In Poem 109 of Chapter 47 in the Mokhtar Nameh, Attar uses physical and medical metaphors to describe the candle's burning as a wasting disease (deq).

Key Metaphorical Elements

• Wax and Wick as Causes of Wasting (Deq): The candle's components—wax (referred to as honey) and the wick (the thread)—are described as being consumed, leading to deq (tuberculosis or wasting disease). This serves as a metaphor for the physical melting and gradual self-destruction of the candle.
• The Heat of the Thread: Although the candle appears 'hot-headed' (passionate or feverish), the poem suggests that the candle is no more passionate or hot-headed than the wick (the thread) itself, which is the actual site of the flame.
• The Lover's Bewilderment in Pain: Anyone drenched and steeped in love, like the wax-drenched candle, becomes bewildered by their own internal suffering and consumption, undergoing a process of gradual self-extinction in the path of devotion.