In Chapter 33, Poem 41 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the poet explores the paradox of the spiritual path where the seeker's heart actively desires hardship. The heart seeks the "difficult ordeal" (واقعهٔ مشکل) and the "affliction of love" (بلای عشق) as a necessary condition for divine proximity. Rather than avoiding suffering, the heart recognizes that the affliction bestowed by the Beloved is the very purpose and sustenance of the lover's existence.