(81) He learned birds' language from "what we were taught." But thou art only a bird of the air; understand then That thou hast never seen the true spiritual birds! The nest of the Simurgh is beyond Mount Qaf, Not every thought can attain thereto; Save thoughts which catch a glimpse thereof, Yet not all shut off, rather intermitted for a wise end, For the blessing abides, though shut off and hidden! In order to preserve that body which is as a soul, The Sun is veiled for a while behind a cloud;

(4) For He applied the name "fowls of the air" to those who were distinct from the other birds - those really pure, those that have the power of flying to the knowledge of the heavenly Word. For not riches only, but also honour, and marriage, and poverty, have ten thousand cares for him who is unfit for them.

(90) All the eagles and vultures and ravens and kites were gathered together, and there came with them all the sheep of the field, yea, they all came together, and helped each other to break that horn of the ram.

(90) And I saw till the †shepherds and† eagles and those vultures and kites came, and †they cried to the ravens† that they should break the horn of that ram, and they battled and fought with it, and it battled with them and cried that its help might come.

(41) Which was best, its head or its tail?" He replied, "If its face was towards the town, And its tail to the villages, then its face was best. But if its tail was towards the town, and its face Towards the villages, then prefer its tail to its face." A bird flies with its wings towards its nest, If a lover be befouled with good and evil, Yet regard not these; regard rather his aspiration. Though a falcon be all white and unmatched in form, And if an owl fixes his affection on the king,