In Chapter 19, Poem 2 of Mokhtar Nameh, Attar highlights two absolute barriers on the spiritual path: distraction (scattered attention) and the ego. He asserts that true spiritual poverty (faqr) is incompatible with a divided mind. Furthermore, retaining even the slightest trace of selfhood—metaphorically described as a 'single hair' of ego—makes it blasphemous to claim any connection to the Divine Beloved.