This quatrain explores the cyclical journey of the soul from its divine origin to the material world and back. Attar asserts that the soul was originally perfect, clear-sighted, and unified with the divine ('neither of strange states nor seeing double'). Its descent into the 'branches' or the material realm results in 'a hundred thousand bonds,' symbolizing worldly attachments, multiplicity, and afflictions. However, the poem concludes with the mystical assurance of a return to its original state of spiritual purity and unity.