Overview

In Chapter 47, Poem 60 of the Mokhtar Nameh, Attar employs the candle metaphor to counsel seekers against spiritual apathy and earthly desire, emphasizing that the transformative pain of divine love is the only remedy for a cold, lifeless soul.

Key Concepts

• The Fragility of Lust: Attar warns that a life spent in worldly desires (havas) is fragile and easily extinguished in a single breath, like a weak flame.
• The Cold Candle (Shame-e Fosordeh): A candle that does not burn represents spiritual stagnation and coldness (afsordegi).
• Transformation through Burning: When the cold candle enters the path of love, it must be set ablaze. The burning of the candle symbolizes the soul being consumed by divine love, which paradoxically dispels its coldness and grants it true spiritual life.