"The flock, huge and black as a cloud, soared into the sky and headed for the highest mountain in the world in search of the illustrious Semrug. The birds flew day and night, without breaks for sleep or food, exhausting themselves with their last strength, and finally reached the foot of the coveted mountain. Here they had to give up their wings and go on foot - the only way to climb that peak was through suffering.
First, the mountain path led them to the Valley of Searches, where those birds whose desire to reach the goal was not great enough perished.
Then they crossed the Valley of Love, where those suffering from unrequited love lay lifeless.
In the Valley of Knowledge died those whose minds were not inquisitive, and whose hearts were not open to new things.
In the treacherous Valley of Indifference, most of the birds perished - all those who could not equalize in their hearts grief and joy, love and hate, enemies and friends, the living and the dead.
Those who remained found themselves in the Valley of Unity, where everyone felt like everyone and everyone like everyone. The tired birds rejoiced, having tasted the sweetness of unity. But too early!
In the Valley of Confusion, shaken by thunderstorms, day and night, reality and fiction mixed together. Everything that the birds had learned with such difficulty during their long journey was swept away by the hurricane, and emptiness and hopelessness reigned in their souls. The path they had traveled seemed useless to them, and the life they had lived - lost. Many fell here, struck by despair. Only thirty of the most steadfast remained alive. With singed feathers, bleeding, mortally tired, they crawled to the last valley.
And there, in the Valley of Renunciation, only an endless expanse of water awaited them, and above it – eternal silence.
Then began the Land of Eternity, where there is no entry for the living. And the birds understood that they had reached the halls of Semrug, and by the joy growing in their hearts they sensed its approach.
At that moment they comprehended the essence: they are all Semrug. And each one separately, and all together"
Guzel Yakhina "Zuleikha opens her eyes".
