well. The kingship-bestowing function of the Huma bird reappear in Indian stories of the Mughal era, in which the shadow (or the alighting) of the Huma bird on a person's head or shoulder were said to bestow (or foretell) kingship. Accordingly, the feathers decorating the turbans of kings were said to be plumage of the Huma bird. Sufi teacher Inayat Khan gives the bestowed-kingship legend a spiritual dimension: "Its true meaning is that when a person's thoughts so evolve that they break all limitation, then he becomes as a king. It is the limitation of language that it can only describe the Most High as something like a king." The Huma bird symbolizes unreachable highness in Turkish folk literature. Some references to the creature also appear in Sindhi literature, where – as in the diwan tradition – the creature is portrayed as bringing great fortune. In the Zafarnama of Guru Gobind Singh, a letter addressed to Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb refers to the Huma bird as a "mighty and auspicious bird". Legacy A British Museum catalog captions a photograph of the griffin-like capitals at Persepolis with "Column capital in the form of griffins (locally known as 'homa birds')". The Persian language acronym for "Iran National Airline" is HOMA and the airline's emblem has a stylized rendering of a Huma bird. The Emblem of Uzbekistan represents the Huma bird. Herman Melville briefly alludes to the bird in Moby-Dick. At the beginning of the chapter entitled "The Tail", the narrator speaks of "the bird that never alights." It provides the title of Bird's Shadow, a collection of short stories by Ivan Bunin. It is also referred to in the movie Days of Being Wild by Wong Kar-wai and the play "Orpheus Descending" by Tennessee Williams. The literature series Dragonlance named Krynn's greatest hero, Huma Dragonbane, after the Huma bird. the asteroid 3988 Huma discovered by Eleanor F. Helin named after the Huma bird. The asteroid's name was suggested by the SGAC Name An Asteroid Campaign Nomenclature Although the Huma is a mythical bird, it is attributed to an existing bird of prey- bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus). The species therefore has a sacred connection to mythology, and is revered by many people. In general, Iranian (Parsi) traditions consider vultures as beneficial creatures due to their ability to efficiently and cleanly scavenge corpses and carrion, thereby preventing contamination of the soil and water. However, the