In Chapter 7, Poem 17 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the poet emphasizes that the greatest obstacle and affliction on the spiritual path is the illusion of one's own existence. While a seeker might claim their heart is intoxicated with love or their soul is deeply bound to the primordial covenant of Alast, these spiritual states are superficial if the ego still persists. Attar asserts that the true trial of love requires the complete negation of the self, as assuming one's own independent existence contradicts the absolute reality of the Divine.