In Attar's The Conference of the Birds, the allegory of Majnun sifting through street dust to find Layla represents the spiritual seeker's relentless pursuit of the Divine. Despite the apparent futility of finding a 'pure pearl' in the dirt, Majnun's actions illustrate the Sufi principle of seeking the Beloved in all places and circumstances. It signifies that no effort or location is too lowly when driven by true, consuming love, as the seeker hopes to find even a fleeting trace of the Beloved everywhere.