Overview

In this allegory from Farid al-Din Attar's Mosibat Nameh, Nizam al-Mulk offers to grant a pious Sufi any request. The Sufi rejects the offer, stating that since he asks nothing of God, he has no need to ask anything of a temporal ruler.

Self-Annihilation and Divine Presence

When Nizam al-Mulk requests to be remembered by the Sufi during his moments of intimacy with God, the Sufi highlights the concept of self-annihilation (fana):

• Eradication of Self: In the state of true presence with the Divine, the mystic's own self is completely dissolved, leaving no conscious ego to remember anyone else.
• Exclusion of Others: The Sufi explains that since he himself cannot fit into that unified state, there is no possibility of remembering or bringing others into it.