スーフィーの伝統では、フマを捕まえることは想像を超えることだが、その姿を垣間見ること、あるいはその影を見ることは、その人の残りの人生を幸せにすることになるとされている。また、フーマは生きていては捕まえられないと信じられており、フーマを殺した者は40日後に死ぬと言われている<ref name="divan"/>。
オスマン帝国の詩では、この鳥はしばしば「極楽鳥」と呼ばれている<ref name="divan"/><ref>''cf''. Andrews, Walter, Kalpakli, Mehmet, The Age of Beloveds, 2005, Duke University Press, pages:341–342.</ref>。パラディサス科の種に関する初期のヨーロッパの記述では、この鳥には翼や脚がなく、鳥は生涯空中にいるものと想定されていた。
In [[Ottoman poetry]], the creature is often referred to as a '[[Bird-of-paradise|bird of paradise]]';<ref name="divan"/><ref>''cf''. {{citation|last=Andrews|first=Walter|last2=Kalpakli|first2=Mehmet|title=The Age of Beloveds|year=2005|publisher=Duke University Press|pages=341–342}}.</ref> early European descriptions of the [[Paradisaeidae]] species portrayed the birds as having no wings or legs, and the birds were assumed to stay aloft their entire lives.
In [[Attar of Nishapur]]'s allegorical masterpiece ''[[The Conference of the Birds]]'', an eminent example of Sufi works in [[Persian literature]], the Huma bird is portrayed as a pupil that refuses to undertake a journey because such an undertaking would compromise the privilege of bestowing kingship on those whom it flew over. In Iranian literature, this kingship-bestowing function of the Huma bird is identified with pre-Islamic monarchs, and stands vis-a-vis ravens, which is a metaphor for Arabs.<ref>{{citation|last=Pourshariati|first=Parvaneh|title=Local Historiography in Early Medieval Iran and the Tārīkh-i Bayhaq|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=33|issue=1/2|year=<!--Winter-Spring-->2000|pages=133–164|doi=10.1080/00210860008701979}}, p. 151.</ref> The legend appears in non-Sufi art as well.<ref>''cf''. <!-- "Balwant Singh on A Terrace Overlooking a River"-->{{citation|last=Goswamy|first=B. N.|title=Nainsukh of Guler: A Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill-State|journal=Artibus Asiae|series=Supplementum|volume=41|year=1997|pages=5–304}}, p. 118.</ref>