In Section 15 of the Hadiqat al-Haqiqah, Sanai critiques the pursuit of paradise's physical pleasures—such as food, milk, and honey—categorizing this desire as 'metaphorical love' (عشق مجازی) rather than true divine love. He contrasts those who seek heavenly 'bounties' with the true friends of God (دوستان) who desire only the 'countenance' (لقا) and satisfaction (رضا) of the Beloved. This section reinforces the fundamental Sufi ideal that worshipping God for the sake of heavenly reward is a transactional, lower form of devotion, whereas true spiritual love seeks the Beloved unconditionally and entirely for His own sake.

Sanai's Critique of Heavenly Rewards as Metaphorical Love in the Hadiqat

In Section 6 of Fariduddin Attar's Asrar Nameh, Paradise is depicted not as a material reward but as the spiritual manifestation of a believer's virtues. The poem metaphorically describes the architecture of heaven, stating that its doors and walls are made of life, and its trees are composed of truthfulness (sidq), sincerity (ikhlas), and piety (taqwa). Attar emphasizes that the ability to perceive and enter this divine realm depends entirely on the soul's inner maturity and spiritual readiness developed during earthly life.

The Spiritual Symbolism of Paradise in Asrar Nameh Section 6

In the *Elahi Nameh*, Attar's tale of the youth possessing knowledge serves as a profound allegory of the Sufi pursuit of *liqa Allah* (the encounter with God) over the material rewards of Paradise. While the youth is situated in a grand heavenly palace surrounded by houris and thousands of windows, he remains entirely indifferent to these physical pleasures. Instead, through every window he opens, he sees only the Divine. This narrative illustrates that for the true gnostic (*arif*), Paradise is not a place of carnal gratification or physical luxury, but rather a locus for the continuous, unmediated contemplation of the Creator, making the vision of God the ultimate and only true reward.

The Priority of Divine Encounter Over Physical Paradise in Attar's Elahi Nameh

In Section 13 of the Hadiqat al-Haqiqah, Sanai distinguishes between the 'paradise of bodies' (behesht-e abdan), consisting of physical pleasures like houris and birds, and the 'paradise of God' (behesht-e yazdan), which is composed of wisdom and religion. Sanai critiques those who perform hypocritical worship (salusi) to attain physical rewards, arguing that those obsessed with houris and servants are themselves servants rather than masters. True spiritual love seeks only the divine beauty (jamal-e izad) and satisfaction in the spiritual realm (malakut). This critique of physical heavenly desires as a lesser, hypocritical pursuit serves as a conceptual prerequisite for understanding his broader arguments on metaphorical love and hypocritical asceticism.

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## Original content
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مرغ و حور از بهشت ابدانست 
حکمت و دین بهشت یزدانست
نبود جز جمال ایزد قوت 
عاشقان را به جنت ملکوت
تو چه دانی که می چه گیری قوت 
در چنین دل کجا رسد ملکوت
ملکوت از پی گدایی را 
جان دهد از پی رضایی را
آنکه در بند حور و غلمانست 
نیست خواجه که از غلامانست
آنکه در صف بارگاه ازل 
می سراید چو عندلیب غزل
چون گرفت از صفای صفوت قوت 
ملک را باز داند از ملکوت
چون نداری مناهی اندر پیش 
ز احتساب خرد به جو مندیش
تو چه دانی بهشت یزدان چیست 
چه شناسی که جنت جان چیست
کی برد شهوتت ترا به بهشت 
تات حور و قصور باید و کشت
همچو بربط ز فسق و سیرت زشت 
چشمتان هشت بهر هشت بهشت
ای به دل کرده دین به نامردی 
چند ازین نان و چند ازین خوردی
دلی آخر به دست کن روزی 
که درو باشدت ز دین سوزی
گیرم این جا ز دیوی و زوشی 
عیب خود بر همه همی پوشی
چون رسی در جهان بی چونی 
عیب گوید من اینکم چونی
تو همی پوش همچو عامهٔ خلق 
عیب خود بهر بارنامهٔ خلق
پس بدان تا هوا شود خشنود 
عذر می نه که عقلم این فرمود
گرچه بر خود بپوشی از پی فرع 
از درون شرم دار شرم از شرع
این همه طمطراق بیهودست 
عقل جز راستی نفرمودست
وآن کسانی که مرد این راهند 
از نهاد زمانه آگاهند
ستم دوست را چو از در اوست 
دوست دارند که دوست دارد دوست
خشم را از درون محمد وار 
جز برای شکار شرع مدار
حرص را سر بزن به تیغ وفا 
بخل را پی کن از صفای رضا
وآن خرانی که بار گل بکشند 
شربت صرف کار دل بچشند
همه را بینی اندرین بنیاد 
ز آتش دل دماغها پر باد
چون براین در نه ای سپهداری 
کم ز سگ بانئی مکن باری
گر نمیرد چنین سگی در تو 
از سگی کم بوی به محشر تو
از صفات سگی تهی کن رگ 
ورنه در رستخیز خیزی سگ
کمتر از سگ مباش و حق بشناس 
که به یک لقمه دارد از تو سپاس
خشم را دل مده به جاه ویسار 
سگ دیوانه بر درد هشیار
بر عاقل که یافت عقل و بصر 
فربهی دیگر و ورم دیگر
نبود چون بصیر مرد ضریر 
نیست حاجت مرا بدین تقریر
گرچه آبستنی ز دور زمن 
او هم از مرگ تست آبستن
جسم فربه مکن به لقمهٔ خوش 
کاسب فربه چو شد شود سرکش
روده کز باد گشت فربه و تر 
بدو سوزن شود سبک لاغر
ابلهان مانده اند بر سر پل 
پای در گل دو دست اندر غل
همه در آب این دو روزه نهاد 
تازه و تر چو رودهٔ پر باد
تو در این خطهٔ فساد و فجور 
از دل شاد مانده ای رنجور
گر تو هستی ز نسبت آدم 
هم ز خود زای با کمر چو قلم
اصل را هم به اصل باز رسان 
خوش به خوش بخش وناخوشی به خسان
عقل و علمست آفت منحوس 
پر و بالست فتنهٔ طاوس
هرچه گویی نه در ره آدم 
دیو و دد دیده گیرد اندر دم
کبک سنت به بوستان نیاز 
کی درآید چو در خرامد باز
گو سبک روح نیست دختر دین 
هست اندر جهان گران کابین
نشود دل تهی ز پر گویی 
پس تو خون را به خون چرا شویی
زان ترا گوشمال داد فلک 
زیر چرخ کیان فراز سمک
تا نگویی جواب بوالحکمان 
ور بگویی چو کوه گوی همان

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## English translation
Birds and houris belong to the paradise of bodies,
Wisdom and religion are the paradise of God.
The sustenance of lovers in the celestial heaven
Is nothing but the beauty of God.
How do you know what sustenance you are taking?
In such a heart, how can the celestial realm arrive?
For the sake of begging in the celestial realm,
One gives his soul for the sake of attaining His satisfaction.
He who is in bondage to houris and youth,
Is not a master, but is among the servants.
He who in the rank of the court of eternity
Sings ghazals like a nightingale,
When he receives nourishment from the purity of selection,
He distinguishes the physical world from the celestial world.
Since you do not have prohibitions in front of you,
Do not worry even a barleycorn's worth about the reckoning of intellect.
How do you know what God's paradise is?
How do you recognize what the paradise of the soul is?
How can your lust carry you to paradise,
When you desire houris, castles, and cultivated fields?
Like a lute, through sin and an ugly character,
Your eyes have opened for the sake of the eight paradises.
O you who have accepted religion with unmanliness in your heart,
How much of this bread and how much of this have you eaten?
At last, acquire a heart one day,
In which there is a burning passion for religion.
Suppose that here, out of devilry and ugliness,
You completely conceal your faults from everyone.
When you arrive in the world of the beyond,
Your fault will speak: 'Here I am, how are you?'
Keep concealing, like the common folk,
Your fault for the sake of reputation among people.
Then, know that so your passion becomes pleased,
You offer the excuse: 'My intellect commanded me to do this.'
Even if you conceal it from yourself for secondary reasons,
Have shame from within, shame of the divine law.
All this pomp and display is in vain;
Intellect has commanded nothing but truthfulness.
And those who are the men of this path,
Are aware of the nature of time.
They love the cruelty of the Friend, since it comes from His door,
Because the Friend loves what the Friend does.
Do not harbor anger within you, in the manner of Muhammad,
Except for hunting down the violators of the divine law.
Behead greed with the sword of fidelity;
Hamstring stinginess with the purity of satisfaction.
And those donkeys that carry the load of clay,
Will they taste the pure drink of the heart's work?
You see them all in this foundation,
Their brains full of wind from the fire of the heart.
Since you are not a commander at this door,
At least do not act less than a watchdog.
If such a dog does not die within you,
You will be less than a dog at the Resurrection.
Empty your veins of canine qualities,
Otherwise, at the Resurrection, you will rise as a dog.
Do not be less than a dog, and know what is right,
For a dog is grateful to you for a single morsel.
Do not surrender your heart to anger for the sake of position and wealth;
A mad dog tears apart even the sober.
To the wise person who has found intellect and sight,
Fatness is one thing, and swelling is another.
A blind man is not like a sighted man;
There is no need for me to elaborate on this.
Even if you are pregnant by the passage of time,
Time is also pregnant with your death.
Do not make the body fat with delicious morsels,
For when a horse becomes fat, it becomes rebellious.
An intestine that has become fat and moist with gas,
Becomes light and thin with two needles.
Fools are left at the head of the bridge,
Feet in the mud, both hands in chains.
All in the water of this transient existence,
Fresh and moist like an inflated intestine.
You, in this domain of corruption and vice,
Have remained afflicted despite a potentially cheerful heart.
If you are of the lineage of Adam,
Be born of yourself, girded like a pen.
Return the origin to the origin;
Give the pleasant to the pleasant, and the unpleasant to the wicked.
Intellect and worldly knowledge are a sinister plague,
Just as feathers and wings are the affliction of the peacock.
Whatever you say that is not in the path of Adam,
Demons and wild beasts will immediately catch your eye.
How can the partridge of tradition enter the garden of need,
When the hawk strides in?
Say, the daughter of religion is not light-spirited;
She has a heavy dowry in the world.
The heart does not become empty of excessive talking;
So why do you wash blood with blood?
For that reason, heaven gave you a warning,
Beneath the wheel of kings, high above the fish.
Lest you answer the foolish pretenders of wisdom,
And if you do speak, speak only like a mountain.

بخش ۱۳ - اندر طلب بهشت به سالوسی / Section 13 - On Seeking Paradise Through Hypocrisy

In Section 11 of the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Sanai condemns the indulgence in carnal lust (*shahwat*) and the pursuit of physical beauties (*butan*). He warns the spiritual seeker that while these objects of desire may outwardly appear radiant and angelic—likening themselves to houris—they are inwardly destructive. Sanai employs harsh metaphors, describing them as demons (*div*) and venomous snakes (*mar*) with poison in their fangs, arguing that they tear the heart and pierce the soul. The poem emphasizes that yielding to such lust binds individuals to base, selfish desires, ultimately destroying their spiritual dignity and inner well-being.

Sanai's Condemnation of Lust and the Illusion of Physical Beauty

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Ganjoor

Sanai's Distinction Between Physical and Spiritual Paradise in the Hadiqat

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زهد ورزی برای مرداری 
پس چه گویی که من کیم باری
تو از این زهد توبه جوی نصوح 
ورنه بی دل روی به عالم روح
چو تو سقمونیا خوری به نیاز 
آنگه از ریدنت که دارد باز
در غم آن دمی که رفت از دست 
گری و خون گری که جایش هست
دور و نزدیک بی من و با من 
سطح آبست حافظ روغن
آن دبیری که خورد خیره صبر 
رید چندانکه شد چو لاشه دبر
باش تا دینش بازخواست کند 
تا چو خامه چگونه کاست کند
هرکه جویای عالم غیب است 
شمع در دست و اشک در جیب است
تو نه نیکی نه قابل نیکی 
مرد کاکا و کو کو و کی کی
باش تا نقش عز نماید ذل 
باش تا عذر جزو خواهد کل
گلبن از جور دی نماید خار 
باش تا گل نمایدت به بهار
فتوی اندر ره فتوت نیست 
نبوت اندر دم نبوت نیست
چون فلک سال و مه ز نامردی 
گرد اجرام خویش می گردی

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## English translation
You practice asceticism for the sake of carrion,
Then what can you say about who you truly are?
Seek sincere repentance from this asceticism,
Otherwise you will go heartless to the world of spirit.
When you eagerly consume scammony,
Then who can stop you from excreting?
In sorrow for that breath which was lost,
Weep, and weep blood, for it is warranted.
Far and near, without me and with me,
The surface of the water preserves the oil.
That scribe who obstinately consumed aloe,
Excreted so much that his behind became like a corpse.
Wait until religion holds him accountable,
To see how he wastes away like a pen.
Whoever is a seeker of the unseen world,
Has a candle in hand and tears in his collar.
You are not good, nor capable of goodness,
A man of meaningless babble and clucking.
Wait until the mark of honor reveals humiliation,
Wait until the whole demands the excuse of the part.
The rosebush shows thorns from the cruelty of winter,
Wait until it shows you the rose in spring.
Giving decrees is not the way of spiritual chivalry,
Prophethood is not in the breath of prophethood.
Like the heavens, month and year, out of unmanliness,
You revolve around your own heavenly bodies.

بخش ۱۴ - اندر زهد ریایی / Section 14 - On Hypocritical Asceticism

## Original content
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در بهشت از نه اکل و شربستی 
کی ترا زی نماز قربستی
منبلی گفت بر درش قائم 
زان شدستم که اکلها دائم
دوستداران درگهش سمرند 
لقمه خواران خلد او دگرند
برهٔ شیر مست و مرغ سمین 
چشم داری ز وی بیوم الدین
دوستان زو همه لقا خواهند 
در دعا زو همه رضا خواهند
تو ز وی روز عرض نان خواهی 
می و شیر و عسل روان خواهی
میل تو هست جمله سوی طعام 
نه به دارالخلود و دارلسلام
حظ دنیای جفت رنج و تعب 
هست ملبوس و مطعم و مشرب
منکح و مسکن و سماع و لقا 
وعده داده ست مر ترا فردا
تو چو در بند و قید هر هفتی 
به درش زان سبب همی رفتی
گر ندادیت وعده این هر هفت 
زود پیدا شدی ترا آکفت
نه ورا بنده ای نه در بندی 
از در گریه ای چرا خندی
خویشتن بین بوی چو دیو مدام 
تا بوی زیر چرخ آینه فام
تا به زیر زمانهٔ کهنست 
نفس در آرزو مراغه زنست
مرغ دولت چو خانگی نبود 
زاغ هرجای بودنی برود
نفس در پیش عشق سگداریست 
نفس در راه عشق بیکاریست
هم بدین پای بند و لطف غریب 
تاج سر گشت و گوشمال ادیب
هست گفتارت از چه بیم آری 
درد پهلو و رنج بیماری
نه چه پهلوی عایشه بشکست 
گفت پیغمبرش که بردی دست
خارکی را که می خلد در پای 
دستگاهی بساختست خدای
زانکه داند کرم که محض کرم 
بکند ضایع آن عنا و الم
تو دعا گویی و اجابت نه 
زانکه داری دل و انابت نه
زانکه داند خدای انابت را 
حکمتش مانع است اجابت را

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## English translation
If not for the food and drink in Paradise,
When would you ever approach prayer?
A sluggard said, "I stand steadfast at His door,
Because the meals there are everlasting."
The lovers of His court are celebrated in story,
While the morsel-eaters of His heaven are of another sort.
A milk-fed lamb and a plump bird—
This is what you expect from Him on the Day of Judgment.
His friends desire only the vision of His face,
In their prayers, they seek only His satisfaction.
But you demand bread from Him on the Day of Reckoning,
You want flowing wine, milk, and honey.
Your inclination is entirely toward food,
Not toward the Abode of Eternity or the Abode of Peace.
The worldly share, paired with pain and toil,
Consists of clothing, food, and drink;
Marriage, dwelling, music, and meeting—
These He has promised you for tomorrow.
Since you are bound and fettered by all seven,
It is only for that reason you go to His door.
If He had not promised you these seven things,
Your reluctance would have quickly appeared.
You are neither His servant nor truly devoted;
You belong to the house of weeping, so why do you laugh?
You will constantly be self-conceited like a demon,
As long as you reside beneath this mirror-like sphere.
As long as one is subject to ancient time,
The ego wallows in its own desires.
Since the bird of fortune was not a tame, domestic one,
The ubiquitous crow goes wherever it will.
The ego, in the presence of love, is mere dog-keeping;
The ego, on the path of love, is idleness.
With this same fetter and strange grace,
The crown of the head became the reprimand of the teacher.
Your speech is: "What do you fear?
The pain in the side and the suffering of illness."
Was it not when Aisha's side was hurt,
Her Prophet told her that she prevailed?
For a small thorn that pricks the foot,
God has ordained a remedy.
For Grace knows that pure Grace
Will wipe away that hardship and pain.
You offer prayers, yet there is no answer,
Because you have a heart, but no true repentance.
Because God knows the reality of repentance,
His wisdom prevents the answering of your prayer.

بخش ۱۵ - در عشق مجازی / Section 15 - On Metaphorical Love

In the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah* (Section 22), Sanai offers a stern ethical critique of pederasty (*gholam-baregi*) and base sensual passions. He argues that yielding to these physical desires degrades human dignity, leading individuals to abandon their honor (*nam o nang*) and neglect their spiritual hearts. Sanai warns that these lusts act as destructive forces that weaken moral agency, presenting them as spiritual illnesses (*tamriz*) that seekers must overcome to attain higher intellectual and spiritual states.

Sanai's Criticism of Pederasty and Sensual Lust in the Hadiqat

In Section 25 of 'Hadiqat al-Haqiqah', Sanai uses the mocking tale of the beggar Yozeh, who abandons his spiritual journey (Hajj) upon encountering a beautiful woman, to illustrate the fragility of religious devotion in the face of carnal temptation. This narrative serves as an example of using jest (hazl) to convey profound moral and mystical warnings about the human ego's susceptibility to distraction.

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