Birds of the world gather at a conference and debate whether their species needs a sovereign king to rule over them.

The hoopoe comes forward and reveals that the great Simorgh is already the birds' rightful king, living far away on Mount Qaf.

The nightingale refuses to join the journey, claiming his love for the rose is too strong for him to leave.

The hoopoe counters the nightingale's excuse with the story of the dervish and the princess, showing the difference between shallow and divine love.

The hoopoe tells the story of Sheikh Sam'an, a devout sheikh who abandons Islam for love of a Christian girl.

Sheikh Sam'an returns to Islam and is re-purified, while the Christian girl dies attempting to understand Islam's mysteries.

Elated by the Sam'an story, the birds set out on the journey and officially elect the hoopoe as leader by lottery.

The hundred thousand assembled birds grow frightened by the vast desolation of the spiritual path stretching before them.

A bird asks how long the journey is, and the hoopoe names and describes the seven valleys the birds must cross.

Some birds die of fright upon hearing the valley descriptions, while the remaining flock departs on the journey.

Of all the birds who set out, nearly all perish on the way, and only thirty survive to reach the Simorgh's palace.

A herald at the Simorgh's palace questions the thirty exhausted birds and orders them to turn back.

The birds are brought before a throne and read a page that implicates them in selling the prophet Joseph into slavery.

Out of the birds' shame and despair, a bright celestial light flows toward them and transforms their spirits.

The birds see the Simorgh's face and discover it is their own reflection, revealing their king was within them all along.

The Conference of the Birds opens with every species of bird gathering to find a sovereign king, and the hoopoe reveals that the great Simorgh is their rightful ruler. Before the journey can begin, the birds make endless excuses, and the hoopoe counters each with parables, most notably the long story of Sheikh Sam'an, who abandons Islam for a Christian girl before ultimately being re-purified. The birds eventually set out and officially elect the hoopoe as their leader by lottery, but terror at the vast emptiness of the path nearly stops them again. After the hoopoe describes the seven valleys they must cross, some birds die of fright while the rest depart, and of the enormous flock that sets out, only thirty survive the journey to reach the Simorgh's palace. At the palace a herald tries to turn them away, but the birds persist, are brought before a throne, and read a page that implicates them in selling the prophet Joseph, before a celestial light transforms them and they discover that the Simorgh's face is their own reflection.

The birds' journey from conference to self-revelation.

The speaker welcomes the hoopoe and notes that King Solomon trusted him to carry messages to the Queen of Sheba.

The parrot excuses herself from the journey, claiming she only desires the stream of immortality guarded by the figure Khezr.

The peacock tells the hoopoe he already saw Paradise and is only waiting for a guide to show him the way back.

The partridge claims his sole desire is discovering precious stones, and the hoopoe counters with the cautionary tale of Solomon's ring.

The homa claims too much power for the Simorgh to matter, and the hoopoe responds with King Mahmoud's story of dying with regret.

The hoopoe tells the story of the nameless king who placed mirrors on palace walls so subjects could glimpse his grace.

The hoopoe tells the story of Alexander the Great, who disguised himself as a messenger and went unrecognized by his own subjects.

A bird confesses to grave sins and calls himself unworthy, and the hoopoe declares only shame, not past sin, blocks the way.

A bird compares the Self to a dog that once followed him but has grown into a wolf that now stalks him.

A bird admits being terrified of death, and the hoopoe responds with stories of death's inevitability from the phoenix to Socrates.

A bird accepts the hoopoe's spiritual leadership and confesses total ignorance of right and wrong, asking to be fully guided.

A bird asks where loyalty and justice rank with the Simorgh, and the hoopoe answers that just deeds exceed a lifetime of prayer.

A bird asks whether audacity is permitted by the Simorgh, and the hoopoe says only the deeply spiritual may act boldly.

A bird claims to be already spiritually satisfied and enlightened, and the hoopoe declares the bird is lost in self-love.

The herald finally relents, unlocks the Simorgh's palace door, and leads the thirty birds to a throne room.

The poem begins by welcoming the hoopoe as a bird trusted by King Solomon himself, establishing his spiritual authority before the journey is even proposed. One by one, individual birds offer the hoopoe their personal reasons for staying behind — the parrot seeks immortality, the peacock longs for Paradise, the partridge craves precious stones, and the homa boasts of its own power — and the hoopoe dismantles each excuse with a well-aimed fable. As the poem progresses, the birds' concerns shift from worldly distractions to internal failings: one bird is paralyzed by past sins, another by the wolf-like grip of the Self, another by terror of death. A turning point comes when one bird finally surrenders and accepts the hoopoe's guidance without reservation, and others begin asking about virtues like loyalty, audacity, and spiritual satisfaction, each of which the hoopoe subjects to the same test of selflessness. The pool closes at the palace gate, where the herald at last relents and leads the thirty battered birds inside.

The birds' individual excuses and the road to the palace gate.

The hoopoe declares that the Simorgh's grace is already reflected in every bird's heart, even though they cannot yet see it.

The hoopoe urges the birds to renounce all constructs of the Self and to forget what is and is not Islam.

Sheikh Sam'an drinks wine, herds swine, and burns the Koran to prove his love for the Christian girl.

The hoopoe explains how Solomon's single glance granted him enlightenment only because he had prayed ceaselessly beforehand.

The hoopoe tells the story of King Masoud visiting a poor boy who fishes every day to feed his family.

A bird protests the journey will kill him, and the hoopoe declares dying on this quest surpasses any life of filth and greed.

The hoopoe tells the story of Saint Rabe'eh, whose path to enlightenment is disrupted by society's judgment that she is spiritually impure.

A bird confesses crippling indecisiveness, and the hoopoe tells of two Sufis shamed by a judge for wearing Sufi clothing to court.

A bird declares he burns with aspiration despite appearing weak and despondent, and the hoopoe praises aspiration as the wings of the spirit.

A bird boasts of unmatched devotion to the Simorgh, and the hoopoe warns that such pride leads to damnation rather than enlightenment.

A bird asks what gift to bring the Simorgh, and the hoopoe says only a genuine sigh from the soul will do.

The hoopoe describes the Valley of Poverty and Nothingness as a place where the self disappears, the mind dissolves, and time ceases.

The thirty surviving birds reach the Simorgh's palace exhausted and broken, and wait a very long time before anyone appears.

The birds narrate the story of the moth to the stubborn herald, explaining why they cannot turn back from the Simorgh.

The Simorgh tells the birds he is a mirror placed before them, and all who come before him see their own unique reality.

Before the journey begins, the hoopoe makes a foundational declaration: the Simorgh's grace already lives inside every bird, unseen, making the outward quest also an inward one. He then urges the birds to abandon the Self entirely and even to forget religious convention, a radical call dramatized by the story of Sheikh Sam'an who burns the Koran as an act of devotion. As the poem moves through its long question-and-answer sections, a series of pivotal moments redefine what the journey demands — the hoopoe's account of praying for Solomon's glance, the parable of the fisherboy and King Masoud, and a string of birds who discover that fear, indecisiveness, pride, and even aspiration must all be surrendered to the Simorgh's guidance. The hoopoe's description of the Valley of Poverty and Nothingness, the last and most extreme valley, marks the point where language itself breaks down and the self must dissolve completely. The pool closes at the poem's final revelation, when the thirty birds narrate the moth's tale to a skeptical herald, persist into the palace, and hear the Simorgh explain that he is nothing more than a mirror reflecting their own reality back at them.