of men and the realm of wonders.
Mythical mountain that encircles the world, home of the Simurgh in Attar's The Conference of the Birds. The ultimate goal of the thirty birds' spiritual quest.
Cosmic ocean of Zoroastrian mythology at whose center grows the tree of a thousand seeds bearing the bird's nest. The mythical source of all the world's vegetation.
Legendary region of southeastern Iran, stronghold of the family of Zal and Rostam, whom the Simurgh comes to rescue. The setting for the great heroic episodes of the Shahnameh.
Great Persian city of art where the illuminators of the Timurid and Safavid eras painted the finest depictions of the Simurgh. A hub for the artistic spread of the legend.
Typical Objects
Magical feather given to Zal: when thrown into the fire, it makes the bird appear, which then comes to heal or counsel the hero. A symbol of the sacred bond between the creature and the line of kings.
The Simurgh's airy dwelling, built at the top of the Tree of All Seeds, in the middle of the cosmic sea Vourukasha. A place of refuge where the bird raises its young and the heroes it has taken in.
Cosmic tree of Zoroastrian cosmology that holds the seeds of every plant. The beating of the Simurgh's wings scatters its seeds across the world, giving rise to all vegetation.
Sasanian ornamental figure depicting the winged creature, woven into royal fabrics and engraved on silverware. An emblem of power and fertility associated with Persian kingship.
Painted illumination illustrating the episodes of the Shahnameh in which the bird with colorful feathers appears. A masterpiece from the workshops of Tabriz, Herat, and Isfahan.
Care given by the Simurgh, which brushes its feather over or applies an ointment to the wounds of heroes, such as Rostam wounded by Esfandiyar. An embodiment of the healing and medical power attributed to the bird.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Tags
Lieu
Daily Life
Morning
At dawn, the Simurgh spreads its immense wings above the Vourukasha Sea and watches over its nest perched in the Tree of All Seeds. Its flight scatters the seeds that the winds will carry toward the earth.
Afternoon
By day, the bird soars over the mountains of the world, watching for heroes in peril. When a feather is burned for its sake, it splits the clouds to come to the aid of those it protects.
Evening
At dusk, the Simurgh returns to its cosmic tree and gathers the fledglings beneath its wings. Legend says that it knows all the ages of the world, for it has witnessed the destruction and rebirth of the earth three times.
Food
A supernatural creature, the Simurgh does not feed like mortal beasts; some accounts say it is capable of devouring serpents and great wild beasts. Its true substance is the wisdom accumulated over the ages.
Clothing
Its very body is its finery: a sumptuous plumage in the colours of the peacock, blending gold, blue and purple. Each feather is endowed with healing powers and carries the light of the *farr*, the divine glory.
Housing
The Simurgh dwells in a gigantic nest built at the crown of the Tree of Life, at the heart of the cosmic sea, or else on Mount Qaf at the edge of the world. A dwelling beyond the reach of humankind, set at the boundary between the visible and the invisible.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
L'éducation de Zal
récit fixé vers 1010
La naissance de Rostam
récit fixé vers 1010
La guérison de Rostam
récit fixé vers 1010
La quête des trente oiseaux
vers 1177
Le symbole de la philosophie illuminative
fin XIIe siècle
Les miniatures du Shahnameh
XVe–XVIe siècle
