A masterpiece of Persian literature written in the twelfth century‎,‎ The Canticle of the Birds is the poetic expression of a universal initiatory quest‎,‎ for Love‎,‎ Truth and Unity‎.‎ The journey of the birds beyond the seven valleys to meet Simorgh‎,‎ the legendary bird and allegory of the Supreme Being‎,‎ symbolises the voyage of every human soul‎.‎ The translation by Dick Davis and Afkham Darbandi‎,‎ published by Penguin Classics in 1984‎,‎ was the first verse translation in English of Attar‎'‎s work‎.‎ His passionate and scholarly translation fluidly renders the poet‎'‎s thought‎,‎ as well as the beauty and musicality of his language‎.‎ For this edition‎,‎ Dick Davis has translated the prologue and epilogue‎,‎ and has also reworked several passages‎.‎ More than two hundred Persian‎,‎Turkish‎,‎ Afghan and Indo‎-Pakistani works‎,‎ chosen from the most beautiful manuscripts of the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries ‎- from the banks of the Bosporusto to those of the Ganges ‎- complement the poem‎.‎ The choice of works benefited from the inestimable contribution of Michael Barry‎;‎ he has written over two hundred commentaries on the works‎,‎ presented facing each painting‎.‎ These commentaries will provide the reader with keys to understanding and interpretation‎.‎