⭐ Inayatiyya Fall Appeal 2024 – The Simurgh 🪞👑

We have raised $143,885.32 (89.9%) toward our goal. Our sincerest gratitude to everyone who has donated to the Inayatiyya this year! As ever, we are amazed by your generosity. We are within striking distance of our $160,000 goal – if you are still planning to make a donation but have not done so yet or are in a position to make an additional contribution (whatever the amount), now is the perfect time!

We hope to raise another $16,114.68 by midnight ET (New York time), on December 31. You can easily donate online through our website.

For many years I ran in that valley on the feet of understanding; till I became a bird whose body was of Oneness, whose wings were of Everlastingness. — Bâyezîd Bistâmî

December 30, 2024

As we near the end of our 2024 Fall Appeal campaign, we want to widen our focus and consider one additional creature that epitomizes the spirit of our journey: the mythical Simurgh.

Many on our caravan will already be familiar with the Simurgh from the great Persian Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar’s The Conference of the Birds. The world’s birds gather to decide who will be their king and ultimately set out to find the legendary Simurgh at the counsel of the wise hoopoe. They traverse seven valleys and experience much adversity. In the end, a group of thirty birds reaches the dwelling place of the Simurgh. What is the nature of the Simurgh? It is their reflection in the mirror of a great lake!

Then by reflection, the faces of the thirty birds of the world
The face of the Simurgh found, from the world.

When these thirty birds looked hard,
No doubt about it, these thirty birds were that “Thirty Birds.”

This reflects the poetic brilliance of Farid ud-Din Attar, who cleverly plays on the Persian expression si morgh, which translates to “thirty birds.” But on another level, this image of the Simurgh expresses a profound spiritual insight that goes far beyond superficial wordplay.

Were you to come back forty or fifty birds,
Still from yourselves would the veil be lifted.

Although numerous you have arrived,
You see yourself and it is yourself you have seen.

[…]

You are obliterated in Us in a hundred glories and graces
That through Us you might again discover yourselves.
[…]
The shadow has become lost in the Sun, and Peace be
upon you.

The Simurgh is the quintessence of “thirty birds” that shines through each of the thirty birds, individually and collectively.

We have spent the past three months turning to the wisdom of animals for spiritual instruction. Each non-human friend we encountered in the course of our meditation practice represented particular divine qualities and possibilities within ourselves. As we mentioned at the outset of the campaign, each has its own particular way of witnessing, experiencing, and participating in life. But regardless of whether our friends wear scales, feathers, fur, or hair, each friend is a reflection of the Friend of Friends.

And now it is our turn to unveil a little visual reference hidden in plain sight for our entire campaign. Regrettably, it cannot hold a candle to the sun of Attar’s brilliance – but we hope you can still enjoy the connection.

You might have noticed all of our Fall Appeal emails feature a painting of a regal woman (she’s technically a Pari) riding a horse. If you look closely, the horse is a composite of many different animals and humans. This is a recurring motif in Indian and Persian art. For all their manifest diversity, these many animals are that one horse!

We’ve had a lot of fun working on this Fall Appeal campaign and hope you have gotten something out of it too! As promised, here is the link for the complete Forest of Memory recording. We encourage you to follow the practice on your own in January!

With love,
Josh & Tajalli for the Inayatiyya Fall Appeal 2024 Campaign Committee
Noor Amina Peterson, Board Chair, Ambreen Coombs, Treasurer, Nilufar Hasnaa, Board Member, Jennifer Alia Wittman, Executive Director, Tajalli Roselli, Astana Staff, & Josh Octaviani, Astana Staff

PS— If you haven’t already registered for Pir Zia’s New Year Mini-retreat, you can find more information and the registration link here.

DONATE TODAY

The Inayatiyya is a non-profit 501c3 organization, Tax ID #23-7159641. Your donation may be fully deductible for tax purposes per United States IRS guidelines. Please note that donations made by check must be received by Friday, December 27th to be considered as within 2024. If you would like to make a donation by mail, please send it to Inayatiyya, 112 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219. Thank you!