In Section 12 of the Hadiqat al-Haqiqah, Sanai employs the metaphor of the painted bathhouse lion (shir-e garmabeh) contrasted with the real forest lion (shir-e bisheh) to illustrate the illusion of the material world. He admonishes the reader for mistaking superficial, inanimate representations or sensory experiences for true spiritual reality. Just as a painted lion on a bathhouse wall has no real power or life, the material world is merely an empty form. Sanai urges the seeker to transcend these external images and recognize the 'world of meaning' (alam-e ma'ni).