Hear

The Birds have departed by the thousands; travelling for many years, crossing summits and chasms, they have spent almost all their lives in this voyage. However, out of these thousands, there are only a small number left who listened to the hoopoe's warning so as to arrive at the sublime goal. The vast majority disappear, some of them submerged in the Ocean, others stuck on high summits, and still others baked to a crisp by the harsh sun, devoured by ferocious beasts, or simply exhausted by fatigue in the desert. Even more sadly, some of them kill each other, or stop in a group at some place, drawn into vain pleasures there, and finally die after having forgotten the object of their quest. In sum, out of the thousands of birds who originally filled the universe, only thirty are left. And even they have been exhausted, broken, their souls flattened and their hearts broken.