In the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Sanai employs contrasting nursing metaphors to illustrate the soul's relationship with divine providence versus the material world. While Section 18 depicts a benevolent nurse (*dayah*) whose alternating discipline and kindness represent God's wise and necessary nurturing of humanity, Section 38 utilizes the dark metaphor of the demonic wet-nurse (*Div-e Sepid*) whose milk represents deceptive worldly attachments that lead to spiritual ruin. Comparing these allegories reveals how Sanai uses the infant-caregiver dynamic as a versatile tool to represent both positive spiritual growth under divine care and negative regression under the influence of worldly desires.

Comparison of Nursing and Maternal Metaphors in Sanai's Hadiqat

In Section 18 of the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Sanai employs the allegory of a nurse (dayah) caring for an infant to explain divine providence and the wisdom behind life's trials. While a stranger might view the nurse's alternating kindness, discipline, and physical confinement of the child as cruel, the nurse acts out of superior knowledge of what is best. Sanai maps this to God's treatment of humanity, arguing that alternating periods of deprivation (hirman) and success (piroozi) are guided by divine wisdom and are necessary for the spiritual development and sustenance of human beings.

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## Original content
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آن نبینی که طفل را دایه 
گاه خردی به اولین پایه
گاه بندد ورا به گهواره 
گاه بر بر نهدش همواره
گه زند صعب و گاه بنوازد 
گاه دورش کند بیندازد
گاه بوسد به مهر رخسارش 
گاه بنوازد و کشد بارش
مرد بیگانه چون نگاه کند 
خشم گیرد ز دایه آه کند
گویدش نیست مهربان دایه 
بر او هست طفل کم مایه
تو چه دانی که دایه به داند 
شرط کار آنچنان همی راند
بنده را نیز کردگار به شرط 
می گذارد به جمله کار به شرط
آنچه باید همی دهد روزی 
گاه حرمان و گاه پیروزی
گاه بر سر نهد ز گوهر تاج 
گه به دانگی ورا کند محتاج
تو به حکم خدای راضی شو 
ور نه بخروش و پیش قاضی شو
تا ترا از قضاش برهاند 
ابله آنکس که اینچنین ماند
هرچه هست از بلا و عافیتی 
خیر محض است و شر عاریتی
بد به جز جلف و بی خرد نکند 
که نکوکار هیچ بد نکند
سوی تو نام زشت و نام نکوست 
ورنه محض عطاست هرچه ازوست
بد ازو در وجود خود ناید 
که خدا را بد از کجا شاید
آنکه آرد جهان به کن فیکون 
چون کند بد به خلق عالم چون
خیر و شر نیست در جهان سخن 
لقب خیر و شر به توست و به من
آن زمان کایزد آفرید آفاق 
هیچ بد نافرید بر اطلاق
مرگ این را هلاک و آنرا برگ 
زهر آن را غذای و این را مرگ
زاینه روی را هنر باشد 
گرچه پشتش پر از گهر باشد
آینه گر چو پشت روی سیاه 
بودیی کس نکردی ایچ نگاه
زاینه روی به بود خورشید 
پشت او خواه سیاه و خواه سپید
چون ترا از درون دل بنگاشت 
آینهٔ تو ز پیش دل برداشت

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## English translation
Do you not see that when the child is at the first stage of infancy,
Sometimes the nurse binds him in the cradle, and sometimes keeps him close to her bosom,
Sometimes she strikes him harshly, and sometimes she caresses him,
Sometimes she distances him and casts him aside,
Sometimes she kisses his cheek with love,
Sometimes she comforts him and bears his burden?
When a stranger looks upon this,
He gets angry with the nurse and sighs,
Saying: 'The nurse is not kind; the poor child is of little value to her.'
What do you know? The nurse knows better;
She carries out the requirements of her duty in that manner.
The Creator also sets conditions for the servant,
Letting all works proceed according to their proper terms.
He gives daily sustenance as is necessary,
Sometimes through deprivation and sometimes through success;
Sometimes He places a crown of jewels upon one's head,
And sometimes He makes him in need of a single mite.
Be content with God's decree,
Or else cry out and go before a judge,
So that he may free you from His decree!
Foolish is the one who remains in such a state.
Whatever exists of affliction and well-being,
Is absolute good, and evil is but accidental.
None but the vulgar and unwise commits evil,
For the doer of good does no evil at all.
To you, there are names of 'ugly' and 'beautiful,'
Otherwise, whatever comes from Him is pure bounty.
Evil does not emanate from Him in His very existence,
For how could evil befit God?
How could He who brings the world into being with 'Be, and it is,'
Do evil to the creatures of the universe? How?
In reality, there is no talk of good and evil in the world;
The labels of 'good' and 'evil' belong to you and to me.
At the time when God created the horizons,
He created absolutely no evil.
Death is destruction to one and provisions to another;
Poison is nourishment to one creature and death to another.
For a mirror, the virtue lies in its face,
Even if its back is filled with jewels.
If the mirror's face were as black as its back,
No one would look at it at all.
The sun is better than the face of a mirror,
Whether its back be black or white.
Since He painted you from within the heart,
He removed your mirror from before the heart.

بخش ۱۸ - فی زینة‌الاطفال / Section 18 - On the Ornament of Children

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