Concept

The Transience of Glory and the Empty Casket in Attar's Mokhtar Nameh (Chapter 7, Poem 20)

In Chapter 7, Poem 20 of the Mokhtar Nameh, Farid al-Din Attar employs the figures of Jamshid (the legendary Persian king symbolizing worldly power) and the sun (symbolizing cosmic grandeur) to illustrate the absolute inevitability of death. By describing Jamshid falling into a bathhouse furnace (golkhan) and the sun setting through an aperture, Attar contrasts their supreme heights with their lowly departure. The 'empty casket' (hoqqeh-ye tohi) serves as a metaphor for the physical body or the world left devoid of the soul or its glorious inhabitants, underscoring the illusory nature of worldly permanence.

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Updated 2026-07-04

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Humanities

Literature

Persian Literature Prerequisite Course