The phoenix after al-Firuzabadi

The phoenix is an enormous bird with more than forty holes in his beak from which all kind of tunes issue forth. Perched at the summit of mountains, it gathers fuel and laments its fate for forty days; all gather around him to listen and fall under his spell. Next it settles on the pyre, flap its wings to light the fire and hasten the flames until in the end it is consumed. And from his ashes a bird rises.

Translation by the course translator of the French text for Majd ud-Din ul-Fairuzabadi, Al-Qamus Al-Muhit, II, Egypt, Dâr al-Ma'moun, 4th edition, 1938, p. 237. Translation of the French by the course translator