Both Sanai and Rumi employ the metaphor of slaying 'four birds' to represent the process of spiritual liberation, but they assign different symbolic meanings to the birds. In his Hadiqat al-Haqiqah, Sanai uses the four birds to symbolize the four classical elements (earth, water, air, fire) that compose the physical body, emphasizing the soul's need to transcend base material existence. In contrast, Rumi's Masnavi uses the four birds—identified specifically as the duck, rooster, peacock, and crow—to symbolize four detrimental traits of the ego or nafs (greed, lust, pride, and worldly ambition) that the seeker must mortify and purify.