In Chapter 24, Poem 24 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the poet contrasts the vast, swelling ocean of existence with the ultimate futility of human worldly life. While existence itself is immense and a source of joy for the spiritually awakened, the earthly pursuits of those who eventually return to dust amount to nothing. Attar uses the metaphor of sifting a cup of dust, which ultimately yields only wind, to symbolize the vanity and impermanence of worldly attachments and mortal life.