Huma bird
The Huma (Persian: هما, pronounced Homā, Old Iranian: Humaya), also Homa, is a legendary bird especially of the Persian branch of Iranian mythology [1][2] and Sufi fable. It is said to never come to rest, living its entire life flying invisibly high above the earth, and never alighting on the ground (in some legends it is said to have no legs).[3]
Etymology
The word Huma which has a Persian origin is reflected in Old Iranian Humāya .[4] In Arabic we find the term Bulah corresponding to Huma.[5] The Sufi teacher Inayat Khan supposed that "in the word Huma, hu represents spirit, and the word mah originates from the Arabic "Ma'a" ماء which means water."[6] However, this is disputed, as Arabic influence on the Persian language came after the Islamization of Iran, and the Old Iranian name Humāya existed long before any invasion.
Beliefs
In some variations, the Huma bird is said to be phoenix-like, consuming itself in fire every few hundred years, only to rise anew from the ashes. The creature is often referred to as bird of paradise.[5][7] The Huma bird is said to have both the male and female natures in one body, each nature having one wing and one leg. The Huma or Homa is considered to be a compassionate bird. It is named as bird of fortune[5] since its shadow (or touch) is said to be auspicious.[8] The shadow (or the alighting) of the Huma bird on a person's head or shoulder were said to bestow (or foretell) kingship. Accordingly, the feathers decorating the turbans of kings were said to be plumage of the Huma bird.[9] Sufi teacher Inayat Khan gives the bestowed-kingship legend a spiritual dimension: "Its true meaning is that when a person's thoughts so evolve that they break all limitation, then he becomes as a king. It is the limitation of language that it can only describe the Most High as something like a king."[6]
In Sufi tradition, catching the Huma is even beyond the wildest imagination, but catching a glimpse of it or even a shadow of it is sure to make one happy for the rest of his/her life. It is also believed that Huma cannot be caught alive, and the person killing a Huma will die in forty days.[5]
In literature
The creature is a common motif in Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Urdu poetry traditions.
The legend appears in Farid ud-Din Attar's allegorical masterpiece Conference of the Birds, an eminent example of Sufi works in Persian literature, in which the Huma bird (in this tale portrayed as a pupil) refuses to undertake a journey because such an undertaking would compromise the privilege of bestowing kingship on those whom it flew over. In Iranian literature, this function of the Huma bird is identified with pre-Islamic monarchs, and stands vis-a-vis ravens, which is a metaphor for Arabs.[10] The legend appears in non-Sufi art as well.[11]
Some references to the creature also appear in Sindhi literature, where – as in the Diwan tradition – the creature is portrayed as bringing great fortune. In the Zafarnama of the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, a letter addressed to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb refers to the Huma bird as a "mighty and auspicious bird".
The Argentine writer J. L. Borges, in his short story The Aleph, briefly mentions a Persian mystic's talk of "a bird that somehow is all birds".[12]
Also referred to in movie "days of being wild" by Wong kar Wei and play "Orpheus Descending" by Tennessee Williams
Griffin Form
A British Museum catalog captions a photograph of the griffin-like capitals at Persepolis with "Column capital in the form of griffins (locally known as 'homa birds')"[13] The Persian language acronym for "Iran National Airline" is HOMA and the airline's emblem is the stylized rendering of a Persepolis capital
References
- ^ MacKenzie, D. N. (2005), A concise Pahlavi Dictionary, London & New York: Routledge Curzon, ISBN 0-19-713559-5
- ^ Mo'in, M. (1992), A Persian Dictionary. Six Volumes, Tehran: Amir Kabir Publications, ISBN 1-56859-031-8
- ^ Nile, Green (2006), "Ostrich Eggs and Peacock Feathers: Sacred Objects as Cultural Exchange between Christianity and Islam", Al Masaq: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean 18 (1): 27–78.
- ^ Doostkhah, Jalil (1991), Avesta – The Ancient Iranian Hymns & Texts, Tehran: Morvarid Publications, ISBN 964-6026-17-6
- ^ a b c d H. Dilek Batîslam, Mythological Birds of the Classical Ottoman Poetry: Huma, Anka and Simurg. (in Turkish), Türk Kültürü İncelemeleri Dergisi,İstanbul 2002, 185–208, retrieved 3 August 2009
- ^ a b Khan, Inayat (1923), "Abstract Sound", The Mysticism of Music, Sound and Word, wahiduddin.net.
- ^ cf. Andrews, Walter; Kalpakli, Mehmet (2005), The Age of Beloveds, Duke University Press, pp. 341–342.
- ^ Meher Baba; Anzar, Naosherwan (trans., ed.) (1981), The Master Sings, Meher Baba's Ghazals, San Francisco: Zeno.
- ^ Schimmel, Annemarie; Attwood, Corinne; Waghmar, Burzine (2004), The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture, Reaktion, p. 30.
- ^ Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2000), "Local Historiography in Early Medieval Iran and the Tārīkh-i Bayhaq", Iranian Studies 33 (1/2): 133–164, doi:10.1080/00210860008701979, p. 151.
- ^ cf. Goswamy, B. N. (1997), "Nainsukh of Guler: A Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill-State", Artibus Asiae, Supplementum 41: 5–304, p. 118.
- ^ http://www.phinnweb.org/links/literature/borges/aleph.html
- ^ Curtis, John; Tallis, Nigel, eds. (2005), Forgotten Empire, the World of Ancient Persia, London: British Museum Press, ISBN [[Special:BookSources/0-7141-1157-5|0-7141-1157-5 [[Category:Articles with invalid ISBNs]]]] Check
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