Overview

In Chapter 47, Poem 53 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the metaphor of the candle is utilized to depict the ideal path of the mystical lover. The candle's physical process of burning down and melting away represents the complete self-annihilation (fana) required in divine love.

Key Themes

• Increase of Burning and Sorrow: The lover's inward suffering and weeping increase constantly, compared to a candle's burning and melting wax ('from weeping, my embrace became full of blood like the twilight').
• Annihilation of the Ego: The phrase 'collapses from his feet and departs through his head' (از پای درآمد و به سر بیرون شد) presents a vivid image of the candle melting entirely from its base upward, culminating in the flame at the top.
• True Love as Self-Loss: In mystical love, a 'true' lover is one who, like the candle, completely consumes their physical existence to transcend and be liberated spiritually.