That journey is an allegory for Sufism, making this author the foremost Sufi poet before Rumi.
This poet's major work contains the story of a fisherboy who is befriended by King Mas'oud, and culminates in a discovery which relies on a pun based on the fact that exactly thirty of the title characters are present. The first complete English translation of that work was by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis. His only surviving prose work is a collection of biographies called Memorial of the Saints, which included a biography of al-Hallaj, who famously declared "I am the Truth." In his major work, the title characters make excuses for not wanting to go on a journey, but they are rebutted by the hoopoe, who instructs them on how to travel through seven valleys, including the valley of detachment, to reach their king, the Simurgh. That journey is an allegory for Sufism, making this author the foremost Sufi poet before Rumi. For 10 points, name this author of The Conference of the Birds.
This poet's major work contains the story of a fisherboy who is befriended by King Mas'oud, and culminates in a discovery which relies on a pun based on the fact that exactly thirty of the title characters are present.
Farid ud-Din Attar [accept either name, or Abu Hamid bin Abu Bakr Ibrahim]