In Chapter 13, Poem 17 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the poet reflects on the painful realization of the ego's burden through deep personal experience. The poem asserts that true spiritual progress requires complete liberation from the self. Those who remain bound to their ego and fail to achieve self-freedom are condemned to spiritual ruin and overthrow, illustrating the central Sufi theme that the self (nafs) is the greatest obstacle to enlightenment.