Teach thy soul nought but gratitude to God,
For it is necessary to praise the Creator.
Thy wealth and possessions are increased by gratitude;
Victory entereth thy door, owing to gratitude.
Wert thou to show gratitude to God till the day of reckoning,
Thou would’st not discharge a thousandth part (of thy duties).
Yes I it is best to lisp thy gratitude,
For gratitude to Him is an ornament to Islam.
If thou restrainest not thy tongue from gratitude to God,
Thou wilt attain everlasting felicity.
IN EXPLANATION OF PATIENCE
If patience is thy helper
Thou wilt attain everlasting happiness.
Patience is the attribute of prophets;
Those who practise religion turn not aside from this direction.
Patience openeth the door of the desires of friends,
For save patience there is no key for them.
Patience giveth thee the desire of thine heart,
For at the hands of mankind thy difficulties are solved.
Patience is best in every case,
For in this sentence is much meaning.
Patience giveth thee thy desire,
It relieveth thee from pain and misfortune.
Patience is the key of the door of thine aspirations,
The enlarger of the kingdom of desire.
Exercise patience if thou art religious,
For haste is the attribute of devils.
DESCRIPTION OF RECTITUDE
O soul! if thou makest choice of rectitude,
Fortune will become to thee an auspicious companion.
A wise man doth not turn aside his head from rectitude,
Since from rectitude a man’s name is exalted.
If thou breathest truth at morn
Thou wilt avoid the darkness of ignorance.
Beware that thou breathest nought save rectitude,
Since the right hand holdeth pre-eminence over the left,
Nought is better in the world than rectitude,
For in the rosebud of rectitude there is no thorn.
IN CONDEMNATION OF LYING
When a person followeth after unrighteousness,
Where will he find deliverance on the day of judgment?
Whosoever assumeth the habit of false speaking
Hath no splendour for the lamp of his soul.
Falsehood putteth a man to shame,
Falsehood depriveth a man of dignity.
A wise man blusheth at a liar,
Since no one esteemeth such a person.
O brother! beware that thou speakest not falsely,
For a liar is despised and without repute.
Nought is worse than unrighteousness;
O son! therefrom ariseth loss of fair name.
ON THE VICISSITUDES OF FORTUNE AND DIFFERENCES OF STATION
Regard this globe, resplendent like gold,
The roof of which is firm without pillars!
Regard the curtain of the revolving sphere!
Regard its glittering lamps! 8
One is a shepherd, and another a sovereign;
One is a suppliant for justice, another covets a throne;
One is happy, and another miserable;
One is prosperous, and another unfortunate;
One is a payer of taxes, and another sits on a throne;
One is exalted, and another debased;
One sitteth on a mat, and another upon a throne;
One is in rags, and another is clad in silk;
One hath no bread, and another revels in wealth;
One is disappointed, and another prosperous;
One is afflicted, and another rolleth in riches;
One hath a transient fate, and another is established throughout eternity;
One is full of health, and another is sickly;
One is full of years, and another is a mere stripling;
One is filled with righteousness, and another lives in sin;
One is given to prayer, and another is addicted to deceit;
One is upright and religious,
Another is immersed in an ocean of crime and wickedness;
One is of good disposition, and another is of hasty temper;
One is patient, and another is quarrelsome;
One is at ease, another in pain;
One is in difficulties, another is prosperous;
One is a chieftain in the world of luxury,
Another is a captive in the snares of adversity;
One is established in the rose garden of comfort,
Another is associated with anguish, pain, and distress;
One is like a rose resplendent with joy,
Another is distressed at heart, and pained in soul;
One girdeth his loins with obedience,
Another bringeth his life to an end in sin;
One passeth day and night with the Koran in his hands,
Another sleepeth intoxicated in the corner of a wine shop;
One is fixed firm as a peg at the door of religion,
Another is a sinner in the way of infidelity;
One is prosperous, learned, and intelligent,
Another is unfortunate, ignorant, and abashed;
One is a champion, agile, and a warrior,
Another is faint-hearted, indolent, and without courage;
One exceedeth all limits in the possession of wealth,
Another is in want of bread and means for his family;
One hath the taper of joy resplendent,
To another bright daylight is as night.
8 The stars.
AGAINST PLACING HOPE IN CREATED BEINGS
For this therefore place no reliance upon fortune,
For it will suddenly deprive thy soul of life.
Put no reliance upon a numberless army,
For it may be that thou wilt not be aided by victory.
Put no reliance upon kingdom, position, and rank,
For they existed before thee, and will remain after thee.
Do not wrong because thou seest wrong on the part of a true friend;
Good fruit doth not grow from bad seed.
Put no reliance on majesty and power,
For suddenly will arrive the command to give up thy soul.
Many are the monarchs of exalted rank;
Many are the warriors who overrun kingdoms;
Many are the fierce warriors who scatter armies;
Many are the lion-like men who smite with the sword;
Many are the moon-faced beauties of graceful figure;
Many are the lovely ones with stature like the sun;
Many are the newly arisen with lovely cheeks;
Many are the freshly decked brides;
Many are the famous, and many are the fortunate;
Many are they like the cypress in stature, and many are the rosy-cheeked beauties
Who have rent the garment of life,
Who have drawn the head within the wall of the grave.
With such the harvest of their life hath been scattered to the winds,
So that never hath any one a trace of them.
Link not thy soul with this earth and its vain delights,
For misfortune may rain upon it from Heaven.
Set not thine heart upon this material abode,
For thou wilt not find therein delight for thy soul.
Place not thine affections upon this ancient and ruined dwelling
For it will not be void of grief and pain.
The world hath no permanence, O my son!
Pass not thy life therein in negligence.
Fix not thy heart upon this perishable abode.
From Sadi receive this one piece of advice.
The Prose
View of Baghdad in the eighteenth century — in c. 1230 Saadi enrolled at the Nizamiyya University in Baghdad, where he studied Islamic sciences, law,
governance, history, Persian literature and Islamic theology.
Baghdad today
Gulistan
Translated by James Ross
The Gulistan (The Rose Garden) is widely regarded as a landmark of Persian literature and one of its most influential prose works. Written in 1258, it is one of two of Saadi’s major works, which has proved deeply influential in the West as well as the East. Structured as a collection of poems and stories (metaphorically as different types of roses), the text features minimalist plots, expressed with precise language and psychological insight. It explores the many issues and tribulations faced by humankind, employing both an optimistic and a subtly satirical tone. The collection is widely quoted as a source of ancient wisdom. One of the most well-known aphorisms from the Gulistan, which is still known today in the Western world, concerns the concept of sadness when one has no shoes, until one meets the man that has no feet, “whereupon I thanked Providence for its bounty to myself”.
In his introduction, Saadi describes how a friend persuaded him to go out to a garden on 21 April 1258. There the friend gathered up flowers to take back to town. Saadi remarked on how quickly the flowers would die, and proposed a flower garden that would last much longer. The poet then tells us that, “On the same day I happened to write two chapters, namely on polite society and the rules of conversation, in a style acceptable to orators and instructive to letter-writers.” In finishing the book, Saadi explains that, though his speech is entertaining and amusing, “it is not hidden from the enlightened minds of sahibdils (possessors of heart), who are primarily addressed here, that pearls of healing counsel have been drawn onto strings of expression, and the bitter medicine of advice has been mixed with the honey of wit”. Following this introduction, the Gulistan is divided into eight chapters, each consisting of a number of stories and poetry.
The stories are often brief and are accompanied by short verses, representing the words of the protagonists or the author’s perspective. Since there is scant biographical information about Saadi outside of his writings, his short, apparently autobiographical tales have been used by commentators to build up an account of his life.
One of the most widely read books of world literature, the Gulistan has been admired for its inimitable simplicity and elegant Persian prose, from the time of its composition to the present day. The text has been studied in much of Asia, whilst in Persian-speaking countries its proverbs and aphorisms appear in every kind of literature and continue to be current in conversation, much like how Shakespeare is frequently found in modern day English. The Gulistan has been significant in the influence of Persian literature on Western culture. La Fontaine based his “Le songe d’un habitant du Mogol” on a story from the collection, while Voltaire was familiar with the text, referencing the work in the Preface of Zadig and he even translated a score of verses, either from the original or from a Latin or Dutch translation. Sir William Jones advised students of Persian to pick an easy chapter of the Gulistan to translate as their first exercise in the language. Therefore, selections of the book became the primer for officials of British India at Fort William College and at Haileybury College in England.
The poet Saadi converses by night with a young friend in a garden. Miniature from ‘Gulistan’, Herat, 1427. Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. Of the Customs of Kings
CHAPTER II. Of the Morals of Dervishes
CHAPTER III. On the Preciousness of Contentment
CHAPTER IV. On the Benefit of Being Silent
CHAPTER V. On Love and Youth
CHAPTER VI. Of Imbecility and Old Age
CHAPTER VII. Of the Impressions of Education
CHAPTER VIII. Of the Duties of Society
THE CONCLUSION OF THE BOOK
Dancing dervishes on a double-page composition from an illustrated manuscript of the ‘Gulistan’, c. 1615
CHAPTER I. Of the Customs of Kings
I
I have heard of a king who made the sign to put a captive to death. The poor wretch, in that state of desperation, began to abuse the king in the dialect which he spoke, and to revile him with asperity, as has been said; whoever shall wash his hands of life will utter whatever he may harbor in his heart:— “When a man is desperate he will give a latitude to his tongue, like as a cat at bay will fly at a dog”— “at the moment of compulsion when it is impossible to fly, the hand will grasp the sharp edge of a sword.” The king asked, saying, “What does he say?” One of the Vizirs (or nobles in attendance), and a well-disposed man, made answer, “O my lord! he is expressing himself and saying, (paradise is for such) as are restraining their anger and forgiving their fellow-creatures; and God will befriend the benevolent.” The king felt compassion for him, and desisted from shedding his blood. Another nobleman, and the rival of that former, said, “It is indecorous for such peers, as we are, to use any language but that of truth in the presence of kings; this man abused his majesty, and spoke what was unworthy of him.” The king turned away indignant at this remark, and replied, “I was better pleased with his falsehood than with this truth that you have told; for that bore the face of good policy, and this was founded in malignity; and the intelligent have said, ‘A peace-mingling falsehood is preferable to a mischief-stirring truth’: — Whatever prince may do that which he (his counsellor) will recommend, it must be a subject of regret if he shall advise aught but good.”
They had written over the portico of King Feridún’s palace:— “This world, O brother! abides with none. Set thy heart upon its maker, and let him suffice thee. Rest not thy pillow and support on a worldly domain which has fostered and slain many such as thou art. Since the precious soul must resolve on going, what matters it whether it departs from a throne or the ground.”
II
One of the kings of Khorasan saw, in a dream, Sultan Mahmud, the son of Saboktagin, an hundred years after his death, when his body was decayed and fallen into dust, all but his eyes, which as heretofore were moving in their sockets and looking about them. All the learned were at a stand for its interpretation, excepting one dervish, who made his obeisance, and said:— “He is still looking about him, because his kingdom and wealth are possessed by others! — Many are the heroes whom they have buried under ground, of whose existence above it not one vestige is left; and of that old carcase which they committed to the earth, the earth has so consumed it that not one bone is left. Though many ages are gone since Nushirowan was in being, yet in the remembrance of his munificence is his fair renown left. Be generous, O my friend! and avail thyself of life, before they proclaim it as an event that such a person is not left.”
III
I have heard of a king’s son who was short and mean, and his other brothers were lofty in stature and handsome. On one occasion the king, his father, looked at him with disparagement and scorn. The son, in his sagacity, understood him and said, “O father! a short wise man is preferable to a tall blockhead; it is not everything that is mightier in stature that is superior in value: — a sheep’s flesh is wholesome, that of an elephant carrion. — Of the mountains of this earth Sinai is one of the least, yet is it most mighty before God in state and dignity. — Heardst thou not what an intelligent lean man said one day to a sleek fat dolt? An Arab horse, notwithstanding his slim make, is more prized thus than a herd of asses.”
The father smiled; the pillars of the state, or courtiers, nodded their assent, and the other brothers were mortified to the quick. Till a man has declared his mind, his virtue and vice may have lain hidden; do not conclude that the thicket is unoccupied, peradventure the tiger is gone asleep!
I have heard that about that time a formidable antagonist appeared against the king. Now that an army was levied in each side, the first person that mounted his horse and sallied upon the plain was that son, and he exclaimed: “I cannot be that man whose back thou mayest see on the day of battle, but am him thou mayest descry amidst the thick of it, with my head covered with dust and bloo
d; for he that engages in the contest sports with his own blood, but he who flees from it sports with the blood of an army on the day of fight.” He so spoke, assaulting the enemy’s cavalry, and overthrew some renowned warriors. When he came before the king he kissed the earth of obeisance, and said, “O thou, who didst view my body with scorn, whilst not aware of valor’s rough exterior, it is the lean steed that will prove of service, and not the fatted ox, on the day of battle.”
They have reported that the enemy’s cavalry was immense, and those of the king few in number; a body of them was inclined to fly, when the youth called aloud, and said, “Be resolute, my brave men, that you may not have to wear the apparel of women!” The troops were more courageous on this speech, and attacked altogether. I have heard that on that day they obtained a complete victory over the enemy. The king kissed his face and eyes, and folded him in his arms, and became daily more attached to him, till he declared him heir-apparent to the throne. The brothers bore him a grudge, and put poison into his food. His sister saw this from a window, and closed the shutter; and the boy understood the sign, and withdrew his hand from the dish, and said, “It is hard that the virtuous should perish and that the vicious should occupy their places.” Were the homayi, or phoenix, to be extinct in the world, none would take refuge under the shadow of an owl. They informed the father of this event; he sent for the brothers and rebuked them, as they deserved. Then he made a division of his domains, and gave a suitable portion to each, that discontent might cease; but the ferment was increased, as they have said: Ten dervishes can sleep on one rug, but two kings cannot be accommodated in a whole kingdom. When a man after God’s heart can eat the moiety of his loaf, the other moiety he will give in alms to the poor. A king may acquire the sovereignty of one climate or empire; and he will in like manner covet the possession of another.
IV
The Collected Works of Saadi Page 10