The Metaphor of the Seed and Soil of the Heart

In Poem 72 of the Mokhtar Nameh, Attar of Nishapur employs agricultural and natural metaphors to describe the spiritual state of the human heart:

• The Shadow and the Sun: Without the active remembrance (yad) of the Divine, the heart is likened to a shadow in the sun—insubstantial and ultimately dissolved. With remembrance, however, it reaches the ultimate state of hope and spiritual orientation.
• The Seed of Regret: The heart is envisioned as fertile soil where the seeker plants intentions and attachments. Attar asserts that planting any desire other than the remembrance of the Divine is akin to planting the 'seed of eternal regret' (tokhm-e hasrat-e javid), as worldly attachments inevitably lead to spiritual disappointment.

Thus, the poem establishes that the remembrance of the Beloved is the sole source of lasting spiritual hope, while all other pursuits are futile.