In Section 27 of Chapter 9 of the Hadiqat al-Haqiqah, Sanai employs a bold, satirical allegory to criticize religious and spiritual hypocrisy. The story describes a learned scholar (khwajah) from Herat who, lacking a private space, takes a youth to an empty mosque for intimacy. A self-styled ascetic (zahid) discovers them and harshly rebukes the scholar, declaring that such immoral acts cause droughts and bring divine wrath upon the community. The scholar flees in shame, but from a distance, he observes the same ascetic entering the mosque and immediately engaging in the very same act with the youth. The scholar points out the hypocrisy, noting that the act was deemed forbidden when committed by him but treated as permissible when done by the ascetic.

Through this provocative and humorous tale, Sanai exposes the deep-seated hypocrisy, moral double standards, and false piety (riya') of self-righteous religious figures who condemn others for the very transgressions they priva...