Explanation

This poem from Chapter 47 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh uses the classic Sufi metaphor of the candle to depict the irreversible nature of fana (spiritual self-annihilation) on the path of divine love.

Initially, the seeker's heart resolved to tread the path of the beloved and restart it upon completion. However, the poem illustrates that the spiritual journey is not a repeatable cycle. Like a candle that is entirely consumed by its own burning flame, the traveler is completely annihilated (fana) by the intensity of divine love at the end of the path. Having 'died in burning,' the seeker no longer possesses an independent ego or existence to 'take up the path anew.' Complete spiritual consummation is permanent and absolute, leaving no self behind to restart the journey.