In Attar's Mosibat-Nameh, the tale of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid facing extreme thirst in the desert serves as a Sufi allegory on the insignificance and transience of worldly power. When an ascetic asks the Caliph if he would trade his entire kingdom—half for a single drink of water to save his life, and the other half to relieve himself of it—Harun admits he would. The narrative illustrates that a sovereign's vast empire is ultimately worth no more than a single cup of water and its excretion, urging the seeker to look beyond temporary material status toward eternal spiritual reality.