Allegorical meaning

In this section of Jami's Haft Awrang, a shrewd traveler in Baghdad meets a small child clutching a large loaf, eating it yet weeping. The child explains that although the loaf is generous, his hunger is so vast that the bread seems tiny, and he already grieves because he knows it will soon be gone, leaving him with neither food in hand nor a satisfied stomach.

The tale works as a Sufi allegory: the finite loaf stands for worldly, material provision, while the child's boundless appetite figures the insatiable longing of the soul. Every earthly satisfaction is limited and transient, so awareness of its inevitable end turns even present enjoyment into sorrow. The poem then turns to the wine-and-cup (saqi) motif, appealing for the intoxicating draught that alone grants true satiety and lion-like strength — the divine nourishment that worldly bread can never supply.

The piece teaches that the human heart cannot be filled by finite goods and points the seeker to...