In Attar's Mantiq al-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds), the allegory of Abraham refusing to surrender his soul to Azrael highlights the Sufi principle of seeking direct, unmediated communion with the Divine. Abraham's reluctance stems not from a fear of death, but from his refusal to allow an intermediary—even a high-ranking angel like Azrael or Gabriel—to stand between the lover and the Beloved. This narrative demonstrates that at the highest stages of spiritual realization, the seeker desires to return their soul directly to God without any intervening agents.