In Farid al-Din Attar's Mosibat Nameh, the tale of Bahlool sitting on a bridge serves as an allegory for the transience of the material world. When Caliph Harun al-Rashid admonishes Bahlool for sitting on the bridge, Bahlool retorts that the entire world is a bridge and questions why the Caliph has established a permanent dwelling upon it. Attar uses this metaphor to caution against attachment to earthly life, emphasizing that the world is a temporary crossing rather than a permanent home.