Here is a link with general information on the people and languages of Iran which include Indo-Iranians (70%) who speak Persian and its related dialects, Lurs and Bakhtiaris, Baluchis, Kurds, Armenians; Turkic-speaking peoples (28%), Azarbaijanis, Qashqais; and Semitic language peoples including Arabs, Assyrians and Jews. A large influx of Afghan immigrants means that Pashto (also an Indo-Iranian language) is spoken more frequently in Iran these days as well. The people also practice a variety of religions.

Diversity Rocks!

The picture below is of a mural near the Shahe Cherag Mosque in Shiraz.

It shows a bird and the inscription says "Aqebat simorqeshAn simorq shod" which means "In the end, their thirty birds became "simorq"." This is, of course, a reference to the Sufi story of the thirty birds that set out in search of a mythic bird called "Simorq." At the end of many adventures and spiritual steps, they discover that they themselves, collectively, are the "Simorq" which means, literally, "thirtybird".

This story, told by the poet Farideddin Attar, in "Conference of the Birds", is usually considered a metaphor/parable about spiritual awakening in an individual. It also works very well as a metaphor/parable for the power of a diverse community. Each bird represents a different ethnic or religious group or type of person, individually they have their strengths and weakenesses, but when they unite, they reach their highest good.

We think this is a very useful myth-story-philosophy around which to celebrate and leverage diversity in a community. We are therefore promoting a "Let's get Simorg-anized" campaign! Click here for details.