The Metaphor of Silence and Divine Fire

In Chapter 48, Poem 16 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the candle speaks of its silent suffering and paradoxical nature, employing two key mystical metaphors:

• Finger on the Lips (Silence and Astonishment): The candle asks how long it must keep its 'finger on its lips.' In Persian poetic tradition, putting a finger to the lips symbolises silence, bewilderment, and the preservation of secrets. The wick of the candle stands upright like a finger, visually embodying the mystic's vow of silence regarding divine mysteries.
• The Paradox of Fire and Wind: The poem presents a spiritual paradox where the candle is sustained by the very fire that consumes it ('The one who is kept alive by fire, who can burn him?'). This represents the mystic lover whose spiritual life is fueled by divine passion. Simultaneously, its physical form is highly fragile ('extinguished by a wind'), representing the ease of self-annihilation (fana) in the physical r...