Michael Barry: 'The Canticle of the Birds' - Part 2

Part 2 of 2 part video. Professor Michael Barry discusses the Canticle of the Birds at Stanford University on February 7, 2019.

The Iranian mystic `Attâr's magnificent early 13th-century Persian-language Sufi epic in verse, the Manteq-ot-Tayr or "Canticle of the Birds", tells of the quest of all the world's birds, symbolizing human souls, to find the mythical Sun-Bird (Sîmorgh) to be their ruler.

In 1487, Sultan Husayn Mîrzâ of Herât (in what is now Afghanistan) commissioned the world's most beautiful manuscript of the poem illustrated by the finest artists in his kingdom including the renowned Master Behzâd. Still more paintings were added in 1609 in Esfahân, by command of Shâh `Abbâs, for presentation of the manuscript to the royal Safavid family shrine in Ardabîl. Today the priceless manuscript—a showcase of glorious Persian painting—is preserved in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The lecture with slides explores the deep symbolic links between the text and its images, uncovering the precise allegorical code of classical "Persian miniatures."

Dr. Michael Barry, fluent in Persian and a scholar of Arabic, was born in New York City in 1948 but raised in France and writes in both English and French, winning many literary prizes in both. He holds higher degrees from Princeton, Cambridge, McGill, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris.

Dr. Barry is recognized as a leading authority on Islamic art and also on Afghanistan—a country where his work over five decades has ranged from anthropological research to coordinating humanitarian assistance and where he is now Distinguished Professor at the American University in Kabul. He previously taught for thirteen years at his alma mater, Princeton, while also advising layouts for the new Islamic galleries at the New York Metropolitan Museum and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

His published work on `Attâr's poem received the Prize for Art History from the Académie Française in 2013 and, in 2014, the World Book Award on Persian Civilization from the National Academy of Iran. Afghanistan's authorities just awarded Dr. Barry their 2018 Avicenna Prize "for promoting inter-cultural dialogue and peace."

[hidar]

Absolutely illuminating. Thank you Professor Barry. Worth every moment of listening the lecture.

[MsLastduchess]

Surprised that there is no other comment but mine. I absolutely loved this lecture and learned a lot from it.

[dr.sammasud]

Wow! If a comprehensive analysis was existing. This is the one. Thanks Professor. Very connected and events, capturing flow of events. All details are so precise.

[lybaonaiz]

This was the most beautiful thing ive ever seen on youtube, amazing research!

[rezasar]

I have watched this part and the previous one, which did not rise to my expections. I was expecting these two conferences to be about the book "Canticle of the Birds", as announced. Speaker could have summed up his two lectures into three essential parts: History/Apprehensions of some birds at the start of journey/ Seven courses towards Simorgh. What I heard/watched was only part of history! As Queen Victoria would have said:THESE TWO LECTURES LEAVE A LOT TO BE DESIRED!!

[brendantannam]

Fascinating! I'm translating a book into English that investigates Gnostic (Cathar, in particular) belief in Dante's Divine Comedy. It is called Liberta Va Cercando (He Goes In Search Of Freedom) by Maria Soresina. This lecture gives a great overview of Gnostic thought in Dante's time. If you're interested, the translation is a work in progress on YT under the title He Goes In Search Of Freedom.