Sa'di: The Nightingale of Shiraz

Sa'di's Mausleum in Shiraz

Sa'di, the nightingale of Shiraz, is a well-known Iranian poet who was born in Shiraz, the city of poetry and literature, near the end of the twelfth century. He is not famous just among Iranians but he is popular among people from all over the world. Although he wrote his works in Persian but he addresses all nations and all people by the enchantment of his language. He has twenty-four works and among them Gulistan, or the Rose Garden, and the Bustan, or the Perfume of Garden are the best. Gulistan is a collection of short pithy stories and maxims which are written both in prose and verse with delicacy and excellence. In Gulistan Sa'di states his experiences of life and world and indicates the ways to gain a perfect life. Sa'di's other famous work, Bustan, consists of ten chapters of didactic verse. The simplicity of Sa'di's language is the prominent features of his works so they are remained in the memories of Iranians and have sustained their excellence during centuries. That is why his mausoleum in the valley of Shiraz is being visited by his devotees centuries after his death.

Here are two stories from him, the first from Gulistan and the other from his Bustan.


Story

I have heard of an old doctor who said to a pupil, "If the minds of the children of men were as much fixed on the Giver of subsistence as they are on the subsistence itself, they would rise above the angels."


Thou wast by God then not forgotten when
Thou wast a seed –thy nature in suspense;
He gave thee soul and reason, wisdom, ken,
Beauty and speech, reflection, judgment, sense;
He on thy hand arrayed thy fingers ten,
And thy arms fastened to thy shoulders. Whence
Canst thou think, O thou most weak of men!
He'd be unmindful of thy subsistence?



Story of the Pearl. *(Translation by G.S.Davie)

From a cloud there descended a droplet of rain;
'Twas ashamed when it saw the expanse of the main,
Saying, "Who may I be, where the sea has its run?
If the sea has existence, I truly have none!"
Since in its own eyes the drop humble appeared,
In its bosom, a shell with its life the drop reared:
The sky brought the work with success to a close,
And a famed royal pearl from the rain-drop arose,
Because it was humble it excellence gained;Patiently waiting till success was obtained.