In Attar's The Conference of the Birds, the tale of Dhu al-Nun encountering forty dead patchwork-wearers explores the Sufi concept of divine love as a form of spiritual martyrdom. When Dhu al-Nun questions God about the death of these seekers, a divine voice answers that God Himself slays them and pays their blood-money (diyat) by offering Himself as the ultimate reward. This illustrates the mystic belief that true surrender to God requires the death of the self (fana), and the ultimate compensation for this sacrifice is union with the Divine.