Comparison of Time and Lifespan Metaphors in Hadiqat al-Haqiqah

Sanai employs several distinct metaphors across different sections of the Hadiqat al-Haqiqah to illustrate how time continuously consumes human lifespan:

• Melting Ice (Section 5): Represents a person's finite life capital melting away under the sun of time, highlighting the waste of one's existence on worldly illusion.
• Steps of a Journey (Section 6): Depicts human life as a continuous, unidirectional journey toward death, where every breath represents a physical step closer to the end.
• The Piebald Rope and Cosmic Noose (Section 18): Symbolizes the alternation of day and night as a two-toned rope or a cosmic noose thrown by time around human necks to devour their lifespans.
• Gnawing Mice (Section 59): Symbolizes night and day as black and white mice continuously gnawing the fragile roots of the bush (representing human life) that a wayfarer clings to.