In Section 12 of Chapter 9 of the Hadiqat al-Haqiqah, Hakim Sana'i of Ghazna expands upon the famous Arabic proverb 'Al-Aqarib 'Aqarib' (الاقارب عقارب, meaning 'Relatives are scorpions') to deliver a sharp critique of familial relationships and kinship.

Key Themes of the Motif

• Greed and Inheritance (Ziya' and 'Aqar): Sana'i emphasizes that relatives behave like wolves among sheep when it comes to material possessions, estates, and inheritance ('در ضیاع و عقار خویشان را / بشناسی چو گرگ میشان را').
• Envy and Malice: Rather than offering genuine support, relatives are described as harborers of jealousy and backbiting, wishing ill and seeking faults in one another ('وز حسد عیب جوی یکدگرند').
• Sufi Detachment: From a mystical perspective, this condemnation of relatives serves as an exhortation to detach from worldly bonds. In Sufism, biological kinship is often depicted as a distraction or a snare ('والاخ فخ' - 'a brother is a trap') that prevents the seeke...