Concept

Absolute Divine Proximity and Egoic Alienation in Attar's Mokhtar Nameh (Chapter 5, Poem 7)

In Chapter 5, Poem 7 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the poet explores the paradox of humanity's existential distance from its true self in contrast to God's absolute proximity. The quatrain asserts that only the Divine court holds true reality and that 'all is We,' reflecting the Sufi doctrine of absolute non-duality. However, the human being is 'a hundred thousand leagues away from yourself,' trapped in the illusion of the ego and unaware of their divine essence. Conversely, God is infinitely close to the individual—with 'not a hair's breadth of a path' between Divine existence and humanity, echoing the Islamic theological concept of God being closer than the jugular vein. This contrasts the soul's profound spiritual alienation with the inescapable, omnipresent reality of the Divine.

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Updated 2026-07-03

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Humanities

Literature

Persian Literature Prerequisite Course