The Feather of the Simurgh
The feather given by the great bird Simurgh to the abandoned prince Zal and later to his son Rostam, to be burned whenever they needed the bird's aid, at whose smoke Simurgh came flying from Mount Alborz. In the Shahnameh the feather carries the infant Zal to safety when he is cast out for his white hair, and in Rostam's direst need, when the hero lies bound and helpless in a pit, the burning feather summons Simurgh, who teaches him how to escape. The gesture became so fixed that the burning of a simurgh feather is a standing motif of Persian heroic poetry. In later Sufi writing it became an e