In Chapter 21, Poem 3 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the speaker articulates the intense longing of the heart for union with the Divine, coupled with a profound paradox of the spiritual journey. The poem asserts that as long as the seeker relies on their own self-willed effort to traverse the spiritual path, new veils or obstacles continue to emerge at every step. This illustrates a central Sufi theme: the individual ego and personal agency, even when directed towards the Beloved, act as a barrier to true realization. The imagery of washing 'hands of repentance with the blood of the eyes' further signifies the painful shedding of self-righteousness, emphasizing the necessity of absolute surrender over reliance on one's own actions.