In Section 29 of Jami's Haft Awrang, the poet asserts that escaping hypocrisy (riyā), conceit ('ujb), and the base ego (nafs) is impossible without submission to a spiritually commanding master (Pir). Jami employs vivid metaphors to illustrate the treacherous nature of the self and the power of the guide: the nafs is described as a viper (af'i) that can only be blinded by the Khidr-like master, and as a demon (div) pelted by the guiding star of the Pir. He explains that a true master is one whose own ego has been completely annihilated, whose darkness has been entirely transmuted into divine light by the eternal sun.