In Farid al-Din Attar's Asrar Nameh, the parable of the parrot and the mirror is used to illustrate the hidden nature of the Divine and the illusion of independent worldly existence. In the tale, a parrot is placed before a mirror while its trainer hides behind it and speaks. The parrot, seeing its reflection, believes another bird is speaking and mimics the words. Attar uses this metaphor to explain that the phenomenal world is merely a mirror. Humans perceive forms and reflections, mistakenly believing that words, actions, and agency originate from themselves or other entities. In reality, the true speaker and actor is the hidden Divine presence behind the mirror of existence, and all forms are but reflections.