In Chapter 12, Poem 19 of Attar's Mokhtar Nameh, the poet explores the destructive nature of the carnal soul (Nafs). The poem characterizes the ego as 'tyrannical' and metaphorically equates its hidden, destructive tendencies to 'a thousand sleeping dragons' residing within the human skin. These dragons represent latent spiritual impurities, desires, and sins that remain dormant and unnoticed during a person's worldly life. Attar warns that upon physical death, these internal dragons will awaken to torment the soul, signifying the painful realization of one's spiritual negligence. The poem emphasizes that the primary duty of spiritual seekers is the continuous, arduous struggle to 'kill' this ego before the inevitable awakening at death.