In this parable from Attar's Asrar Nameh, a sorrowful madman (Majnun) is asked to explain the nature of the world's people. He compares them to a cupper's glasses, which mindlessly and temporarily fill themselves with blood and air. The allegory illustrates the foolishness of worldly attachments and the transient nature of earthly joy. The madman advises silence and detachment, concluding that in this material world, every moment of joy brings subsequent sorrow, and there is no union without separation, just as there is no rose without a thorn.