In this allegory from Attar's Mosibat Nameh, an ascetic asks Jesus to intercede and pray for him to receive just 'a single atom' of God's love. When Jesus later returns to visit the ascetic, he finds the once-beautiful temple shattered, buried in dirt, and its spring completely dried up.

The story serves as a profound metaphor for the overwhelming and annihilating power of divine love (مح��ت). It illustrates that true love for the Divine is not a comfortable or peaceful state, but a tremendous, destructive force that shatters worldly attachments, habitual worship, and the ego itself. Even a tiny fraction of this love is enough to completely consume the spiritual seeker and their physical surroundings.