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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 (ilLlS'J'AN. 111! i;(jsE (iAi;l)E.\ 
 
 'HE BOSTAN 
 
 1-EASlHJ'; (lAKDEN UF SAJ)J 
 
 ?/«/* I'ijH. icho /fottrtshetf in the Vith t'enturu. 
 
 -Whoso i.s wim.ixg to irofit By good ooi:KSEr> 
 
 r 
 
 LONUON : 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAMS & NORGATK. 
 
 HEXUIRTT.V STUEET, COVEXT (JAR DEN' ; 
 AM) BY JAMES CORNISH. MAXCIIl^^TEn. 
 
 MIX CCLXXYI.
 
 ^.^^^^c"^^ 
 
 FLOWERS 
 
 GULISTAN A]!^D BOSTAK OP SADI.
 
 FLOWERS 
 
 CULLED FROM THE 
 
 GULISTAN, OE ROSE GARDEN, 
 
 AND FROM 
 
 THE BOSTAN, 
 
 OR 
 
 PLEASURE GARDEN OF SADI, 
 
 A Persian Poet, who flowished in the 13th Century. 
 
 "Whoso is willing to profit by good counsel 
 will do well to receive it from the words op 
 Sadi." 
 
 LONDON : 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAMS & NORaATE, 
 
 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN ; 
 And by JAMES CORNISH, MANCHESTER. 
 
 MDCCCLXXVL
 
 MIN, 
 
 PEELIMmARY J^OTICE. 
 
 Of the distinguislied authors of Persia, none perhaps 
 have enjoyed in the Eastern world a more decided 
 and wider popularity than Sadi, and few, if indeed 
 any, have so nearly attained that rank even in our 
 "Western world. He early won the attention of 
 European scholars through a Latin translation of his 
 best known work, the Gulistan, or Rose Garden, 
 made by George Gentius, and published by him at 
 Amsterdam, A.D. 1651, under the title of Eosarium 
 Politicum. The fame of this celebrated production 
 has since, but with a considerable interval of time, 
 been extensively diffused by other translations into 
 the principal languages of Europe : in our own by 
 those of Gladwin, Dumoulin, Lee, Eoss, and more 
 recently an excellent one by Professor Eastwick ; in 
 German, by Nesselmann and Graf; in France, by 
 Semelet. This celebrity has been deservedly merited 
 by the good sense and wit and wisdom of the author, 
 
 824779
 
 Tl. PEELnTLN-AET XOTICE. 
 
 by his kno-«-ledge of the world and human nature, by 
 his reli^ous feeling and high moral tone, and by the 
 general clearness and simplicity' of his style ; in 
 which last particular he stands, comparatively 
 speaking, in remarkable contrast to the ordinary 
 redundancy of expression, and exaggeration of 
 sentiment and figure, in Persian composition. 
 
 Shaikh-Muslah-ud-Din Sadi was born at Shiraz, 
 the capital of Persia, or rather of the province of 
 Fars, which might not be improperly entitled the 
 Persian Athens, in the closing years of the twelfth 
 century : a period in which Europe was slowly 
 emerging from mediaeval darkness. He was patronized 
 by the Atabeg Saad-ben-Zingi, the then Euler of 
 Fars, at whose Court his father is said to have held 
 some office. He appears to have been educated, in 
 part at least, in the Nizamian College at Baghdad, 
 and to have been a pupil of the Shaikh Abdul Kadar 
 Gilani, who instructed him in theology and the 
 principles of the Sufi sect, and with whom he made 
 his first Pilgrimage to Mecca; which he is said to 
 have repeated in his after-life fourteen times. He 
 was, as we gather from notices in his works, in the 
 course of it a great traveller in distant countries, and 
 is said to have assisted in the Holy "Wars against the 
 Infidels in Asia Minor and in India : —
 
 PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 
 
 '* I have wandered through varioiis quarters of the world, 
 And spent my days conversing with every one I met : 
 In every corner I found something to piofit me ; 
 From every sheaf I gathered an ear." 
 
 On one occasion, lie tells us himself, that whilst he 
 had withdrawn into the desert near Jerusalem to 
 perform his religious exercises, he was made captive 
 by the Franks, who sent him to work with some Jews 
 in digging the trenches at Tripoli. Here he was 
 recognized by an acquaintance whom he had known 
 at Aleppo, and who, pitying his sad condition, 
 redeemed him with ten dinars, took him home with 
 him, and subsequently married him to his daughter, 
 giving him a portion of one hundred dinars. This 
 marriage did not prove a happy one. Her disposition, 
 he says, was ill-tempered and abusive, so that it quite 
 destroyed his comfort. One day tauntingly she 
 exclaimed, " Art not thou the man whom my father 
 bought for ten dinars?" " Yes," he replied, "and 
 sold to thee for a himdred !" 
 
 Sadi married a second time at Sanaa, the capital of 
 Yemen. We may hope that his second nuptials were 
 crowned with more felicity than his first appears to 
 have been. In the Bostan is found an affecting 
 passage, in which he deplores the death of his son in 
 terms of the most poignant anguish. The events of 
 Sadi' 8 life recorded by his biographers are but few,
 
 PRELIMTN'AEY NOTICE. 
 
 and those few rest probably on little authority. 
 Perhaps the Poet himself is his own best and most 
 authentic recorder of his acts and opinions. For the 
 attentive reader of his works will be able to form a 
 very fair estimate of what he did, and what he 
 thought, and what he was, and will find presented to 
 his view in them a lively and interesting portraiture 
 of an intelligent, wise, and estimable man. If the 
 story be true, that when the Minister of Hulaku 
 Khan sent him a present of 50,000 dinars he 
 expended them on a house of entertainment for 
 travellers, he practised the generosity which he so 
 often and so well inculcates in his precepts. 
 
 If to the period of his childhood and youth and the 
 time passed in the Xizamian College in his education 
 and theological studies we add the thirty years which 
 he is reported to have consumed in his travels and 
 the various adventures of his wandering life, Sadi 
 must have been already of more than mature age, 
 when, as he is said to have done, he returned to his 
 native city Shiraz, where he spent the remainder of 
 his days in retirement, in religious contemplation, in 
 receiA-ing the friends and strangers, whom his great 
 fame drew around him or attracted to visit him, and 
 probably in the composition of his various works, of 
 which Eose in his life enumerates twenty-two, and
 
 PEELIMINAEY NOTICE. IX. 
 
 Sir Gore Ouseley in his Biographical Notices of the 
 Persian Poets gives a list with their titles of twenty- 
 four, and which he prohably would hardly have had 
 the leisure to execute on his journeys. His life 
 appears to have been prolonged to extreme old age, 
 though we may he excused from accepting Daulet 
 Shah's his biographer's assertion that it was extended 
 to one hundred and two years. He was buried near 
 Shiraz, where his tomb was seen by Kaempfer in 1683, 
 who describes it at that time as almost a ruin ; by 
 Franklin in 1786-7, who says that unless repaired it 
 must soon fall entirely to decay ; and again by Sir 
 Gore Ouseley in 1811, who, from the reverence in 
 which he held Sadi, wished himself to do something 
 to save it from destruction. But the Governor of 
 Pars, "too proud," he says, "to accede to my wishes, 
 and too avaricious to be at the expense himself, would 
 not allow me to carry my intentions into execution, 
 but promised himself to put it into as fine a state of 
 repair as the Yakil Kerim Khan had done the tomb of 
 Hafiz. But he has not fulfilled his promise, and "it 
 is to be feared and lamented that ere long not a stone 
 will tell where the once brightest ornament of Persia 
 — the matchless possessor of piety, genius, and 
 learning — was entombed." 
 
 In the picture which Franklin saw of him near the
 
 X. PILELniryAET NOTICE. 
 
 toml), he is represented as wearing "the khirkah" — 
 the long blue gown of a Derwish, with a staff in his 
 hand. 
 
 Sadi, as intimated above, was not only a voluminous 
 writer, but on a variety of subjects. But his fame, 
 which has endured in the East with apparently 
 undiminished lustre for upwards of six centuries, 
 rests especially on two works — his Gulistan, 
 or Eose Garden, and his Bostan, which may be 
 rendered most appropriately perhaps in English by 
 Pleasure Grarden. The last, which is commonly 
 regarded as the later work, was really the earlier. 
 The Gulistan, the best known by English readers, 
 through several translations, as noted before, is a 
 collection of short stories, anecdotes, founded on his 
 own experience, or that of others, and general 
 observations on life, character, and manners, written 
 partly in prose and partly in verse ; the narrative 
 portions being commonly in prose, and the more 
 weighty maxims and dignified sentiments and more 
 poetical descriptions in verse, in rhymed couplets or 
 other measures. Of the English translations, the 
 only one which preserves the Form of the original is 
 that of Professor Eastwick, published by Stephen
 
 PEELIMINARY NOTICE. 
 
 Austin, of Hertford, in 1850, beautifully printed, 
 and elegantly embellished in the Persian style. Of 
 the Bostan, the translator knows no complete version 
 except the German one of Graf, of which there is an 
 edition published at Jena, in two small volumes, in 
 1850; nor, indeed, of any translations from it into 
 English, excepting of very few and scattered passages. 
 So far as he is aware, the following specimens present 
 a much more considerable portion of it than can be 
 found elsewhere, and therefore the following little 
 volume may be not unacceptable to the mere English 
 reader who may desire to form a somewhat larger 
 acquaintance with Sadi's writings. It may be proper 
 to mention that the greater part has appeared before 
 in a little volume of miscellaneous translations from 
 various Persian authors, entitled "Flowers culled 
 from Persian Gardens," from which, being now quite 
 out of print, those which were from Sadi are here 
 reprinted separately, arranged in a more orderly 
 manner, and with not, it is hoped, unimportant or 
 uninteresting additional specimens. 
 
 S. R. 
 
 Wilmsloio, 1876.
 
 Xll. PEELIMIXAEY XOTICE. 
 
 To this little volxune the Translator has heen 
 tempted to append two or three specimens of another 
 distinguished Persian author -who, like Sadi, wrote 
 on moral and religious suhjects, and belongs to the 
 same age of Persian literature. This is the celebrated 
 Jelal-ud-din, the writer of a long and remarkable 
 poem on " Divine Love and the Sufi Philosophy," 
 strong!}' imbued with that mystic spirituality to 
 which that nation is strongly inclined, and which 
 forms so characteristic a feature in their compositions, 
 and often lends them a peculiar charm. He was 
 bom at Balkh, in the very last years of the twelfth 
 century, and was therefore, in the strictest sense, the 
 actual contemporar}^ of Sadi himself. 
 
 He was of an illustrious family, his grancl mother, 
 according to the account given in Sir Gore Ouseley's 
 Notices of Persian Poets, being a daughter of a King 
 of the Kharismian d}-nasty, and his mother a daughter 
 of a Iving of Khorasan ; and his father tracing up 
 his ancestry to the Commander of the Faithful, the 
 Kalif Abubekr. He is said to have enjoyed, through 
 his sanctity and learning, the respect and affection of 
 the inhabitants of Balkh to such a degree as to excite 
 the jealousy of the Sultan Mohammed Kharizm Shah, 
 who held his Court in that city, and that in conse-
 
 PEELIMIXABT Is'OTICE. 
 
 quence of the annoyances lie received on that account, 
 he finally abandoned his native place, resolved never 
 to return to it, taking with him his family and many 
 of his disciples. 
 
 He first directed his steps to Mecca, and after 
 visiting the Hejaz and the tomhs of the saints in 
 Syria, and wandering about for several years, arrived 
 at Constantinople, and finally fixed his residence at 
 Koniah, the ancient Iconium, in Syria ; from which 
 circumstance he probably derives his surname of 
 Eumi, Eumi meaning verj^ generally Syria. 
 
 By his father's will, and with the general approval 
 of those who had adopted Sufi doctrines, Jelal-ud-Din 
 Eumi became the head and spiritual guide to the 
 professors of Sufi-ism, and succeeded to the title of 
 Sultan ul Ulema {Ruler of the Learned) ; and, after 
 his accession to the Chair, four hundred additional 
 students, it is said, joined the College, and sought the 
 "benefit of his instructions. It is not improbable that 
 with his mind directed to such contemplations and 
 studies, it was here that he composed, or at least 
 finished, his great Poem.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Extracts from the Gulistan, or Rose Garden . . 3 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Extracts from tlie Bostan, or Pleasure Garden , . 47 
 
 Introduction 49 
 
 From Book I. On UprigMness and Government. 56 
 
 Book II. On Benevolence and Compassion . , , . 79 
 
 Book III. On Love 98 
 
 Book IV. On Humility 108 
 
 Book V. On Submission to Good Counsel . . . . 117 
 
 Book VL On Contentment 120 
 
 Book VIL On Good Habits 125 
 
 Book VIII. On Thankfulness 135 
 
 Book IX. On Conversion 139 
 
 BookX. On Prayer 153
 
 TABLE OF CONTEXTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Appendix. From the Mesnavi of Jelal-ud-din- 
 
 Rumi 161 
 
 Section 1. Divine Affections 163 
 
 Section 2. The Lover and Beloved 166 
 
 Section 3. The Merchant and the Parrot .... 167 
 
 Xote3 173 
 
 List of Specimens by tlie same Translator at the end.
 
 PART I. 
 
 FLOWEBS FROM THE 
 GULISTAN, OR ROSE-GARDEN. 
 
 TO WHAT USE WILT THOU APPLY A TRAY OF ROSES? 
 PLUCK THOU RATHER A LEAF OUT OF MY GARDEX. 
 THE ROSE MAY CONTINUE TO BLOOM FIVE OR SIX DAYS : 
 BUT MY ROSE-GARDEX IS FRAGRANT FOR EVER. 
 
 Sadi.
 
 FLOWEES FEOM THE GULISTA^, OR 
 ROSE-GARDET^ OE SADI. 
 
 FROM THE INTRODUCTION. 
 
 O, bounteous Lord, who from thine hidden treasury 
 providest sustenance for the pagan and the infidel, 
 how canst Thou exckide Thy friends from Thy 
 presence ! Thou who thus regardest even thine 
 enemies. 
 
 Behold the generosity and kindness of the All- 
 powerful One ! His servant has committed a fault, 
 and He it is who is ashamed for him. 
 
 Cloud, and wind, sun, moon, and sky are all busy 
 to bring bread to thine hand : eat it not in neglect- 
 fulness.
 
 4 SADI, 
 
 All for Thy sake are in motion and obedient : it is 
 not the rule of justice that thou only shouldst be 
 disobedient. 
 
 O Thou great beyond imagination, or measure, or 
 thought, or conjecture ; beyond all that has been 
 spoken, or heard, or read, the assembly is concluded; 
 we have arrived at the term of life, and we are still 
 at the commencement only of our acknowledgment 
 of Thine attributes. 
 
 One day in the bath a friend put into my hand a 
 piece of perfimied clay {used by the Persians as soap). 
 I said to it, " Art thou musk or ambergris ? for I am 
 charmed with thy delicious smell !" 
 
 It replied, " I was a piece of worthless clay, but I 
 sat for some time in the company of the rose. 
 
 The excellence of my companion was imparted 
 to me : otherwise I should still have been the clay 
 that I was." 
 
 Shame on the man who departeth and hath not 
 finished his work ! 
 
 "VMio, when the drum soundeth for departure, hath 
 not made up his burthen.
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDElSr. 5 
 
 Who, on the morning of his journey, is still in- 
 dulging in sweet sleep ; 
 
 And is detaining him who hath to journey on foot. 
 
 Since die thou must, whether good or bad, happy 
 art thou if thou hearest off the ball of goodness ! 
 Send thyself provisions for thy solace before thee to 
 the tomb ; send them before thee, for no one will 
 bring them after thee. 
 
 Whoever comes hither has begun a new building, 
 and then has given over the tenement to another. 
 And that other has altered it in like manner according 
 to his own wishes ; so that no one has ever brought 
 the building to its completion. 
 
 Life is snow under the sun of July : but a little 
 remains, and will the merchant still be slothful ? O 
 thou, who hast gone empty-handed to the market, I 
 fear thou wilt not bring back a full napkin ! 
 
 O man of intelligence, what is the tongue in thy 
 mouth but the key which opens the door of the wise 
 man's treasure ! — If the door is kept locked, what 
 knows any one whether he sells jewels, or is a mere
 
 SADI. 
 
 pedlar r Two things are a sign of a weak under- 
 standing : to keep your lips closed at the time for 
 speaking, and to speak at the time for silence. 
 
 A company of Indian sages were conversing ahout 
 the qualities of Bezerchemher, and declared that they 
 knew in him but one fault: that he was slow of 
 speech. Bezerchemher overheard them, and said, 
 " To think well what I shall say is hetter than to be 
 ashamed of what I have said." Reflect, and then utter 
 your words ; and when you have said enough, stop 
 before they say, — "Enough!" Man is in speech 
 better than the brutes : but if you speak not justly, 
 the brutes are better than vou." 
 
 They asked Solomon, the wise, from whom he 
 learnt wisdom. He answered, from the blind ; for 
 till they have tried the ground, they plant not the 
 foot.
 
 THE ROSE-GAHDEN. 
 
 FEOM THE FIEST CHAPTER, OjS^ THE 
 QUALITIES OE KIJS^GS. 
 
 Upon the portico of the- Court of Feridun was 
 written : — 
 
 " The world, my brother, abideth with no one ; 
 
 Fix thine heart on Him who created it : that is 
 enough. 
 
 Place not reliance or trust in the sovereignty of 
 Fortune, for many a one, like thyself, she hath 
 nurtured and destroyed. 
 
 When the pure soul is on the point of departing, 
 what mattereth it whether it be on a throne or on 
 the bare around." — Ch. I. 1. 
 
 The name of Nushirvan still liveth, renowned for 
 his goodness.
 
 8 SAJ)I. 
 
 Though a long time hath passed since Nushirvan 
 hath ceased to live. 
 
 Practice goodness thou, — -whoever thou art — and 
 turn thy life to profit, 
 
 Before a cry is raised : — such a one is no more. — 
 Ch. I. 2. 
 
 The tree which has only just now been planted, 
 the strength of a man may tear from its place ; hut if 
 for a time you leave it untouched, you will need a 
 windlass to upheave it from its roots. You may stop 
 the spring at its source with a hodkin ; hut the full 
 stream you cannot ford on the back of an elephant. — 
 Ch. I. 4. 
 
 O thou who art sated, to thee a barley-loaf will 
 not seem sweet. 
 
 That which to me appeareth lovely, is in thy sight 
 a deformity. 
 
 To the inhabitants of paradise, purgatory would be 
 heU; 
 
 Ask the inhabitants of hell, they would tell you it 
 is paradise. — Ch. I. 7.
 
 THE EOSE-GAHDEjS^. 
 
 With the strong arm and the power of the wrist, 
 
 It is a crime to crush the palm of the helpless 
 wretch. 
 
 Let him live in fear who shows no mercy to the 
 fallen, 
 
 For if his foot should slip, no one will stretch out 
 a hand to him. — Ch. I. 10. 
 
 Whoever hath sown the seed of evil, and expecteth 
 from it good fruit, hath but an empty hrain, and 
 nourisheth hut a vain conceit. — Ch. I. 10. 
 
 Take the cotton out of thine ear, and distribute 
 justice to the people ; for if thou dealest not justly, 
 surely there will be a day of judgment. — Ch. I. 10. 
 
 The sons of Adam are limbs of one another, for in 
 their creation they are formed of one substance. 
 
 When fortune bringeth affliction to a single member, 
 not one of the rest remaineth without disturbance. 
 
 Thou who art without sorrow for the misery of 
 another, 
 
 Thou deservest not to be named a son of Adam. — 
 Ch. I. 10.
 
 10 
 
 They have related that Xushirvan, the just, was 
 once at his hunting-seat, and was about to have some 
 game cooked. There was no salt, and a servant was 
 sent to the village to hring some. Xushirvan said, 
 " Let it be paid for, that it become not a custom, and 
 the village be ruined." They said, " From this small 
 quantity, what injury could spring?" He replied, 
 " The origin of injustice in the world s\as in small 
 things; but every one who came into it added thereto, 
 tni it arrived at its present extremity." If from the 
 garden of the peasant the monarch take but a single 
 apple, his servants would tear up the whole tree from 
 its roots ; and if the Sultan take but five eggs 
 unjustly, his soldiers will spit a thousand fowls. The 
 iniquitous tyrant remaineth only for a season; the 
 curse upon him remaineth for ever. — Ch. I. 19. 
 
 Call to mind what said the elephant-driver on the 
 banks of the Xile : " "Wouldst thou know the condi- 
 tion of the ant under thy foot, think what would be 
 thine own under the foot of the elephant." — Ch.I.Tl. 
 
 If injury cometh to thee from a fellow- creature, do 
 not grieve,
 
 THE KOSE-GAEDElSr. 11 
 
 For from thy fellow-creatures proceedeth neither 
 quiet nor trouble. 
 
 Know that from God is the difference of enemy and 
 friend, for the hearts of both are alike in His keep- 
 ing. 
 
 Though the arrow flieth from the bow, the wise 
 man looketh to him who directeth it. — Ch. I. 24. 
 
 Beware of the sighs from a deeply- wounded soul, 
 for the deep wound will at last break forth. So long 
 as thou art able, crush not a single heart, for a sigh 
 has power to overturn a world. — Ch. I. 26. 
 
 The king ought to be the guardian of the poor : 
 though affluence be his, and the splendour of fortune. 
 The sheep were not made for the sake of the shepherd; 
 but the shepherd was intended for the service of the 
 sheep.— C7i. J. 28. 
 
 A vizier said to Zu-'l-nur of Egypt : " Night and 
 day I am occupied in the service of the Sultan, hoping 
 for some good thing, and dreading punishment." 
 Zu-'l-nur wept, and said: "If I had feared the great 
 God as you have feared the King, I should have been 
 counted in the number of the just."' — Ch. I. 29.
 
 12 SADI. 
 
 Life's season flieth away like the "wind over the 
 desert. 
 
 Bitter and sweet, ugliness and beauty, alike pass 
 away. 
 
 The tyrant imagined that he was committing 
 violence on us ; 
 
 The %-iolence hath passed away from us, and will 
 remain on his own neck. — Ch. /. 30. 
 
 To win the hearts of friends, scruple not to sell thy 
 father's garden. To hoil the pot of thy well-wisher 
 hesitate not to hum thy very furniture. — Ch. I. 33. 
 
 In so much as thou art able, distress not the mind 
 of anyone ; the pathway of life is strewn with many 
 a thorn. Assist thou the wretched poor man in his 
 troubles, for thou also wilt have troubles of thine 
 own.— C//. I. 35. 
 
 Xever will the wise call him a great man who 
 speaketh ill of the truly great. 
 
 All these things, when once they have passed away.
 
 THE HOSE-GARDEN. 13 
 
 Fortune, and thrones, and decrees, and interdicts, 
 and seizing, and holding. 
 
 Defame not those who are departed with a good 
 name, that thine own good name may remain immortal. 
 —Ch. I. 41. 

 
 14 
 
 SADI. 
 
 feo:3j: the second chapter, ok 
 the qualities of devotees. 
 
 Whomsoever thou beholdest in the garment of 
 piety, h i m believe to he pious ; and treat as a good 
 man, though thou knowest not what may be the 
 inward disposition : what "business has the policeman 
 in the inside of the house ? — Ch. II. 1. 
 
 I have heard that men who walk in the ways of 
 God would not grieve the hearts even of their 
 enemies. How can such eminence be reached by 
 thee — thee, who art ever in strife and opposition with 
 thvfriends?— CT. JJ. 4. 
 
 The love of the sincere is the same to your face and 
 to your back, not such as of those
 
 THE EOSE-GAHDEN. 15 
 
 Who at your back find out your faults, but to your 
 
 face would die for you ; 
 
 "VNTio in your presence are mild as the lamb, 
 
 But in your absence are man-devouring wolves. — 
 
 Ch. 11. 4. 
 
 Whoever brings to your notice and counts up the 
 defects of others, he, be sure, will display to others 
 those which he sees in you. — Ch. II. 4. 
 
 Who knows what manner of man the cloak dis- 
 guises!— the writer only knows the contents of the 
 letter.— CA. II. 5. 
 
 O Arab ! I fear thou wilt never reach the Holy 
 Place, 
 
 For the road which thou art travelling leadeth 
 towards Tatary. — Ch. II. 6. 
 
 Thou who displayest thy virtues in the palm of 
 thine hand, but hidest thy vices under thine armpits, 
 what, vain man, dost thou expect to purchase in 
 the day of anguish with thy counterfeit silver ? — 
 Ch. II. 6.
 
 l6 SADI. 
 
 I remember that in the season of childhood I was 
 religiously minded, and inclined to the practice of 
 abstemiousness and austerities. One night I was 
 sitting in attendance on my father, and never closed 
 my eyes the whole night. I held the precious 
 volume to my bosom, but the company around us 
 were all asleep. I said to my father : " Of all these 
 not one lifts up the head to repeat the prayer." He 
 replied : " Soul of thy father ! better were it for thee 
 that thou also wert asleep, than thus to be remarking 
 on the faults of others." — Ch. II. 7. 
 
 The vain pretender sees nothing but himself, for 
 the veil of self-conceit is before his eyes. Would 
 anyone bestow upon his eye the power of discerning 
 God, no one would he behold so weak as himself. — 
 Ch. IL 7. 
 
 In the eyes of men of the world I am of a goodly 
 aspect, but from my inward impurity I bow down 
 my head in shame. Men will praise the peacock for 
 his elegance and beauty, but he is himself ashamed 
 ■Ch. II 8.
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDE]!f. 17 
 
 They asked Lokman from whom he learnt good 
 manners. He rej)lied : " From the ill-mannered. 
 Whatever in their behaviour appeared to me dis- 
 agreeable, that I refrained from doing myself." 
 
 Not a word can be said, even in child's play, 
 
 From which an intelligent person may not gather 
 instruction ; 
 
 But if a hundred chapters of " Wisdom " were 
 read in the hearing of a fool, 
 
 To his ears it would sound as no tiling but child's 
 play.— CVi. 11.21. 
 
 To one who was complaining to his spiritual guide 
 how difficult it was to bear the slanders of injurious 
 tongues, he replied in tears : — " How canst thou be 
 sufficiently grateful for this blessing : that thou art 
 better than they think thee ! How many times wilt 
 thou keep repeating, ' The envious and malevolent 
 are perpetually calumniating me, wretch that I am ? ' 
 If they rise up to shed thy blood, or if they sit down 
 to speak evil of thee, cease not thou to be good, and 
 let them say on their evil. Better this than that thou 
 shouldst be evil, and that they should repute thee 
 good. Look at me, whom men regard as a model of 
 perfection, whilst I know myself that I am imperfec-
 
 18 
 
 tion itself. Had I really done -vrliat they report of 
 me, I had indeed been a virtuous and pious man ! 
 The door closed in thine own face to exclude men 
 from thy presence, that thej* may not behold and 
 spread abroad thy faults — the closed door — of what 
 use is it before the Omniscient ? — before Him, who 
 knows alike what is open and what is concealed ? — 
 
 Yesternight, towards morning, a warbling bird stole 
 away my reason, my patience, my strength, and my 
 understanding. My exclamations, by cliance, reached 
 the ear of a most intimate friend. " Never," he said, 
 could I have believed that the voice of a bird should 
 have such power to disturb thine intellect!" "It is 
 not," I replied, " befitting the condition of man, that 
 a bird should be reciting its hymn of praise, and that 
 I should be sU.entr—Ch. II. 26. 
 
 To celebrate Him all that thou beholdest is roused 
 to exclamation. 
 
 The heart to understand it becometh an ear. 
 
 Not only is the nightingale on the I'ose-bush 
 warbling its hymn of praise, 
 
 But every thorn beoometh a tongue to laud his per- 
 fection.— C/i. 11. 26 and 27.
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDE]!^. 19 
 
 Abu Hurairah . (the satisfaction of God be with 
 him,) used to come every day to offer his service to 
 Mustafa, [Mohammed,) upon whom be the mercy and 
 peace of God. One day the Prophet (on whom be a 
 blessing,) said to him: — "Oh, Abu Hurairah, do not 
 come eve7'y day, that our friendship may increase." 
 
 A holy man has said : — " With all the beauty 
 which attends the sun, I have never heard, that any 
 one has taken him for a friend, except in winter, 
 when he is veiled, and therefore is loved." — Ch. II. 30. 
 
 There is no harm in paying visits to others, but go 
 not so often that they say, *' It is enough! " 
 
 If a man would learn to reprove himself, he would 
 never hear reproof from any one else. — h. II. 30. 
 
 Whoever is possessed of the finer mind, — be he 
 orator, or lawyer, or teacher, or scholar, — if once he 
 descends to low, worldly greed, will find himself 
 entangled like a fly in honey. — h. II. 33. 
 
 A pupil said to his instructor : " What am I to do? 
 for people incommode me with the frequency of their 
 visits to such a degree that their conversation pro-
 
 20 SABI. 
 
 duces a great distraction of my valuable time." He 
 replied : "To every one who is poor, lend ; and from 
 every one -wlio is rich, borrow : they vnH not come 
 about vou asrain." —Ch. II. 37. 
 
 Turn not away, O holy man, thy face from the 
 sinner. Rather look upon him v.-ith benevolence. If 
 I have not been in my deeds all that a man ought to 
 be, come to ?ny aid in the spirit of the generous. — 
 Ck. IL 40. 
 
 I saw some handfuls of fresh roses tied up with 
 gi-ass on the top of a cupola. I said : 
 
 " T\Tiat doth this worthless gi'ass, to be sitting thus 
 in the rank of roses?" 
 
 The grass wept and replied : "Be silent ! 
 
 The generous never forget their companionship. 
 
 Though I have no beauty, or colour, or odour, am 
 I not the grass of His garden r 
 
 I am the servant of the munificent Majesty, 
 noiirished from of old by His fostering bounty. 
 
 Whether I have any viii;ue, or whether I have it 
 not. 
 
 Still am I hopeful of the mercv of mv Master.
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDEN. 21 
 
 Although no valuable stock be mine ; no wealth of 
 ■worship — 
 
 He knoweth the remedy for his servant's case, 
 when all other support faileth." — CA. II. 48. 
 
 On the monument of Bahram Gur {a Persian King) 
 was written : 
 
 "The liberal hand is better than the strong arm. 
 
 Hatim-Tai {an Arabian chief, proverbial for his 
 generosity) liveth no more ; 
 
 But to eternity his great name will remain 
 renowned 
 
 On account of his liberality." 
 
 Distribute in alms the tithe of thy wealth ; for the 
 more the husbandman lops off the exuberance of the 
 viae, the more it will yield of grapes. — Ch. II. 49.
 
 22 
 
 S.iDI. 
 
 feo:m the thied chaptek, ox the 
 excellency oe coxtextmext. 
 
 An African mendicant, in the Mercers' Eow at 
 Aleppo, kept saj-ing : " wealthy sirs, if you had 
 justice, and we contentment, the practice of begging 
 would go out of the wo fid." 
 
 contentment, do thou make me rich ! 
 
 For wittout thee there is no such thing as riches. — 
 Ch. III. 1. 
 
 The treasure chosen by Lokman was patience ; 
 without patience, there is no sucli thing as wisdom. — 
 Ch. III. 1. 
 
 One of the Kings of Persia sent an able physician 
 into the service of Mohammed. He remained some
 
 THE KOSE-GAEDEX. 23 
 
 years in Arabia, but no one came to consult him, or 
 to ask for bis medicines. One day be presented bim- 
 self to tbe Proi^bet, complaining tbat be bad been 
 sent to beal bis people, but tbat in all that time no 
 one bad paid him any attention. Tbe prophet 
 replied : "It is tbe custom of this nation not to eat 
 till compelled by hunger, and to withdraw their band 
 from food whilst they have still an appetite." Tbe 
 physician said : " This is tbe reason tbat they are so 
 healthy." So be made bis obeisance, and departed. — 
 Ch. III. 4. 
 
 In tbe Institutes of Ardsbir Babegan, it is recorded 
 tbat be asked an Arabian physician: ""What quantity 
 of food may one eat daily?" He answered: "A 
 hundred direms in weight is sufl&cient." He said : 
 "What strength could such a quantity give?" He 
 replied: "Tbis quantity will carry you, and whatever 
 more you take you will have to carry." — Ch. III. 6. 
 
 They asked a sick man : " What does thy heart 
 desire?" He replied: "Tbat it might desire any- 
 thing."— CA. ///. 9.
 
 24 SADI. 
 
 They asked Hatim Tai : " Hast thou ever seen in 
 the world any one more noble-minded than thyself?" 
 He rej)lied : " One day I had ofiFered a sacrifice of 
 forty camels, and had gone out -with some Arab chiefs 
 to a corner of the desert. There I saw a thom-cutter, 
 ■who had gathered together a bundle of thorns. I 
 said to him : * ^Miy goest thou not to share the 
 hospitality of Hatim Tai, when a crowd has assembled 
 at his feast ? He replied : ' Whoever can eat the 
 bread of his own labour will not put himself under 
 an obligation to Hatim Tai.' This man in mind and 
 in magnanimity I consider greater than myself." — 
 Ch. III. 15. 
 
 Never had I complained of the vicissitudes of for- 
 tune, or saddened my face at the revolution of the 
 heavens, except once on a time when my foot was 
 naked, and I had not wherewithal to purchase a 
 shoe. Entering the great Mosque of Nufah, I saw 
 there a man who had no feet. Then I converted my 
 lament into gratitude and praise for the goodness of 
 God, and bore my want of shoes with patience. 
 
 A roasted fowl is less than pot-herbs in the eye of 
 biTn who is already satiated ;
 
 THE EOSE-GARDEX. 25 
 
 To him who is needy and fainting, a boiled turnip 
 is a roasted fowl. — Ch. III. 19. 
 
 I have heard of a wealthy man who was as notorious 
 for his stinginess as was Hatim Tai for his liberality. 
 No one ever saw his door open or his table spread. 
 He was sailing on the Western sea on his way to 
 Egypt, when a contrary wind assailed the ship. Then 
 he lifted up his hand in prayer, and began to utter 
 vain lamentations. 
 
 What advantage can the hand of supplication be 
 to the unhappy servant, 
 
 Kaised to God in the moment of peril, but when, 
 liberality is needed, folded under the arm? — Ch. III. 
 23. 
 
 c^^^rJ^^S^i
 
 26 
 
 feo:5j: the FomTH chapter, 
 
 OS THE ADYAXTAGES OF SILEXCE. 
 
 I have heard one of the sages say : '* No one con- 
 fesseth his own ignorance so much as the man who 
 beginneth to talk whilst another is speaking, and 
 hath not yet finished.'' — Ch. IV. 1. 
 
 I -was hesitating about a contract for the purshase 
 of a house. A Jew said to me : " I am one of the 
 old householders of this quarter. I can tell you the 
 qualities of the house, and say to you, * Buy ; it hath 
 no faults.' " I replied : " Except having you for a 
 neighbour." — Ch. IV. 9.
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDEN. 27 
 
 A man with a disagreeable voice, and in a loud 
 tone, was reading the Koran. An observant passer-by 
 asked, "What is yoiir stipend?" "Nothing," he 
 replied. "Why, then, give yourself this trouble?" 
 "I read," he said, " for the sake of God." " Then," 
 he replied, "for God's sake read no longer. You 
 mar the beauty of your religion." — Ch. IV. 14.
 
 28 
 
 FROM THE FIFTH CHAPTER, 
 OX LOYE AXD TOFTH. 
 
 They asked Hussain Maimundi, how it was that 
 Sultan Mahmud, who had so many handsome slaves, 
 each one of whom was of rare beauty, should have 
 no heai-t-felt affection for any of them, except for 
 lyaz, one who had no excess of comeliness. He 
 replied, — " Hast thou not heard, that whatever 
 toucheth the heart, will look fair to the eye?" 
 
 If any one regardeth another with the eye of dis- 
 like, 
 
 Tho' he were formed in the image of Joseph, 
 
 He would yet be looked upon as one of the 
 unlovely ; 
 
 And if thou regardest a demon with the eye of 
 
 desire. 
 
 He would appear to thine eye an angel and a cherub. 
 
 Whomsoever the Sultan regardeth with partiality,
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDEN^. 29 
 
 All that he doeth badly is sure to he well done ; 
 
 And whomsoever the Monarch discardeth from his 
 presence, 
 
 Will never he caressed hy any one of the house- 
 hold.— 67^. V. 1. 
 
 There was a handsome and virtuous youth 
 
 Who was betrothed to a beautiful girl. 
 
 I have read that as they were sailing on the great 
 sea, 
 
 They fell together into a whirlpool. 
 
 When a sailor came to seize his hand, and save him 
 from perishing in that extremity, 
 
 He called out from the midst of the threatening 
 waves, " Leave hold of me and take the hand of my 
 beloved," 
 
 Every one admired him for that speech, and when 
 he was expiring he was heard to say, 
 
 " Learn not the tale of love from that light-minded 
 man who forgetteth his beloved in the hour of 
 danger."— CA. T. 21.
 
 30 
 
 SABI. 
 
 feo:m: the sixth chaptee, 
 0^ ^^eakxess axd old age. 
 
 It ^vas good, the ans-wer which the aged woman 
 made to her son, when she beheld him, strong as an 
 elephant, able to cope with a tiger ; " Didst thou call 
 to remembrance the time of thine infancy, when thou 
 layest helpless in my embrace, thou wouldst not to- 
 day afflict me with violence, thou in the fulness of 
 thy manhood, and I a weak old woman. — Ch. VI. 6. 
 
 A rich but avaricious man had a son who was sick. 
 The well-^-ishers said : " It would "be well to recite 
 over him a chapter of the Holy Book, or to offer a 
 sacrifice and distribute to the poor : perchance God 
 miarht restore his health." For a moment he became
 
 THE BOSE-GAHDEN, 
 
 31 
 
 thoughtful and then said : " It is better to read a 
 chapter, which can be done in an instant; my flock is 
 at a distance." An intelligent fellow who heard this, 
 said : " He prefers the Holy Book, because it is on 
 the tip of his tongue, whilst his gold is at the 
 bottom of his heart." — Oh. VI. 7.
 
 32 
 
 feo^j: the seyexth chapter, 
 ox the effects of edtjcatio:?^. 
 
 He who hatli never learned good habits in his child- 
 hood, will in his manhood never recover his superiority . 
 You may twist the green wood in any way you please ; 
 the dry you can make straight only by fire. — Ch. 
 VII. 3. 
 
 A king who was sending his son to school, placed 
 on his breast a silver tablet, on which was written, 
 in letters of gold : " The severity of the school- 
 master is better than the indulgence of the father." — 
 Chap. VII. 4.
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDEI^. 33 
 
 I heard a learned instructor saying to one of his 
 scholars : *' Did a man fix his heart as much upon 
 Him who affords him subsistence as upon the subsist- 
 ence itself, he would raise himself into the sphere of 
 angels. 
 
 He did not forget thee when thou wert as yet 
 unformed and hidden in the womb. 
 
 He gave thee a soul, and reason, and form, and 
 intellect, 
 
 And beauty, and speech, and thought, and judgment, 
 and understanding. 
 
 He arranged on thine hands thy ten fingers, and 
 adapted thy two arms to thy shoulders, 
 
 And thinkest thou now, who art at thy best a mere 
 nothing, that He will forget to give thee means of 
 subsistence." — Ch. VII. 7. 
 
 I saw an Arab, who was saying to his son : " 0, my 
 child, on the day of the resurrection they will ask 
 you, "What have you done? not — Whose son are you ? 
 The veil which they kiss in the Holy Place is not 
 famous, because it came from the silkworm. It was 
 associated some time with a venerable personage : that 
 is the reason why it is so precious." — Gh. VII. 8.
 
 34 S\DT. 
 
 A silly fellow haviag a pain ia his eyes, went to a 
 farrier, and asked him for a lemedy. The farrier 
 applied to his eyes something which he would have 
 given to an animal, and it blinded him, upon which 
 they made an appeal to the magistrate. The magis- 
 trate said : " This is no case for damages ; it is plain 
 that this fellow is an ass, or he would not have gone 
 to a fari'ier." No man of enlightened understanding 
 will commit weighty matters to one of mean abilities. 
 A weaver of mats, though he be a weaver, will not be 
 employed in the weaving of silk. — Ch. VII. 14. 
 
 One of the great had a worthy son. He died, and 
 they asked him, ""What shall we write on his tomb ? " 
 " He replied : "If it be necessary to write anything, 
 this couplet will be suflScient — 
 
 "'Woe is me! When the green herbs were 
 blooming in the garden, how joyous was my heart ! 
 
 " ' Pass by, my friend, in the next spring, and 
 thou wilt see the green herbs blowing out of my 
 clav.' ''—Ch. VII. 15. 
 
 A holy man, passing by one of the favourites of 
 fortune, saw th?t he had boimd one of his slaves
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDEX. 
 
 tightly hand and foot, and was inflicting uoon him 
 severe punishment. He said, " my son, the good 
 and great God has subjected a creature like thyself to 
 thy power, and has given to thee superiority over 
 him. Be grateful for the benefits he has conferred on 
 thee, and inflict not on him this violence, lest in the 
 resurrection he be found better than thou art, and 
 thou be brought to shame. 
 
 Be not over much angry with thy slave ; 
 
 Treat him not unjustly, and pain not his feelings. 
 
 True, thou mayest have bought him for ten 
 direms ; 
 
 But 'twas not by thy power that he was created. 
 
 There is a tradition of the Prophet — peace be upon 
 him ! — that on the day of the resurrection the greatest 
 grief will be when the pious slave is carried to 
 Paradise, and his worthless master is borne away to 
 neU.—Ch. VII. 16. 
 
 I saw the son of a rich man seated at the head of 
 his father's tomb, and engaged in a dispute with the 
 son of a poor man, " The monument over my father's 
 grave," said he, " is of marble; the inscription upon 
 it in coloured letters ; and i ae foundation is of &i;One, 
 overlaid with azure tiles. What likeness is there
 
 36 SADI. 
 
 between it and thy father's, which is two or three 
 bricks packed together, with nothing but a handful 
 or two of earth cast over it?" — *' Silence!" replied 
 the poor man's son ; for whilst 5-0 ur father is striving 
 to move under this heavy stone, my father woQ have 
 arrived at Paradise. — Ch. VII. 18. 
 
 Of what utility are the rich, if they are clouds of 
 August, and do not rain upon any one ; or the foun- 
 tain of the sun, and do not give light to any one ; or 
 are mounted on the steed of power, and never make a 
 charge ; advance not a foot in the service of God ; 
 bestow not a direm without weighing it and distress- 
 ing you ; watch over their wealth drudgingly, and 
 leave it grudgingly ? And the sages have said that 
 the silver of the miser comes up from the ground at 
 the same moment that he himself goes down into the 
 ground. One brings his money within his grasp 
 anxiously and laboriously, and another comes and 
 carries it away quietly and painlessly. — Ch. VII. 20. 
 
 Have a care that t.hou throw not away thy shield 
 at the attack of the rhetorician, for his only weapons
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDEN. 37 
 
 are his borrowed exaggerations. Hold fast thy faith 
 and thy knowledge, for this skiKul-in-words, and 
 this utterer of mellifluous cadences, shows arms at 
 the gate, hut hath no defender within the castle. — 
 Gh. riL 20.
 
 38 
 
 SADI. 
 
 feo:m: the eighth chapter, 
 
 MAXIMS FOR the C0OT)XJCT OF LIFE. 
 
 Riches are for the comfort of life : not life for the 
 amassing of riches. I asked a wise man who is the 
 fortunate, and who is the unfortunate man ? He 
 replied : "He is the fortunate who sowed and reaped, 
 and he the unfortunate who died and enjoyed not. 
 Offer no prayer in behalf of that worthless wretch, 
 who did nothing but spend his life in the accumula- 
 tion of wealth which he used not !" — C?i. VIII. 1. 
 
 Wouldst thou be the better for worldly possessions, 
 be beneficent to others, as God has been beneficent to 
 thee. The Arabs say : " Give, and account it not an 
 obligation, for the advantage of it wiU come back to 
 thyself."
 
 THE EOSE-GAHDEX. 39 
 
 Wherever the tree of liberality has rooted itself, 
 its stem and its branches will ascend to the sky. 
 
 If thou hast hopes of eating of its fruit, deem it 
 not an obligation that thou didst not lay the axe to 
 its root. 
 
 Be thankful to God that he has prospered thee to 
 thy good, 
 
 And has not shut thee out from a share in his 
 favours. Think not that thou conferrest an obligation 
 in serving the Sultan ; 
 
 Recognise the obligation he has conferred upon 
 thee by placing thee in his service. — Ch. VIII. 2. 
 
 Two persons took trouble in vain, and laboured 
 without advantage — he who gained wealth which he 
 enjoyed not, and he who gathered knowledge which 
 he did not apply. Whatever amount of science you 
 may possess, if you reduce it not to practice you are 
 still ignorant. The boast which you load with a few 
 books is not on that account a learned man or a 
 philosopher. What knows that empty skull, whether 
 it be carrj-ing precious volumes or firewood P — Gh. 
 
 riiL 3.
 
 40 SADi. 
 
 Three things are not stable without three things — 
 ■wealth ^dthout traffic; learning -vdthout discussion; 
 and a kingdom without govern ment. — Ch. VIII. 7. 
 
 Thou shouldst speak such words between two 
 enemies that, should they become friends, thou wilt 
 not need be ashamed. A quarrel between two persons 
 is like a fire, and he who malevolently reports their 
 words is like one who supplies fuel to the flame. 
 Speak softly to your friends, that the blood-thirsty 
 enemy may not overhear. Be on your guard when 
 you speak before a wall, that there be not an ear 
 behind the waU.— C/k VIIL 12. 
 
 Whilst an afikir can be arranged with money, it is 
 not right to endanger life ; nor till every device has 
 failed does it become law to lay hands upon the 
 sword.— C/i. VIII. Id. 
 
 The wicked man is a captive in the hand of an 
 enemy, for whithersoever he goeth he cannot free 
 himself from the grasp of his own punishment.
 
 THE ROSE-GAEDEN. 41 
 
 If the wicked man should seek refuge in heaven 
 from his anguish, 
 
 He would still be in anguish from his own e^dl 
 disposition. — Ch. VIII. 21. 
 
 Hearest thou news which will afflict a heart, be 
 thou silent, and let another bear it. O nightingale ! 
 bring thou the good news of the spring ; leave to the 
 owl the tidings of evil. — Ch. VIII. 25. 
 
 He who offers advice to a self-conceited man needs 
 himself advice from another. — Ch. VIII. 25. 
 
 An affair succeeds through patience, and over-haste 
 ends in disappointments. I have seen with my own 
 eyes in the desert the slow man pass by the quick 
 one ; the wind-footed_ courser fall exhausted through 
 its speed, and the camel-driver, though tardily, push 
 on to the end.— CA. VIII 35. 
 
 To the ignorant man nothing is better than silence, 
 and were he aware of this, he would no longer be 
 ignorant.
 
 42 SADI. 
 
 "When you are not possessed of perfection or excel- 
 lence, 
 
 It is better that you keep your tongue within your 
 mouth. 
 
 The tongue bringeth disgrace upon men. The nut 
 without a kernel is light in weight. 
 
 The beast will not learn of thee how to speak ; 
 leam thou of the beast how to be silent. 
 
 "Whoever reflecteth not before he answereth, 
 
 "Will probably utter inappropriate words. 
 
 Either adorn thy speech with the intelligence of a 
 man, 
 
 Or sit in silence like a dumb animal. — Ch. Till. 36. 
 
 "Whoever entereth into argument, in order to display 
 his learning, with a man more learned than himself, 
 will thereby be taught that he is unlearned. Though 
 thou mayest be well informed, if one wiser than 
 thyself take up the discourse, be not thou ready to 
 start objections. — Ch. VIII. 37. 
 
 Publish not the secret faults of others, for you 
 inflict disgrace upon them, and procure thereby no 
 honour to yourself.— (7A. VIII. 39.
 
 THE EOSE-GAEDEJSr. 43 
 
 He who readeth and doth not practice, resemhleth 
 the man who driveth the oxen, but scattereth not the 
 seed.— a. nil. 40. 
 
 "Were every night a night of power, " the night 
 OF power" would lose its worth. Were every pebble 
 a ruby, the ruby and the pebble would be of equal 
 value.— CA. VIII. 43. {Note 1.) 
 
 It is very easy to deprive the living of life ; 
 
 To give back life to him from whom thou hast 
 taken it is impossible. 
 
 The archer should be patient ere he draw the bow. 
 
 For when the arrow hath left the bow it returneth 
 no more.— (7A. VIII. 54. 
 
 "What wonder if the nightingale lose its spirit, if a 
 crow is the companion of its cage. — Ch. VIII. 55. 
 
 The friend whom it hath taken a lifetime to acquire, 
 it is not right to estrange in a moment. How many 
 years doth it require to turn the stone into a ruby ? 
 Take heed lest with another stone thou grind it down 
 in an instant. — Ch. VIII. 57.
 
 44 SADI. 
 
 I heard a fellow of mean disposition slandering a 
 person of distinguished rank. I said : " O, sir ! if 
 thou art unfortunate, why is it a crime to he one of 
 the fortunate ? Oh ! do not invoke misery on the 
 envious man, for the condition of that man is misery 
 in itself. "What need of pursuing one with enmity, 
 who has such an enemy perpetually at his heels ?" — 
 Ch. Fill. 70. 
 
 I asked a wise man to give me a word of counsel. 
 He said to me : " Take heed how you commit your- 
 self with an ignorant man, for if you are possessed of 
 knowledge you will Lecome an ass, and if you are 
 without knowledge, your folly will become still 
 greater."— C/^ VIII. 80. 
 
 The hird will not alight upon the seed, 
 If it see another hird caught in the snare. 
 Take thou warning from the misfortunes of others, 
 That thou give no occasion to others to take 
 warning from thee. — Ch. VIII. 90. 
 
 The poor man whose end is good is better than 
 the king whoso end is evil.
 
 THE EOSE-GAKDEX. 45 
 
 The sorrow which thou bearest before enjoyment 
 Is better than the enjoyment which precedeth sorrow. 
 —Ch. nil. 92. 
 
 A holy man in his prayers was wont to say : " O 
 God, have mercy on the bad, for on the good Thou 
 hast already had mercy, in that Thou hast created 
 them good."— a. VIIL 98. 
 
 Feridoon ordered his Chinese embroiderers to 
 embroider around his pavilion : "Thou who art of 
 an imderstanding heart be good to the wicked, 
 for the good are great and happy of themselves." — 
 Ch. nil. 99. 
 
 Two persons died, carrying with them vain regrets ; 
 he who had wealth which he never enjoyed, and he 
 who had knowledge of which he made no use. — 
 Ch. niL 106. 
 
 No one ever saw a man who had merit, but was 
 miserly, that people did not expatiate on his faults ; 
 but if a generous man hath two hundred defects, his 
 generosity will cover them all. — Ch. VIIL 106.
 
 46 SADI. 
 
 Generosity and kindness make the man ; think not 
 that it is his material image. To gain all the wealth 
 of the world is not virtue]; try if thou canst conquer 
 a single heart. 
 
 The truly wise man practiceth humility ; the bough 
 full of fruit inclincth its head towards the ground. It 
 is in those of high estate that humility appeareth to 
 most advantage ; in the heggar it is only the mark of 
 his profession. — From the Fend-Nameh, or Book of 
 Cowisels.
 
 mmmmim^ 
 
 PAET II. 
 
 FLOWERS FROM THE 
 BOSTAJSr, OR PLEASURE GARDEN. 
 
 IP THOU SOWEST THORNS THOU WILT NOT REAP JESSAMINE. 
 
 CROWDS ARE THERE OF THOSE, WHO GREEDY OF THE 
 WORLD'S PLEASIRKS THINK THAT NOT HAVING SCATTERED 
 THE GRAIN THEY ('\N YET GATHER THE HARVEST. 
 
 BUT SADI TELLS YOU, ONLY HE WHO SCATTERETII THE 
 SEED WILL REAP THE HARVEST.— 2%e Bostdn.
 
 FEOM THE BOSTi^N", OE PLEASUEE- 
 GEOIIIS^D, OF SADI. 
 
 -S2r 
 
 Invocation. 
 
 In the name of God — the Merciful, the Com- 
 passionate. 
 
 In the name of the Lord, who created the sonl ; 
 who gave to the tongue words of wisdom ; 
 
 The Lord, the Benevolent, the Sustainer, who 
 generously accepteth excuses, and forgiveth sins ; 
 
 The Mighty One, from whose door whoever tumeth 
 away, will find Might at no other door ; 
 
 In whose court the most exalted Monarchs must 
 humble themselves as suppliants ; 
 
 "Who is not quick to repress the arrogant, nor 
 repulseth with violence those who sue for pardon ;
 
 50 
 
 Who, when He is angry for some evil deed, if 
 thou tumest to Him agaia, writeth it amongst the 
 things of the past ; 
 
 Who, when He heholdeth the sin, covereth it with 
 the veil of His mercv ; in the ocean of whose 
 omniscience the universe is hut a drop. 
 
 If a son is at variance with a father, thou wilt 
 immediately behold the father in the glow of passion ; 
 
 And if he doth not soon give him satisfaction, will 
 drive him forth from his presence like a stranger. 
 
 If the slave doth not bestir himself actively at 
 
 his work, his master will deem him but of little 
 
 value. 
 
 Or, if thou art not amiable amongst thy companions, 
 
 thy companions will flee from thee to a mile's distance. 
 
 Or, if a soldier deserteth his duty, his commander 
 will speedily dismiss him from the service. 
 
 But He who is Lord of the high and of the low, 
 shutteth not the door of His riches against even the 
 rebellious. 
 
 The expanse of the earth is the table of His people ; 
 and to His free banquet friend and foe are alike 
 welcome. 
 
 If He hurried to involve him in trouble, who would 
 be secure from the hand of His power ?
 
 THE BOSTAJf. 51 
 
 Independent in His essence of tlie judgment of any- 
 one of His creatures, His dominion is rich in the 
 obedience of men and spirits. 
 
 Every thing, and every person must how down to 
 his mandate : the sons of Adam, and the hird, and the 
 ant, and the worm. 
 
 So broadly is the table of His bounty spread, that 
 the vulture on the Caucasus receiveth his portion. 
 
 Benevolent, and beneficent, and the dispenser of 
 blessings, He is the Lord of Creation, and knoweth 
 every secret. 
 
 This man He judgeth worthy of grandeur and a 
 high destiny, for his kingdom is ancient, and his race 
 is wealthy. 
 
 On the head of one He setteth the diadem of fortune ; 
 another He bringeth down from a throne to the dust. 
 
 On the head of one He placeth the crown of 
 prosperity : another He clotheth in the weeds of 
 poverty. 
 
 For His friend (Abraham) He turned fire into a 
 bed of roses ; and cast into the flames the host from 
 the waters of the Nile. {Note 2.) 
 
 If He did that, it was marked with His favour ; 
 and if He did this, it was signed with His order. 
 
 He throweth His veil over evil deeds, and hideth 
 behind it His own benefits :
 
 52 SADI. 
 
 If He imslieatheth His sword of power in wrath, the 
 very Cherubim are dumb with terror : 
 
 But if He giveth victuals from the table of His 
 bounty, even the Evil- One says — " I too shall have a 
 portion." 
 
 In the court of His benignity and greatness, the 
 greatest must lay their greatness aside ; 
 
 But to such as are cast down, He is nigh with His 
 mercy, and He ever lendeth His ear to the prayer of 
 the suppliant. 
 
 By His prescience He foreseeth what hath not yet 
 been ; in His goodness He provideth for what hath not 
 yet been spoken. 
 
 By His power He is the -keeper of the heights and 
 the depths, and He is master of the Book of the Day 
 of Accoimt. 
 
 No one's back is strong enough to throw off 
 obedience ; nor is there room for any one to lay a 
 finger on a letter. 
 
 The Ancient Benefactor is still ever beneficent ; by 
 decree upon decree He fashioned the beautiful image 
 in the womb. 
 
 From east to west he set in motion sun and moon, 
 and spread out the earth on the face of the waters. 
 
 And though it trembleth sometimes and dreadeth
 
 THE BOSTAjq^. 53 
 
 its ruin, He hatli nailed down the roots of the moun- 
 tains to its skirts. 
 
 He who hath imprinted its form upon the waters, 
 gave to the pearl its Peri-like semblance. 
 
 He hid the ruby and the turquoise in the bosom of 
 the stone, and hung the ruby- coloured rose on the 
 turquoise-tiuted branches. 
 
 He directeth the drops from the cloud to the ocean, 
 and the seed of the father to the womb of the mother. 
 
 Of one globule He maketh a pearl-white lily, and 
 fashioneth another into the lofty cj^ress. 
 
 From His knowledge not an atom lieth concealed, 
 for the hidden and open are both to Him but one. 
 
 For the ant and for the serpent he hath alike 
 provided its food, and for that which hath no hand, 
 nor feet, nor strength. 
 
 At His decree non-existence hath been embellished 
 with existence, for no one knoweth but He how to 
 change nonentity into'being. 
 
 So at one time He burieth an act in silence, and 
 briugeth it forth again in the plain of the last 
 judgment. 
 
 The universe is agreed in the acknowledgment of 
 His Deity, but is [^confounded when it attempteth to 
 investigate His Essence.
 
 54 SADI. 
 
 Man cannot comprehend the extent of His Majesty, 
 the sight hath not penetrated to the limits of His 
 excellence. 
 
 The wing of bird hath not soared to the summits of 
 His knowledge, nor the hand of intelligence touched 
 the skirts of His attrihutes. 
 
 In this whirlpool have heen sunk a thousand vessels, 
 of which not a single plank hath come to the shore. 
 
 How many a night have I sat completely lost, till I 
 have exclaimed in terror — " Up, and be doing." 
 
 Of the kingdoms of the earth the knowledge is 
 attainable, but the knowledge of Him, with thy 
 measure, thou canst not attain. 
 
 The bounds of His knowledge thine intellect cannot 
 reach ; nor can thy thoughts fathom the depths of , 
 His attributes. 
 
 To equal Sohlan in eloquence is possible, but j 
 innumerable are they who have fallen exhausted in | 
 the race. 
 
 To urge thy steed over every ground is impossible, ! 
 and there are occasions on which thou must throw 
 away thy shield. i 
 
 If the traveller is forbidden to penetrate to the j 
 secret place, he will find the door barred, and will j 
 have to return. i
 
 THE BOSTAl^. 55 
 
 To many a one at this banquet is oflfered tlie goblet, 
 who findeth it to be but a stupifying drug. 
 
 Let every one tremble who hath trusted himself to 
 this ocean of blood, from which no one yet ever 
 brought back his vessel. 
 
 One falcon soareth up, but with bandaged eyes ; 
 another returneth, but with singed eyes and feathers. 
 
 No one hath found his way to the treasure of Karun; 
 or, if he hath found it, hath he brought anything back. 
 
 Seekest thou to survey this country, as well mayest 
 thou begin by hamstringing the horse on which thou 
 wouldest return. 
 
 Let each one look into the mirror of his own soul, 
 and gradually it will acquire the same clearness. 
 
 Perhaps the odour of love will inebriate thee, and, 
 seeking for a compact with the divine, thou mayest 
 thyself become divine. 
 
 Proceed on the road of inquiry on foot, till thou 
 reach the goal; and thence fly upwards on the 
 pinions of affection. 
 
 Truth will rend in twain the veils of illusion ; yea, 
 even the veil which concealeth the glory of God. 
 
 But the courser of intellect can run no further ! 
 Astonishment tighteneth the reins, and exclaimeth — 
 '^ Stand I"— Graf's Text, Vienna, 1858,^.2. Transl. 
 Jena, 1850, I. 1.
 
 56 
 
 SADI. 
 
 FROM BOOK THE FIEST, 
 OX IJPEIGHTXESS Jl^D GOTEEXMEXT. 
 
 T/ie Tigcr-iamer. 
 
 Tliey relate a stoiy of one of the groat in faith — 
 one searching after the truth, and with an eye for 
 the real — 
 
 That he heheld a pious man, riding along rapidly 
 and grasping a serpent in his hand. 
 
 One who was passing hy exclaimed — '• thou who 
 art joiuTie]k*ing on the way towards God, direct me 
 too on the road on which thou art travelling I 
 
 '• ^Miat hast thou done to tame the ravenous heast, 
 and stamp on thy name the seal of felicity r" 
 
 He replied — "If I have siihdued the tiger, the 
 serpent, the elephant, or the vulture, be not thou 
 astonished I
 
 THE BOST.i]Sr. 57 
 
 " Thou too withdraw not thy neck from the All- 
 Ruler, and no one will withdraw his neck from thy 
 rule." 
 
 When the Monarch suhmitteth himseK to the 
 conunands of the Law-Giver, God will hecome to 
 him a guardian and defender ; 
 
 And when the All-Righteous is hecome thy friend, 
 it is impossihle that He should deliver thee into the 
 hand of thirie enemy. 
 
 This is the right way ; turn not thy face from it ; 
 make this thy desire, and what thou desirest, thou 
 wilt find.— G^m/'s Text, p. 29. Transl. 1. 19. 
 
 ««r==^^^^P^^5"-
 
 58 SADI. 
 
 T/ie Last Words of Kushirvan. 
 
 I have heard that at the moment -svheii the soul was 
 departing, thus spake Nushirvan to his son Hormuz : 
 
 " Be thou in heart the guardian of the poor ; he 
 not in hondage to thine o^vn ease. 
 
 " No one "will live in comfort in thy kingdom, if 
 thou desirest only thine own comfort, and sayest — 
 ' That is enough I ' 
 
 " He will receive no praise from the wise, who 
 passeth his nights in sleep whilst the wolf is amidst 
 the flock. 
 
 " Keep watch over the necessitous poor, for the 
 peasant it is from whom the king deriveth his throne. 
 
 " The king is the tree, the peasant is the root : the 
 tree, O my son, deriveth its strength from the root." — 
 Grafs Text, p. 31. Transl. I. 19. 
 
 -oi^ic
 
 THE BOSTA]!^^. 59 
 
 Kingly Actions. 
 
 Hast thou displaced any one from his office, after a 
 season forgive him his fault. 
 
 To fulfil the expectations of one to whom thou hast 
 given hopes, is Letter than to break the chains of a 
 thousand slaves. 
 
 The just king will hear himself towards those who 
 are under his orders, as a father who hath cause for 
 anger with his son. 
 
 Sometimes he will strike him so as to inflict pain ; 
 sometimes he will drop the crj-stal water from his eyes. 
 
 If thou art too soft, thine adversary will wax too 
 hold ; if thou art too harsh, he will fly from thee. 
 
 Better are softness and harshness together, as the 
 surgeon applieth at once the knife and the plaster. 
 
 Be thou generous, and gentle, and forgiving; as 
 God hath scattered upon thee, so scatter thou upon 
 others. 
 
 Ko one hath come into the world for continuance, 
 save him who leaveth behind him a good name. 
 
 Nor hath any one died who hath left as an inheritance 
 a bridge, a mosque, an hostel, or an hospital.
 
 60 
 
 SABI. 
 
 Whoever hath left no such memorial behind him, his 
 existence hath heen but that of a tree -which never 
 bore fruit. 
 
 And ^vhoever hath departed and left no mark, his 
 name after his death will never be lauded. — Graf's 
 Text, p. 39. Traml. L 25.
 
 THE BOSTAlSr, 61 
 
 Kingly Duties. 
 
 It is no crime to drink water without the command 
 of the law ; but if thou sheddest blood, it must not be 
 done without a decree. 
 
 If the law pronounce its decree, then thou mayest 
 slay the criminal without any dread ; 
 
 But if thou hast those who belong to his family, 
 them forgive, and extend to them thy mercy. 
 
 The iniquitous man it was who committed the 
 crime ; what was the offence of his helpless wife and 
 children ? 
 
 Is thy person powerful and thine army great, make 
 not on that account an uiroad upon the lands of thine 
 enemy ; 
 
 He will flee away to his lofty castle, and thou wilt 
 ruin only his unoffending country. 
 
 Look well into the circumstances of thy prisoners, 
 for possibly there may be amongst them those who 
 are innocent. 
 
 If a merchant die in thy dominions, it is unjust to 
 lay thine hand upon his property.
 
 62 
 
 For afterwards, wlieii they raise over him the cry 
 of lamentation, they \dll unite in exclamations : — 
 
 " The unhappy man died a stranger in thy country, 
 and a tyrant rohhed him of what remained of his 
 goods." 
 
 Think of that little fatherless child, and dread the 
 sigh of his miserable heart. 
 
 Oft times the fair name of fifty years a single ugly 
 deed hath ruined for ever. 
 
 Though a man he king from one end of the earth 
 to the other, when he taketh away the wealth of the 
 prosperous he is hut a beggar. 
 
 Eather will the generous man die with an empty 
 hand, than fill his stomach from the pittance of the 
 poor. — Graf's Text, p. 57. Transl. I. 38.
 
 THE BOSTA]^. 63 
 
 The Frugal 3lonarch. 
 
 I have heard of a just and commandiiig Ruler, 
 whose cloak was of coarse serge within and without. 
 
 Some one exclaimed to him — "0 thou who wast 
 born on a fortunate day, order thyself a rohe of 
 hrocade of China." 
 
 He replied — "This stuff is sent for comfort and j 
 raiment. What goeth beyond this is all for display 
 and ornament. 
 
 " It is not for that pm-pose that I take the taxes — 
 to embellish myself, my throne, and my diadem. 
 
 " Were I to clothe my body with robes like women, 
 how should I have the manliness to repel my enemies ? 
 
 " I have myself a hundred kinds of avarice and 
 passions, but my treasuiy is not for myself alone. 
 
 " My treasury must be full for the sake of mine 
 army, not for the object of beauty and ornament." 
 
 The soldier who is not made light-hearted by the 
 King, will liavdly guard well the boundaries of the 
 kingdom.
 
 64 SADI. 
 
 "VMien tlie enemy hath carried off the ass of the 
 villager, why shoiild the King he eating the tithes and 
 the taxes ? 
 
 The enemy hath home away the ass, and the Sultan 
 the tillage ; what good is there in store for such a 
 crown and throne I 
 
 Violence towards one who hath fallen is not manly : 
 'tis to he the hase hird that snatchoth the grain from 
 the emmet ! 
 
 The peasant is a tree which, if thou wilt nurtm-e 
 it, will yield thee fruit to the hearts' -desire of thy 
 friends. 
 
 Do not ruthlessly uproot it and destroy its produce: 
 for so doing, the foolish man doeth an injury to him- 
 self. 
 
 Whoso dealeth not harshly with his suhject wiUeat 
 of his fruit in cheerfulness and prosperity ; 
 
 But if the suhject he puslied down from his footing, 
 he afraid of his lamenting appeal to God, 
 
 If it he allowed thee to take r. city hy gentle means, 
 pour not out hlood from the veins in hattle ; 
 
 To suhjugate hy thy valour every kingdom of the 
 earth, it would not he worth while that a drop of 
 hlood should trickle to the ground. — Grafs Text, p. 
 59. Transl I. 40.
 
 THE BOSTAJS^. 65 
 
 Inscription on the Fountain of JemsJiid. 
 
 I have heard that Jemshid, of happy disposition, 
 inscribed on a tablet at the head of a fountain : 
 
 Many like ourselves have breathed at this fountain, 
 and departed, and closed their eyes upon it. 
 
 They captured the world by courage, or -violence, 
 but carried away with them nothing to the grave. 
 
 They departed each one, and of that which they 
 had tilled nothing remained to them save a good or 
 an evil name. 
 
 When thine enemy hath fallen into thine hands, 
 grieve him not further, he hath already tasted enough 
 of sorrow. 
 
 Better hold in thy keeping a discomfited enemy 
 alive, than to have on thy neck the stain of his blood. 
 —Grafs Text. p. 61. TratisL I. 41.
 
 66 SADI. 
 
 The Grandee and the Beggar. 
 
 An exalted personage who dwelt in Irak, heard a 
 poor wretch exclaim beneath his balcony : 
 
 " There is a door at which thou art hopeful of 
 entering ; give hope then to those who sit asking at 
 thine." 
 
 Dost thou desire that thine own heart should not 
 suffer, redeem thou the sufferer from the bonds of 
 misery. 
 
 The heart-piercing anguish of the petitioner for 
 justice hath been enough to eject a monarch from his 
 kingdom. 
 
 Thou sleepest at mid-day in the coolness of thine 
 harem, and sayest to the poor stranger — " Go, thou, 
 and be scorched in the burning noon." 
 
 But God will do justice in behalf of the man who 
 implored in vain the justice of the king. — Graf's Text, 
 p. 64. Grafs Transl. L 43.
 
 THE BOSTAN^. 67 
 
 ToMah's Councillor. 
 
 In the clironicles of the elder kings it is written, 
 that when Tokiah sat upon the throne of Zengi ; 
 
 In his time no one suflfered injury from another : 
 each took precedence as he was equally good, and 
 that was enough. 
 
 To an affectionate companion he one day said : 
 " Life is coming to an end, and without aught of 
 profit. 
 
 Since royalty, and dignities, and thrones pass 
 away, and no one carrieth anything out of the world 
 except the Devotee, 
 
 T will seat myself in the coll of adoration, that I 
 may discover the moaning of this brief existence." 
 
 When his enlightened friend heard him say this, 
 he exclaimed excitedly and with some asperity, 
 " Madman ! hold ! enough ! 
 
 There is no devotion save in the ser\dce of others ; 
 it consisteth not in the prayer- carpet, in rosaries, or in 
 the garb of the Derwish. 
 
 Be on the throne of sovereignty thyself, and in 
 the purity of thy morals be the Derwish.
 
 68 
 
 SADI. 
 
 Gird thy loins with truthfulness and good pur- 
 poses ; and keep thy tongue tied from doubtful words 
 and questionings. 
 
 Thy way is by the foot, not by the mouth ; for 
 words without action havo'no substance. 
 
 The eminent ones who distributed the ready-money 
 of pure deeds had the Derwish's tatters under their 
 proper garments." — Grafs Text, p. 6S. Tmnsl. I. 46.
 
 THE BOSTAJS". 69 
 
 Eeply of a Devotee to a complaining Sultan. 
 
 I have heard that one of the Sultans of Rum thus 
 poured out his tearful lamentation : 
 
 " Nothing now remaineth within my power : 
 nothing is left me save this city and castle. 
 
 Many an effort did I make, that my children after 
 me might become a numerous and powerful lineage ; 
 
 Now a malignant enemy hath obtained the mastery, 
 and turned from me all aid and the fruit of my 
 labjur. 
 
 What plun shall I adopt ? what remedy apply ? for 
 the soul within ray body is dwindling away with 
 anguish !" 
 
 He replied — " O brother, swallow thy grief ; for 
 the larger and better portion of thy life is gone 
 already ! 
 
 Enough is still left for what remaineth ; when thou 
 art departed, the world will be the place of another. 
 
 Be he wise or be he ignorant, devour not his grief, 
 — he will assuredly have his own to devour. 
 
 To possess the world, it is not worth the trouble to 
 take it with the sword and then to leave it.
 
 70 
 
 Whom knowest thou of the Khosrus of Persia, of 
 the age of Feridun, of Zohak, or Jemshid, whose 
 throne and whose kingdom hath not come to ruin. ! 
 
 Naught save His sovereignty — the great God's — 
 remaineth for ever ! 
 
 Who can have the hope of enduring eternally, when 
 thou beholdest not one who endureth for ever ! 
 
 If thou keepest thy gold and silver, thy goods and 
 thy treasure, after a few days they will be trodden 
 under foot : 
 
 But he whose soul abideth in goodness, from 
 moment to moment will find mercy to his soul. 
 
 The great man who leaveth behind him a good 
 njime will indubitably live in the memory of the 
 generous. 
 
 Of a surety, if thou nurturest the tree of nobility, 
 thou mayest certainly hope to eat of its fruit. 
 
 Let then thine aspirations be ever towards the 
 noble ; for when the Demons assign the habitations, 
 
 They will assig-n them only to the meed of excel- 
 lence. 
 
 To the one who hath been the most forward in good 
 deeds, the loftiest station in the Courts of God ; 
 
 Whilst he who hath been faithless will veil himself 
 in shame at asking for the reward of actions unper- 
 formed.
 
 THE BOSTAN". 71 
 
 Shame on the man — his teeth should gnaw his 
 hand — who had the hot oven, and did not bake his 
 loaf! 
 
 When thou knowest the time for gathering in the 
 gTain, not to have sown the seed was wilful trans- 
 gression I — Grafs Textfp. 69. Transl. I. 47.
 
 72 SADI. 
 
 Unselfishness. 
 
 If the merchant is awakened by the sound of the 
 trumpet, what knoweth he of how the watchers have 
 passed the night ? 
 
 And if the traveller hath to bear the affliction of 
 his own burthen, his heart is not troubled about the 
 poor back-galled ass. 
 
 But, I perceive, that thou art not one of the fallen : 
 wherefore, then, when thou see'st another fall, art 
 i thou standing still ? 
 
 Once upon a time there was so sterile a year in 
 Damascus, that friends forgot their natural affections. 
 
 The sky was so niggardly to the earth, that neither 
 palm tree nor cornfield moistened its lip with water. 
 
 The source of the ancient fountains was dried up, 
 and no water remained save the water in the eye of 
 the orphan. 
 
 Xothing was heard save the sigh of the Avidowed 
 woman, nor did smoke rise out of any chimney. 
 
 I saw the tree -^dthout leaves, naked as the body 
 of the Derwish ; the strength of the arm gone and 
 turned into utter weakness.
 
 THE BOSTAN^. 73 
 
 On the mountain was no green, and the garden was 
 a desert ; the locust devoured the grove, and man the 
 locust. 
 
 In this state of things I met a friend on whose 
 hones nothing remained hut the skin. 
 
 Once he had heen strong and powerful ; the 
 possessor of rank and property and gold. 
 
 I said to him, " O my excellent friend, what misery 
 hath come upon thee ? Tell me !" 
 
 He thundered out, — " Whither are gone thy wits ? 
 To know, and to ask how ! Thy question is a sin ! " 
 
 " See'st thou not that the scarcity hath risen to its 
 height? — That the calamity hath arrived at the hounds 
 of extremity?" 
 
 No rain cometh down from the sky : nor doth the 
 sigh of the groaner travel in the path of his desire." 
 
 I said to him, — *' But thou, thou at least, hast no 
 cause for dread : the poison killeth in the spot where 
 is no antidote." 
 
 Should others die from want of means, for thee 
 there is a rock ; what fear of the deluge !" 
 
 My teacher looked at me grieved, with the look 
 that one casteth upon silly people. 
 
 Comrade, if a man be safe upon the hcach, will he 
 he at rest whilst his friends are drowning ?
 
 ' 74 SADI. 
 
 Not from my own want of means is my face wan ; 
 wan is my face for the necessities of others. 
 
 The thonghtfnl man wisheth not to see a wound, 
 either on his own limb, or on that of another. 
 
 Even when I am of sound body myself, when I 
 see the wound of another, my body is all in a tremble. 
 
 The pleasure of that soundness is turned to misery, 
 if one is beside me enfeebled by sickness. 
 
 "WTien I see the poor wretch who hath nothing to 
 eat, the morsel on my palate becometh gall and poison. 
 
 If I behold one of my friends borne away to prison, 
 what would be left of the pleasure of walking in my 
 pleasure-grounds ?" — Gri/'s Text, p. 76. Transl. I. 52.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 75 
 
 Selfishness. 
 
 One night the sighs of the pcox)le kindled a fire, 
 and Bagdad, I have heard, was half hurnt down. 
 
 "God he praised!" — cried one in the midst of it 
 quickly — " that my shoj) hath suffered no injury." 
 
 One who had seen the world replied, — '* O selfish 
 man, who thinkest that it is enough to hear thine 
 own grievance. 
 
 And art satisfied that a lofty n'liy should he hurnt 
 to the ground, so only thine own house he saved I" 
 
 Who except a stony-hearted man could endure to 
 fill his own stomach, whilst a stone lieth heavy on 
 the stomach of another ? 
 
 How can the rich man eat that morsel, when ho sccth 
 the poor man eating hlood ? 
 
 Say not that the watcher hy the sick man is in 
 health, for the watcher himself twitcheth at every 
 pang of the sick man. 
 
 The travellers who arrive weary at the resting 
 place can they sleep whilst the utterly worn-out are 
 lagging hchind ? 
 
 Even the heart of a monarch must he hurthcned.
 
 76 
 
 SADI. 
 
 when he see'th the poor thorn-laden as3 sticking in 
 the clay. 
 
 To him who is seated in the palace of felicity even 
 a syllable of one of Sadi's sayings is enough : 
 
 Equally so to thee then, if thou wilt listen to it, 
 should be this : — " If thou soweSt thorns, thou wilt 
 not reap jessamine." — Graf's Text, p. 7S. TransLLdi.
 
 THE BOSTAIf. 
 
 77 
 
 The Poor Man's Burthen is less heavy than the King's. 
 
 Say not that there is nothing- higher than the 
 Sultan's dignity ; that the mendicant is not happier 
 than the king ! 
 
 The lightly -laden will move the lighter ; and this 
 is the truth, and pious men will listen to it. 
 
 The empty handed may eat his bread in sorrow ; 
 the king hath to devour the griefs of a world. 
 
 The beggar when he hath eaten his evening's crust 
 sleepeth as sweetly as doth the Sultan of Syria. 
 
 Joy and sorrow alike come to an end ; in death 
 they depart both of them together, 
 
 What mattereth it that on the head of the one was 
 placed a crown ; that on the neck of the other were 
 laid the taxes ; 
 
 That the head of the one v>'as exalted to Saturn ; 
 that the other lay poverty-stricken in a dungeon ! 
 
 When the troop of Destiny fell upon them both, it 
 was not poFsible to distinguish the one from the other. 
 
 Calamity is guardian of the Kingdom of Fortune ; 
 the beggar is a king, and the king a beggar.
 
 78 SADI. 
 
 I have heard that once upon a time a skull thus 
 spake in the grave-yard to a holy man : — 
 
 "Once I possessed aU the splendour ef sovereignty; 
 the crown of greatness beamed upon my head. 
 
 I had armies to back me, and the favour of Fortune, 
 and I conquered Irak by the strong arm of Destiny ; 
 
 I had an eager desire to devour Kirman also, but 
 my head was itself devoured by worms I 
 
 Take the cotton of heedlessness out of the car of 
 thine intellect, that thine ear may receive counsel 
 from the dead!"— <7/-a/'5 Text, 2). 86. Transl I. 60.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 79 
 
 book the seco^'d, 
 o:n^ bexeyoleis'ce and compassio:n'. 
 
 If thou art intelligent, prove thou the real for the 
 real is the permanent : not so the image ! 
 
 Whoso hath not knowledge and benevolence, and 
 piety, knoweth nothing of reality, dwelleth only in 
 the semblance. 
 
 He will sleep peacefully beneath the sod, who hath 
 caused others to sleep with peaceful hearts. 
 
 TMiilst thou still livest, consume thine own grief, 
 for thine heir will not leave anything when dead. 
 
 Bestow thou then thy gold and thy wealth whilst 
 they are thine, for when thou art gone they will be 
 no longer in thy power. 
 
 And dost thou desire not to be hopeless for thyself, 
 dismiss not from thy thoughts those who are forlorn. 
 
 Distribute thy treasure readily to-day, for to-morrow 
 the key may no longer be in thine hand.
 
 80 SADI. 
 
 Make thou thyself provision for thy journey, for 
 compassion of wife or child will not avail thee. 
 
 He who hath carried with him his heritage in 
 eternity, he it is who hath borne from the world the 
 ball of fortune. 
 
 Exert thyself to cast a covering over the poor, that 
 God's own veil may be a covering for thee. 
 
 Turn not the stranger from thy door without his 
 portion, lest thou thyself stand a stranger at the door 
 of others. 
 
 Look thou with pity on the condition of the heart, 
 for one day it may be thine own lot to be heart- 
 broken. 
 
 Try to make joyful the soul of the desponding, 
 and remember the day of despondency for thyself. 
 
 Thou hast not to stand a petitioner at the gate of 
 others; in gratitude drive not the petitioner from 
 thy gate. -Grafs Text, p. 138. Transl I. 96.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 81 
 
 Orphanage. 
 
 Cast thy shade over the head of the fatherless: wipe 
 away the dust from him ; draw out his thorn. 
 
 Knowest thou not what hath so sadly distressed 
 him ?— Can the tree ever he fresh and green without 
 its root ? 
 
 When thou heholdest the orphan cast down hefore 
 thee, kiss not the face of thine own child. 
 
 If the orphan weepeth, who is there to caress him ? 
 And if he is angry, who is there to soothe him ? 
 
 Take care that he weepeth not, for when the orphan 
 weepeth even the throne of the Supreme tremhleth. 
 
 Tenderly wipe away the tear from his eye, gently 
 remove the dust from his face. 
 
 If his own shade no longer screeneth his head, do 
 thou receive and nurture him under thine. 
 
 Once my head was enclircled with a diadem, when 
 my head reposed on the hreast of a father. 
 
 If hut a fly settled on my hody, of how many ahout 
 me were the hearts disquieted ! 
 
 Now, were an enemy to cast me into prison, not 
 one of my friends would come nigh to assist me.
 
 82 SADI. 
 
 I have experienced myself the sorrows of children, 
 for in childhood I lost the protection of my father. 
 
 The Lord of Khojimd, -^ho had once extracted a 
 thorn from an orphan's foot, appeared to some one in 
 a dream, 
 
 And said, as he paced the meads above, — " How 
 many roses have bloomed for me from that thorn I" 
 Grafs Text, p. 140. Trajis. I. 97.
 
 THE BOSTAN^. 83 
 
 Abraham and the Fire-worshipjjer. 
 
 I have heard that for a whole week no wayfarer 
 had come to claim the hospitality of the Friend of 
 God (Abraham). 
 
 From a cheerful hahit he would not eat his morning 
 meal unless some necessitous traveller arrived on his 
 journey. 
 
 He went out and looked out on every side, and 
 surveyed every point of the valley. 
 
 He saw only, like a reed in the desert, one solitary 
 man, whose hair was white with the snows of age. 
 
 He addressed him with a courteous welcome, and 
 gave him an invitation after the custom of the liberal: 
 
 " dear to me as the apple of mine eye, do me the 
 kindness to eat of my bread and of my salt." 
 
 Gladly he assented, leaped up, and quickened his 
 step, for he knew the character of the inviter: on 
 whom he peace ! 
 
 They who ministered to the hospitality of the 
 Friend of God seated the poor old man in the seat of 
 honour. 
 
 He commanded and they prepared the table, and 
 his companions placed themselves around it ;
 
 84 SADl. 
 
 But when the company began — " In the name 
 of God" — no voice from the old man reached the 
 ear. 
 
 Then he said: — "0 thou that hast eeen many- 
 days, I perceive that thou art not pious and earnest 
 as an old man should be. 
 
 Is it not proper, when thou eatest thy daily bread, 
 to name the name of the Lord who gave it ?" 
 
 He replied : — "I have not followed thy way, for I 
 was never taught it by the Priest of the Fire- 
 worshippers." 
 
 Then the Prophet of good omen knew that the old 
 man was an Infidel, doomed to perdition ; 
 
 And when he foimd him to be an alien, he assailed 
 him with contumelies as a wicked wretch too unholy 
 to consort with the Holy. 
 
 Then came an Angel from the Creator who reproved 
 him sternly, saying, — 
 
 "I have bestowed upon him life and daily food 
 for a hundred years, and is he become to thee an 
 abomination in a single day ? 
 
 If he hath offered up his adoration before Fire, 
 art thou therefore to withdraw from him the hand of 
 benevolence?" — Graf's Text p. 142. Transl. I. 99.
 
 THE BOSTAI^. 85 
 
 The Wise-man and the Cheat. 
 
 An eloquent fellow came to a Wise-man, saying — 
 " I am broken-down and stuck fast, entangled in the 
 clay. 
 
 I am indebted to one of the base-horn rabble ten 
 dirams, the weight of which lieth on my breast like 
 ten hundred-weights. 
 
 All night he maketh my condition miserable ; all 
 day he followeth my tail like my shadow. 
 
 He hath sorely broken my heart with his words ; 
 my inmost soul as the door of my house. 
 
 He talketh as though God, since his mother bore 
 him, had never given him aught save those ten 
 dirams. 
 
 Of the books of his religion he knoweth not the 
 first letter, and can recite only the chapter of denial. 
 
 Not a day doth the sun rise above the mountain, 
 that this wretched man is not battering my door with 
 the knocker. 
 
 I am thinking whether some generous man will not 
 aid me with silver to lift this stone from my breast !" 
 
 The old man, endowed with a happy disposition.
 
 86 SADI. 
 
 listened to these words, and straightway placed two 
 coins within his sleeve. 
 
 The gold fell like a fain--gift into his hand, and off 
 he went with a face as bright as the gold. 
 
 "Shaikh," said some one to him, "thouknowest 
 not what that man is ! ^\"hen that man dieth there 
 : will be no weeping over him. 
 
 A beggar I who could put a saddle on a male lion, 
 and place his Vizier and his Horseman as cleverly as 
 Alu Zaaid." (A"o^e 3.) 
 
 The holy man looked at him displeased, and 
 exclaimed — " Thou who art not a man with a tongue, 
 ': incline to me thine ear a moment. 
 i If that, which T deemed- him to be, is right, I have 
 ' saved his reputation in the face of the people ; 
 
 And if he be but an impudent pretender, why, 
 . then — he hath played me a trick! as thou hast 
 suspected."— G^/-^/s Text j). 144. Trans. I. 100.
 
 THE BOSTAJ?^. 87 
 
 t'e — cv-?*- 
 
 The True Worhs of Ficty. 
 
 I have heard that an old man on a pilgrimage to 
 the Holy-place, at each step made two head-howings 
 in prayer. 
 
 So warmly was he pursuing his path towards God, 
 that he paused not to pluck out a thorn from his foot. 
 
 At last, through the temptations of his treacherous 
 heart, his acts appeared so praiseworthy in his own 
 sight, 
 
 That thi-ough the machinations of the Evil One he 
 was well nigh falling into the pit, 
 
 Persuading himself that he could not hy possibility 
 walk on any road preferable to this ; 
 
 And had the mercy of God not intervened, his 
 vain-glory would have hurried him on to destruction; 
 
 But his good genius in an inaudible voice whispered 
 to him — *' happy and fortune-fa vom-ed man, 
 
 Think not, that because thou hast discharged a 
 service of prayer, thou hast brought into this Court 
 a graceftd free-will offering ; 
 
 To give peace to a single heart by a kindly act is 
 worth more than a thousand head-bowings in prayer ! 
 —Grafs Text 2). 151. Transl. I. 105.
 
 88 siJDi. 
 
 Hiimanity. 
 
 A man found in the desert a thirsty dog, which 
 from want of drink was at its last gasp. 
 
 The worthy man made a bucket of his cap, and 
 twisted his muslin sash into a rope. 
 
 Then he girded his waist and extended his arms for 
 service, and gave to the feeble dog a sup of water. 
 
 The Prophet revealed of his future condition, that 
 the Supreme Judge had for this act pardoned his sins. 
 
 Oh ! if thou hast been a hard man, bethink thee ; 
 learn to be kind, and make beneficence thy business ! 
 
 If a kindness done to a dog is not lost, how should 
 that be which is done to a worthy man ? 
 
 Do good as you find it ofiered to your hand : the 
 Master of the Universe hath closed against no one 
 the door for doing some good. 
 
 To give from your treasury a talent of gold is of 
 less worth than a carat bestowed by the hand of 
 labour. 
 
 Each one shall bear the burthen proportioned to his 
 strength : the foot of a locust would be heavy for 
 an dini.—Grafs Text p. 156. Trans. I. 109.
 
 THE BOSTAjST. 89 
 
 The Hard-hearted Man Funished. 
 
 Thou wlio hast "been, blessed with the gifts of 
 fortune, be gentle with the people, that God may 
 not to-morrow deal harshly with thee. 
 
 Hath one fallen down he will not always be 
 perplexed, for there is ever one at hand to take the 
 hand of the fallen. 
 
 Beware that thou command not thy slave ci-uelly, 
 for may be hereafter he may become thy commander. 
 
 Since dignity and power are not hold in perpetuity, 
 use thou no violence with the poor and feeble ; 
 
 For it may be that he may be raised to rank and 
 authority, as the Pawn at chess may become suddenly 
 Vizier. 
 
 Listen then thou far-sighted man to good council ; 
 scatter not over hearts the seed of malevolence. 
 
 The lord of the harvest injureth himself if ho 
 dealeth with the gleaner in a churlish spirit. 
 
 Let not him fear who giveth of his wealth to the 
 poor, but him who laycth one man's burthen of grief 
 on the heart of another.
 
 90 SADI. 
 
 Many a mighty one hath fallen in. the coiirse, and \ 
 to many a one who hath fallen, hath Fortune held out ! 
 a helping hand. j 
 
 Beware that thou hreak not the heart of thy '. 
 dependents, lest one day thou hecome thyself | 
 dependent on others. 
 
 A poor man ^^ho hath fallen into a sad condition 
 was complaining one day to a crabbed rich man. 
 
 The sour-hearted man gaye him of money not a 
 mite, but loaded him in his anger with loud impreca- 
 tions. 
 
 The heiu't of the begp-ar was turned to gall by 
 his yiolence ; he lifted up his head in passion and 
 excitement, and exclaimed^-" Is it not wonderful I 
 
 "^"lierefore, God, is the rich man so sour-faced? 
 Perchance he knoweth nothing of the bitterness of 
 begging!" 
 
 Short-sighted man he commanded a slaye to driye 
 him by main force contumeliously from his gate. 
 
 I haye heard that through his ingratitude to the 
 All-pro^-ider, Fortune at last turned away and deserted 
 him. 
 
 His greatness laid down its head amidst ruins, and 
 Mercury dipped his pen in blackness. 
 
 Misery left him naked and thin as his shoe-latchet;
 
 THE BOSTAiS^, 91 
 
 nor freed him from his burthen, nor left him aught 
 to hear it. 
 
 Fate threw the dust of poverty on his head, and, 
 like a juggler with his cup and ball, left him empty 
 in purse and hand. 
 
 His condition was altered from head to foot, and in 
 the course of events Fortune abandoned him. 
 
 His servant passed into the hands of a liberal 
 master, large of heart and hand, and of a generous 
 nature. 
 
 At the sight of one poor and troubled in circum- 
 stances he would be as overjoyed as the needy with 
 his gift. 
 
 One evening there came to his door one begging 
 for a morsel, dragging along a body weakened by 
 suffering. 
 
 The master thereupon made a sign to his slave, and 
 commanded him to administer solace to the needy one. 
 
 The slave carried him a portion from the table, but 
 when he came near him, uttered a distracted cry, 
 
 And came back to the merchant with a broken 
 heart and eyes bathed in tears at the strange mystery. 
 
 The good-natured master asked him immediately — 
 " What suffering hast thou that thy face is wet with 
 tears ? "
 
 92 SADI. 
 
 He replied — " My breast hath, been sadly disturbed 
 by the shattered fortunes of this poor old man. 
 
 Once in times past I "svas his Mamluk [white slave) ; 
 then he vas master of lands and chattels and silver : 
 
 Now his hand is cut short of grandeur and pride, 
 and is held out to beg alms from door to door." 
 
 The merchant laughed, and said — " My boy, in 
 this hath been done no vrrong. The revolution of 
 the spheres doth injustice to no one ! 
 
 Is not this man the chiu-lish merchant who in his 
 pride exalted his head to the skies ? 
 
 I am the man whom one day he thrust from his 
 door. Now is my day, and the circling universe hath 
 placed him now where I opce was. 
 
 Heaven again looked do^sTi on me with favour, and 
 wiped from my face the dust of aflfliction. 
 
 If God in his wisdom shutteth one door, in his 
 beneficence and mercy he openeth another. 
 
 Many a needy bankrupt hath again been made 
 full ; many a prosperous state been turned topsy- 
 turvy-.— G'r^r/'s Text. p. 156. Transl. /., 110.
 
 THE BOSTAX. 93 
 
 Shahli and the Ant. 
 
 Listen to one of the qualities of good men, if thou 
 art thyself a good man, and benevolently-inclined ! 
 
 Shabli, returning from the shop of a corn-dealer, 
 carried back to his village on his shoulder a sack of 
 wheat. 
 
 He looked, and beheld in that heap of grain an ant 
 ■which kept running bewildered from corner to comer. 
 
 Filled with pity thereat, and unable to sleep at 
 night, he carried it back to its own dwelling, saying — 
 " It were no benevolence to wound and distract this 
 poor ant by severing it from its own place ! " 
 
 Soothe to rest the hearts of the distracted, wouldest 
 thou be at rest thyself from the blows of fortune ! 
 
 How sweet are the words of the noble Firdusi, 
 upon whose grave be the mercy of the Benignant 
 One! 
 
 " Crush not yonder emmet as it draggeth along its 
 grain ; for it too liveth, and its life is sweet to it." 
 
 A shadow must there be, and a stone upon that 
 heart, that could wish to sorrow the heart even of an 
 emmet !
 
 94 s.iDi. 
 
 Strike not with, the hand of violence the head of 
 the feeble ; for one day, like the ant, thou mayest 
 fall under the foot thyself ! 
 
 Pity the poor moth in the flame of the taper ; see 
 how it is scorched in the face of the assembly ! 
 
 Let me remind thee, that if there be many who are 
 weaker than thou art, there may come at last one 
 who is stronger than thou. — Grafs Text, p. 160, 
 Transl. /., 113.
 
 THE BOSTAlSr. 95 
 
 Live not on the Labour of others. 
 
 A man observed one day a fox without foot or leg, 
 and was perplexed as to the kindness and goodness of 
 God. 
 
 How will it be able to prolong its existence ? how 
 without leg or claw obtain wherewith to eat ? 
 
 With this the Derwish was sorely distui-bed, but 
 just then came up a lion with a jackal in its jaws. 
 
 The lion devoured the unfortunate jackal, but left 
 enough to fill the maw of the fox. 
 
 The next day by good chance fell a falcon beside 
 him, so that each day as it came brought sufficient 
 for the day. 
 
 The assurance of the eye brought the man a now 
 light, and he went aw^ay determined to rely on his 
 Creator only ; 
 
 And thenceforth to sit down like an ant in its cell, 
 " since not even the elephant can get food by mere 
 force." 
 
 So he rested his cliin within his collar, saying — " A 
 messenger wall be sent me by the All-giver from the 
 unseen world."
 
 96 
 
 But neither stranger nor friend came to minister to 
 his wants, till veins and bone and skin hecame hard 
 as a claw. 
 
 "\Mien reason and patience were exhausted through 
 weakness, from the wall of his chamber came a Yoice 
 to Ms ear — 
 
 " Uprouse thee, lazy man, like a ravening lion; cast 
 not thyself down like a paralyzed fox. 
 
 Put forth thy strength like a lion, that something 
 may be left ; not like the fox, feed on the lion's 
 leavings ! " 
 
 He vv-ho like a lion is robust and active, if he lie 
 down like a fox is no better than a dog. 
 
 Get with thine own hand, and bestow on others, 
 and strive not to live on another's redundancies ! 
 
 Eat so long as thou canst by the power of thine 
 own arm, for the fruit of thine efforts will be weighed 
 in thine, own scales. 
 
 Labour like a man, and be ready in doing kind- 
 nesses ; he is a good-for-nothing fellow who eateth 
 by the toil of another's hand. 
 
 Take thou, young man, the hand of the poor man ; 
 but throw not thyself on others, sa^nng — " Take me 
 by the hand 1" 
 
 The mercy of God be upon that servant, whose
 
 THE BOSTAN, 
 
 97 
 
 existence hath, been the means of comforting his 
 fellow- creatures ! 
 
 He may look cheerfully for the good of both 
 dwellings, who hath himself brought good to the 
 people of God.— Graf s Text, p. 163. Transl J., 115.
 
 98 
 
 SADI. 
 
 FEO^I BOOK THE THIED 
 OF LOYE. 
 
 Happy those who are disquieted with anxiety ahout 
 Him, if the wound and the balsam are received 
 together ! 
 
 Scared away from sovereignty, they appear only 
 as beggars ; but, in their begging, they are patient 
 through hoiDC. 
 
 Every moment they are drinking the water of 
 affliction ; but, if it taste bitter, they breathe not a 
 complaint. 
 
 In the pleasures of wine there is the pain of the 
 after-headache, and the branch of the rose is armed 
 with its thorn ; 
 
 But patience is not bitter in memory of the dear 
 one, for even wormwood is sugar fi-om the hand of 
 a friend. 
 
 'VMiom He hath taken captive, he desireth not
 
 THE BOSTAX. 99 
 
 liberty, and the entangled in His noose wisheth not 
 for deliverance. 
 
 Beggars though they live, they are kings in their 
 isolation ; though their guides have lost their track, 
 they still look towards the resting places. 
 
 Intoxicated with passion they mind not reproach, 
 as the inebriated camel beareth its burden more 
 lightly. 
 
 How should the multitude find its way to their 
 secret chambers, for, like the waters of life, they are 
 hidden in darkness. 
 
 They kindle themselves the flame, v>'hich as a moth 
 consumeth them ; not wrapping themselves up like 
 the silkworm in its own web. 
 
 Seeking for the soul's repose on the bosom which 
 only can give repose, their lips are still dry with 
 thirst on the very margin of the stream. 
 
 Not that they have no power to drink the water, 
 but that their thirst could not be quenched even on 
 the banks of the ^ile.— Graf s Text, lo. 191. Trans. 
 7., 139.
 
 100 SADI. 
 
 SnmiUty. — The Gloicivorm. 
 
 Percliance thou mayest have seen in the garden, or 
 on the foot of a hillock, a small -svorm, which in the 
 night shineth like a lamp. 
 
 Some one said to it — " night-illuminating -worm, 
 •vrhat becometh of thee that thou never comest out 
 during the day?" 
 
 Hear ^vhat that little earth-born fiery "worm 
 replied : — 
 
 " In the day, as in the night, I am equally in the 
 field; but I veil my lustre in the presence of the 
 swn:'— Graf s Text, p. 217. Trans!. I., 161.
 
 THE BOSTAIf. 101 
 
 The Unjustly Punished. 
 
 During a tumult in one of th.e towns of Syria, they 
 arrested an old man of a happy disposition. 
 
 Even now his words are in my ear, whilst they 
 were binding him hand and foot, — 
 
 " If the Sultan hath net given his authority, to 
 whom belongeth the power of subjecting me to this 
 violence ? 
 
 It may be right, that I should hold even an enemy 
 for a friend, if I know that a friend hath sent him to 
 me. 
 
 Whether it be grandeur and dignity, whether it be 
 degradation and chains, I know, that it cometh from 
 God, not from Omar or Zaid {not from this man or 
 that). 
 
 If thou art a wise man fear not the malady, and 
 take, however bitter it may be, whatever medicine 
 the physician sendeth thee. 
 
 Swallow whatever cometh through the hand of a 
 friend : the sick man is not more learned than the 
 ^ociox.— Graf s Text, p. 217. Transl. L, 162.
 
 102 SADI. 
 
 The ^oth and the Tajyer. 
 
 Some one said to the moth — " My worthy friend, 
 go, ehuse for thy friend one suitable to thy condition. 
 
 Go thy way by the path which leadeth towards 
 hope : whither will the love of the taper conduct 
 thee? 
 
 Thou art no salamander, circle not round the flame ; 
 in the battle-field is needed the strength of a hero. 
 
 The blind mole lieth concealed from the sun ; it is 
 mere folly to use thy palm against an arm of iron I 
 
 The man whom thou knoweth to be thine enemy, 
 there is no wisdom in taking for a friend ! 
 
 Xo one will say to thee, thou doest well to hazard 
 thy life in his affairs. 
 
 The beggar who should demand the daughter of a 
 king would only draw blows upon himself, and nurse 
 a vain ambition. 
 
 How could she take such a one as thee for a lover, 
 upon whose countenance rest the looks of kings and 
 sultans r 
 
 Think not, that in that splendid circle a centre 
 could be found for a bankrupt like thee I
 
 THE BOSTAIs^ 103 
 
 And however gentle she may he with the people, 
 thinkest thou that she could show any warmth 
 towards one so helpless as thou art?" 
 
 See what that flame-loving moth replied : — " Why 
 wonder ? — though I he hurnt hy it, I fear it not. 
 
 My fire, like that of the friend of God, is in my 
 heart ; the flame, helieve me, is a hed of roses. 
 
 Neither of my own free will cast I myseK into the 
 fire ; for the chain of afiection was laid upon my 
 neck. 
 
 I was still at a distance when it hegan to glow, nor 
 is this the moment that it was lighted-up within me. 
 
 "Who shall impute it to me as a fault, that I am 
 enchanted by my friend, that I am content in casting 
 myself at his feet ? 
 
 Knowest thou wherefore I am eager to perish ? — If 
 He is, though I am not, it is all right ! 
 
 Why repeat to me : — " Chuse a friend who is 
 suitable to thyself; one who is able to sjonpathize 
 with thee in thy sorrows ? 
 
 Advice to me in so distracted a condition is as 
 though thou shouldest say to a scorpion-bitten man : 
 "Do not complain ! " 
 
 Ofi'er not counsel, wondering man I to any one, 
 when thou knowest he will not receive it.
 
 104 SADI. 
 
 To tlie helpless man ^vllose bridle hath, slipped from 
 his hand will they say : — "Push on thy horse gently, 
 my boy?" 
 
 It is good, my son, the saying of Sindbad : — 
 " Love is the fire, advice is the wind." 
 
 By wind the hot fire becometh only the hotter ; by 
 wounds the tiger becometh only the more savage. 
 
 When I looked upon thee as good, I see thee com- 
 mitting evil ; how should I go after thee, when I see 
 the© devoted only to thyself ? 
 
 Seek something better than thyself, and count it a 
 gain, for with one like thyseK it is but time lost. 
 
 Only self- worshippers follow those like themselves, 
 as the intoxicated rush towards the dangerous quarter. 
 
 As soon as I engaged myself in this aflfair, at once 
 I staked my head against my heart {nuj affections) in 
 its pui'suit. 
 
 Whoever is sincere in his devotion, will expose his 
 life ; whoever is timid is but a lover of himself. 
 
 Death on a sudden draweth mo into his ambush ; 
 how much better that I fall into the snares of my 
 beloved one I 
 
 Since without doubt death is written on my brow, 
 death will be sweeter by the hand of the comforter.
 
 THE BOSTAiN-. 
 
 105 
 
 Wilt thou not one day helplessly surrender thy 
 soul ? Better then is it that thou shouldst surrender 
 it at the feet of one who loveth thee." — Graf's Text, 
 p. 224. Transl. I., 166.
 
 106 
 
 The same sidject. 
 
 I remember, tliat one night, when I could not close 
 my eyes in sleep, I heard the moth say to the taper : 
 
 "I am a lover, therefore it is right that I should 
 be burnt ; but wherefore should' st thou be lamenting 
 and shedding tears P" 
 
 It replied: my poor airy friend, my honey- 
 sweet Shirin is going away ; 
 
 And since my Shirin hath left me, like Ferhad's, 
 my head is all on fire." 
 
 So spake the taper, and each moment a flood of 
 sorrow flowed down over its pale cheek. 
 
 Then it continued : "0 pretender, love is no afiair 
 of thine; for thou hast neither patience nor per- 
 sistency. 
 
 Thou takest to flight before a slight flame ; I stand 
 firm till I am totally consumed. 
 
 Thou may est just singe a wing at the fire of love ; 
 look at me who bum from head to foot." 
 
 A part of the night was not yet gone, when sud- 
 denly a Peri-faced damsel extinguished the light.
 
 THE BOSTAK. 107 
 
 Then said the taper : " My breath, is departed, the 
 smoke is over my head ; such, my son, ia the ending 
 of love!" 
 
 If thou would'st learn the moral of the story, it is 
 this : Only will the pangs of burning affection cease, 
 when life's taper is extinct. 
 
 Weep not over this monument of thy perished 
 friend! rather praise Allah, that he is accepted by 
 him. 
 
 If thou art indeed a lover, wash not the pains of 
 love from thine head ; wash rather, like Sadi, thine 
 hand from all malevolence. 
 
 The man who volunteereth a service of peril will 
 not withdraw his grasp from his purpose, though 
 stones and arrows rain down upon his head. 
 
 I have said to thee : " Take heed how thou goest 
 to the sea ! but if thou wilt go resign thyself to its 
 billows."— <?m/'s Text, p. 228. Transl L, 169.
 
 108 SADI. 
 
 rEO:M THE FOrETH EOOK. 
 
 o:s' hu:5j:ility. 
 
 The Holy-One, tlie Lord, created thee of clay; 
 therefore, servant, prostrate thyself as the earth ! 
 
 Be not thou covetous, arrogant, a world-spoiler; 
 thou art formed of the clay, resemble not fire. 
 
 "Wliilst the fire exalteth its neck proudly and 
 terrihly, the clay lieth prostrate in the consciDusness 
 of its helplessness. 
 
 Whilst that displayeth its haughtiness, this ex- 
 hibiteth its littleness ; of that vrere created Demons, 
 of this was formed Man 1 
 
 A drop of rain trickled from a cloud into the ocean. 
 When it beheld the breadth of its waters, it was 
 utterly confounded. 
 
 "What a place this sea is ! and what am I ! If it 
 is existent, verily I am non-existent." 
 
 Whilst it was thus regarding itself with the eye of
 
 THE BOSTAN-. 
 
 109 
 
 contempt, an oyster received and cherislied it in its 
 bosom. 
 
 Forttme preferred it to a place of honour ; for it 
 became a renowned royal pearl. 
 
 Because it was humble, it found exaltation ; it 
 knocked at the door of nonentity, that it might arise 
 into 'being.— Graf s Text, p. 230. Transl I., 171.
 
 no 
 
 Humility. 
 
 A youtli, intelligent and of a good disposition, 
 arrived by sea at a Grecian port. 
 
 Tliey perceived that lie was endowed with excel- 
 lence, and judgment, and an inclination to asceticism, 
 and placed him accordingly in a sacred building. 
 
 The Head of the devotees said to him one day: 
 " Go and cast out the dirt and the rubbish from the 
 Mosque." 
 
 As soon as the young traveller heard the words he 
 went forth, but no one discovered any sign of his 
 return. 
 
 The Superior and the brethren laid a charge against 
 him, saying : " This young devotee hath no aptness 
 for his vocation." 
 
 The following day one of the society met him in 
 the road and said to him : " Thou hast shewed an 
 unseemly and perverse disposition. 
 
 Didst thou not know, self-opinionated boy, that 
 it is through obedience men attain to honour r" 
 
 He began to weep, and replied : " O friend of my
 
 THE BOST.i:^, 111 
 
 soul, and enlightener of my heart, it is in earnestness 
 and in sincerity that I have acted thus. 
 
 I found in that sacred building neither dust nor 
 defilement : only myself was polluted in that holy 
 place. 
 
 Therefore, immediately I drew back my foot, feeling 
 that to withdraw myself was to cleanse the Mosque 
 from dirt and rubbish." 
 
 For the devotee there is only one path : to submit 
 his body to humiliation. 
 
 Thine exaltation must come from choosing self- 
 abasement : to reach the lofty roof there is no ladder 
 save this.— <x?Y{/'5 Texf,2h 231. Travis. I. 172.
 
 112 SADI. 
 
 Tlic Sinner and Jesus. 
 
 One of the narrators hath committed to words that 
 in the time of Jesus, on whom he a blessing ! 
 
 Was one of the dissohite, who had consumed his 
 all, and reached the utmost bounds of error and foUy. 
 
 Bold, hard-hearted, and of blackened name, Eblis 
 {Satan) himself would have been ashamed of his im- 
 purity. 
 
 He had spent all his days to no profit ; never tried 
 to soothe the heart of any .one. 
 
 His brain was emptied of understanding, and filled 
 with arrogance, and his body was fat with forbidden 
 morsels. 
 
 The skirts of his garment were stained with iniquity ; 
 begrimed like a smoky dwelling with shamelessness ; 
 
 His feet not rightly directed, like those of the clear- 
 sighted ; his ear not one disposed to listen to good 
 counsel. 
 
 Men held him in abomination like the year of 
 famine, pointing to him from afar, as one pointeth to 
 the new moon.
 
 THE BOSTAI^. 113 
 
 A scorching wind had burnt np his hax^^eat, and he 
 had not picked np a single wholesome grain. 
 
 He had run the black-hook so completely through 
 and through, that there remained no longer a page to 
 write on. 
 
 Sinful and wilful and devoted to his pleasures, night 
 and day he passed carelessly in drunkenness and 
 revelling. 
 
 I have heard that Jesus returning from the desert 
 was passing by the hermitage of a Devotee. 
 
 The Anchorite came down from his private cell, 
 and fell at his feet with his head on the ground. 
 
 The Sinner at last approached them from a distance, 
 dazzled at their presence like the moth before the 
 candle, gazing upon them earnestly, sighing and 
 bashful, like a poor man in the presence of a wealthy 
 merchant. 
 
 Silent and motionless, burning pleas upon his lips, 
 for nights spent till daylight in careless negligence, 
 
 Eaining tears of sorrow from his eyes as from a 
 cloud, that life had been passed, alas! in so much 
 heedlessness. 
 
 " I have thrown away the ready money of my 
 precious life, and have brought to my account no act 
 of goodness !
 
 114 SADI. 
 
 Let no Hving man be ever like me, for to Mm to die 
 were far better than to live ! 
 
 He hath escaped -svell wbo died in infancy ; wbo 
 bath, not, an old man, bad to bear the burthen of 
 shame ! 
 
 Forgive, Creator of the World, my offences ; for 
 if they rise vrith me they -vrill be but sad com- 
 panions !" 
 
 In such tones lamenting stood the Ancient Sinner, 
 imploring belp from Him who is the Helper ; 
 
 Hanging down his head for very shame, and a river 
 of tears flowing upon his bosom. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Devotee, balf turning away, his 
 I brain puffed up with vain self-esteem, fixed a sour 
 I brow on the wicked one, and exclaimed, 
 
 " "WTiy doth this ruined fellow follow our steps r — 
 ignorant and ill-omened claim kindred with us ? 
 
 Encompassed with fire up to the very neck — his life 
 given over to the storm of the passions, 
 
 Wbat good can come from his polluted breath r 
 Wbat right can sucb as he have to seek the society of 
 the Messiah and me ? 
 
 "Wbat was he that he should press his companion- 
 ship on us ? Eather let him follow his own deeds to 
 Hell!
 
 THE bosta:^. 115 
 
 I am pained at the very aspect of his ugly counte- 
 nance I May it never he that I should fall into his 
 fire! 
 
 At the resurrection, when all men are assembled for 
 judgment, let not my resurrection, God, he with his! 
 
 At this moment an inspired voice from the august 
 Lord of all Perfection came to Jesus, on whom he 
 blessings ! 
 
 " Though this be a wise man and that be a fool, the 
 invocation of each will be accepted by me. 
 
 The one who turned his bright day to corruption 
 hath lamented it to me with burning tears. 
 
 Whosoever cometh to seek me in his helplessness, 
 him will I in no wise drive away from the threshold 
 of mercy ; 
 
 His evil works will I remove from him, and for 
 what he hath done of good I will bring him to Para- 
 dise." 
 
 Ajid if he who hath been the Devotee of holiness 
 scorneth to sit beside him in eternity. 
 
 Say to him, " Pear not, that he should disgrace 
 thee in the resurrection ; for this one shall they bear 
 to Paradise and that one to the fire. 
 
 He knew not that in the Court of Heaven helpless- 
 ness is esteemed more highly than self- exaltation.
 
 116 SADI. 
 
 If thy garments be clean and thine actions be foul, 
 thou needcst no key to the door of Hell. 
 
 At that threshhold weakness and misery avail more 
 than worship and presumption." 
 
 If thou numberest thyself amongst the good thou 
 art evil; self- estimation is not amongst the things 
 which belong to godliness ! 
 
 If thou art a man, speak not much about thine own 
 manliness ; for not every champion driveth the ball 
 to the goal. 
 
 He is but a simpleton who, because the onion hath 
 a perfect rind, thinketh that it is a pestachio nut, and 
 hath within it a kernel. 
 
 Devotion of this kind bringeth with it no good ! 
 go, ask forgiveness rather for lack of devotion ! 
 
 That senseless man will gain nothing from his 
 worship, who, good in his own esteem, thinketh evil 
 of others. 
 
 "Words are what is left as the memorials of the 
 wise ; retain in thy memory one word of Sadi's : 
 
 " Better is the Sinner who hath thoughts about 
 God than the Saint who hath only the show of 
 sanctity V— Grafs Text, p. 234. TransL I. 175.
 
 THE BOSTAN-. 
 
 117 
 
 TEOM THE FIPTH EOOK. 
 
 0:^" srBMissiois" to good coujs'sel. 
 
 -v—^S2r 
 
 One niglit I was burning the oil of reflection and 
 was kindling the lamp of eloquence, 
 
 When an idle chatterer heard me reciting; one 
 who see'th no path but that of detraction. 
 
 Though obliged to commend, yet he found such a 
 variety of blemishes in the pages that he was con- 
 strained by the pain to cry out against them. 
 
 " Yes, his thoughts are eloquent and his counsels 
 exalted, and he is elegant enough about temperance, 
 fine sentiment, and good advice ; 
 
 But he hath nothing to say on javelin, mace, and 
 heavy battle-axe; elegancies of this kind he must 
 leave to others." 
 
 He knew not that my intention is not to speak
 
 118 
 
 of war ; but were it so, my majesty of diction is not 
 scanty. 
 
 I am able enough to wield tbe sword of the tongue, 
 and in one moment could utterly confound his very 
 being. 
 
 Let him come, and let us do battle in this kind of 
 elegance, and our foe shall rest his head on a stone, 
 not a cushion. — Grafs Text, p. 286. Transl. II. 1.
 
 THE BOSTAN". 119 
 
 The Camel and her Foal. 
 
 A camel's foal said to her mother : " After journey- 
 ing so long rest for awhile." 
 
 She repKed : *' Were the rein in my hand, no one 
 would behold me conveying this hurthen in the file." 
 
 Fate beareth onward the ship whither it will, how- 
 soever the master may rend the clothes on his body. 
 
 Fix not thine eye, Sadi, on the hand of any one ; 
 the All-giver will be thy provider, and that is enough ! 
 
 If thou reverest God, he sufficeth thee ; and if He 
 rejecteth thee, no one else will receive thee. 
 
 If He deigneth to crown thee lift up thy head ; but 
 if not, sink it in hopelessness. — Graf's Text, p. 301. 
 Transl. II. 12.
 
 120 
 
 SADI. 
 
 1^^^ 
 
 feoii the sixth book : 
 o:n" coxtext:\ie]S"t. 
 
 He hatli never known God, or offered real worship, 
 who is not contented with his state and daily bread. 
 
 Contentment is the gain which maketh man truly- 
 rich ; make this well known to those who covet the 
 riches of the world ! 
 
 Try to win quietude, thou restless man ; for on a 
 rolling stone groweth no verdure. 
 
 Nourish not the hody, if thou beo'st a man of intel- 
 ligence and wisdom ; for whilst thou thinkest thou 
 art feeding, thou art killing it. 
 
 Men of understanding nourish the virtues ; those 
 who nourish the hody are starvers of the spirit. 
 
 Eating and sleeping are the track which the heasts 
 pursue ; to follow their track is the way of the unin- 
 structed.
 
 THE BOSTAX. 121 
 
 Whoso first silenced the hound of greediness, he it 
 was who taught man to listen to morality. 
 
 Favoured indeed by Fortune is the recluse who can 
 draw in his cell his nourishment from knowledge. 
 
 For those to whom the walking in the truth is clear 
 will not make choice of that which is false. 
 
 But if they cannot discern between light and dark- 
 ness, what mattereth to them the aspect of a Demon, 
 or the cheek of a Houri. 
 
 It is thou "^ho hast cast thyself into the well, 
 because thou didst not distinguish the well from the 
 highway. 
 
 When the male-falcon is soaring to the pinnacle of 
 heaven how could it do so were the stone of avidity 
 attached to its pinions. 
 
 But if he can free his skirt from the grasp of 
 sensuality, he may reach the Sidrah-tree itself. 
 
 If thou wUt control thine appetites, and eat less 
 than thy want, thou mayest assume to thyself the 
 nature of angels. 
 
 How should the savage-lion become an angel? It 
 is impossible to fly to heaven out of the mud ; 
 
 Thou must apprentice thyself to human habits ; 
 then mayst thou think of those which are angelic ! 
 
 If thou art mounted with cirded loins on an un-
 
 122 
 
 governable colt, look well tliat it free not its head 
 from thy grasp ; 
 
 For if it once pluck the bridle from thine hand, it 
 will kill itself, and spill thine own blood. — Grafs 
 Text. p. 308. Transl. 11. 18.
 
 THE BOST.iX. 123 
 
 The Father and his Infant, 
 
 An infant had arrived at the time of teething-. The 
 father sank his head on his breast, exclaiming, 
 
 '^Whence shall I bring him bread and food ? and 
 humanity will not permit me to leave him without." 
 
 Whilst he was talking thus despairingly to his 
 wife, hear the manly way in which the woman replied. 
 
 " Let not Iblis [Satan) fright thee with thoughts 
 that he must die. The same one who gave him teeth, 
 will give him bread also. 
 
 The Lord of Day hath surelj^ power enough to pro- 
 A ido him his daily food : be not disquieted ! 
 
 He who formed the child in the womb, will also 
 prescribe for his life and nourishment. 
 
 The master who hath purchased a slave will pro- 
 vide — how should it be otherwise 1 — that which will 
 support the slave. 
 
 Hast thou not so much reliance on Him, the Creator, 
 as the slave hath upon his master ? " — Grafs Text, p. 
 319. Transl. II. 27.
 
 124 SADI. 
 
 Be Frepared for Vicissitudes, 
 
 The vineTard doth not perpetually produce the 
 moist cluster of grapes ; sometimes it yieldeth its 
 fruit, and sometimes it scattereth its leaves. 
 
 Great men, like the sun, are veiled in mist ; the 
 envious, like burning charcoal, are extinguished in 
 the water. 
 
 The sun gradually cometh forth again from under 
 the cloud ; the charcoal dieth in the water for ever. 
 
 Fear not, my valued friend, fear not obscurity, 
 for not unfrequently lieth hid within it the fountain 
 of life. 
 
 Doth not the earth find rest again after the earth- 
 quake ? By yoiir painful journey, did you not obtain 
 what you were in want of ? 
 
 In disappointment consume not thy soul with 
 anxiety ; the night, my brother, is big with the 
 do-y.—Grafs Text, p. 325. Transl 11. 33.
 
 SADI. 
 
 125 
 
 FROM THE SEYENTH BOOK OF THE 
 BOSTAJS". 
 
 My theme is rectitude, and self-government, and 
 good habits, not the practising-gromid, and horse- 
 men, and mace, and ball. 
 
 Thine enemy is the spirit which dwelleth with thy- 
 self; why seek in a stranger one to contend with ? 
 
 He who can bridle his spirit from that which is 
 forbidden hath surpassed Rustam and Sam in 
 valour. 
 
 Chastise thou thyseK like a child with thine own 
 rod, and brain not others with thy ponderous mace. 
 
 An enemy will suffer no harm fi^om one like thee, 
 unless thou art able to overcome thyself. 
 
 Thy body is a city full of good and evil ; thou art 
 the Sultan, and reason thy wise Vizier. 
 
 Like base-coin men whose heads are exalted, live 
 in this city Pride, and Sensuality, and fierce Passions ;
 
 126 THE B0ST.1X 
 
 Contentment, Conscientiousness, those of good 
 name, lovely as Houris ; Lust and Ambition, Eobbery 
 and Treachery. 
 
 ■\\Tien the Sultan makcth the had his familiars, 
 where can the prudent find a place of rest ? 
 
 Appetite, and greediness, and pride, and envy, 
 cleave to thyself as the blood in thy veins, and the 
 soul in thy ^•itals. 
 
 If these enemies have once obtained the mastery of 
 thee, they rush out and will overpower all thy 
 discretion. 
 
 There need be no contest with appetite and passion, 
 if so be that Reason hold out a sharp claw. 
 
 The Chief who knoweth not how to manage his 
 enemy will hardly save his chieftainship from his 
 enemy's hand. 
 
 "What need can there bo in this book to say much : a 
 little is enough for him who goeth right to his mark. 
 Grafs Text, p. 326. Transl. II. 34. 
 
 ';5r:5i-=T^BE»
 
 THE BOSTAX. 127 
 
 Keep your oivn Secret. 
 
 Sultan Takish once committed a secret to his slarcs, 
 ■which they were enjoined to tell again to no one. 
 
 For a year it had not passed from his hreast to his 
 lips ; it was published to all the world in a single 
 day. 
 
 He commanded the executioner to sever with the 
 sword their heads from their bodies without mercy. 
 
 One from their midst exclaimed, — " Beware I slay 
 not the slaves, for the fault is thine own. 
 
 Why didst thou not dam up at once what at first 
 was hut a fountain ? — What availeth it to do so, 
 when it is become a torrent ? " 
 
 Take heed, that thou reveal not to any one the 
 secret of thy heart, for he will divulge it to all the 
 world. 
 
 Thy jewels thou may'st consign to the keeping of 
 thy treasurer ; but thy secret reserve for thine own 
 keeping. 
 
 Whilst thou utterest not a word, thou hast thine 
 hand upon it ; when thou hast uttered it, it hath laid 
 its hand upon thee.
 
 ! 128 SADi. 
 
 J- 
 
 ] Thou knowost, that when the demon hath escaped 
 I from his cage, by no "adjuration" will he enter it 
 again. 
 
 The word is an enchained Demon in the pit of the 
 heart, let it not escape to the tongue and the palate. 
 
 It is possible to open a way to the strong Demon ; 
 ■ to retake him by stratagem is not possible. 
 
 A child may tmtether " Lightning " {the Hero 
 Rustams' v:ar-horse), but a hundred Rustams wUl not 
 bring him to the halter again. 
 
 Take heed, that thou say not that which, if it 
 come to the crowd, may bring trouble to a single 
 individual. 
 
 It was weU said by his wife to an ignorant peasant, — 
 " Either talk sensibly or hold thy tongue." — Graf's 
 Text, p. 329. Transl. II. 37.
 
 THE BOSTAK. 129 
 
 Speech and Silence. 
 
 A man in Cairo of fair mien but clothed in rags 
 maintained for some time great silence. 
 
 Intelligent men from far and near circled round 
 him, as the light-loving moth about the taper. 
 
 One night communing with his heart he said within 
 himself : — " The man lieth concealed beneath his 
 tongue. 
 
 If I thus keep my head hid in my breast, how 
 should men know, how learned I am ! " 
 
 So he spake out his words, and enemy and friend 
 discovered at once, that there was not a more ignorant 
 fellow in Cairo. 
 
 Eespect for him gone, and, matters looking badly, 
 he set off on his travels, and wrote on an arch of a 
 mosque, 
 
 *' If I had looked at myself in the mirror, I should 
 not in mine ignorance have rent my veil. 
 
 I came out from that veil so ugly, because I fancied 
 that I was so handsome." 
 
 The man of few words hath loud voices in his
 
 1 30 SADI. 
 
 favour ; when thou hast spoken, and thy brilliance is 
 departed, hie thee away I 
 
 To thee who art master of thy reason, silence is a 
 mark of calmness ; to the incapable, a veil to cover 
 him. 
 
 If thou art a wise man, destroy not reverence ; and 
 if thou art ignorant, rend not the veil which hideth 
 thee. 
 
 The thought of thine heart be not hasty to reveal ; 
 for thou wilt be able to show it, whensoever thou 
 mayest wish ; 
 
 But when a man s secret is once made public, no 
 effort will avail to conceal it again. 
 
 The beasts are silent, and man is gifted with the 
 faculty of speech ; but a man who talli:eth at random 
 is worse than the beasts. 
 
 \Yhen a man uttereth his words, he should do it 
 with understanding ; if not, like the beasts, he had 
 better hold his peace. 
 
 He who is born of man is distinguished by articu- 
 lation and reason ; let him not show his folly by 
 chattering like a parrot. — Grafs Text, p. 331. 
 Transl. 11. 38.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 131 
 
 Calumny ivorse than Theft. 
 
 Some one said to me — I took it for a pleasantry — 
 that Thieving was a less unrighteous thing than 
 Calumny. 
 
 I replied, " my friend, thine head is distracted : 
 thy words come to mine ears with amazement. 
 
 What of better dost thou see in robbery, that thou 
 exaltest such villany above calumny?" "Yes, he 
 answered, " Eobbers exhibit deeds of daring : they fill 
 their bellies by the strong hand. 
 
 What seeketh the simpleton to gain by calumny ? — 
 He hath smeared the page, and got nothing to eat 
 by itr— Graf s Text, i?. 341. Transl. II. 46.
 
 132 SADI. 
 
 How to bring up a Son. 
 
 "WTien thy son hath, passed his tenth year, say to 
 him, — " Sit apart from strangers." 
 
 It is not well to kindle a fire near cotton, for whilst 
 thou closest thine eyes thy house may be burning. 
 
 If thou desirest that thy name should remain in its 
 place, teach thy son understanding and knowledge. 
 
 If he possess not wisdom and knowledge, thou wilt 
 die, and no one will remain after thee. 
 
 Oft-times hath the son-had to bear hardships in the 
 end, when he hath been too tenderly nurtured by his 
 father. 
 
 Keep him within bounds of prudence and modera- 
 tion : if thou boldest him dear, indulge him not in 
 delicacies. 
 
 In his childhood thou must give him chastisement 
 and instruction ; must teach the good and the evil by 
 threats and by promises. 
 
 To the young learner praise, and commendation, 
 and " well-done I " are better than chiding and fright- 
 eninsf in the master.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 133 
 
 Teach to thy pupil some kind of handicraft, hast 
 thou in thy hand aU the wealth of Karun; 
 
 For what knowest thou, whether some shift of for- 
 tune will not turn him out of his home to a distant 
 land? 
 
 Place no reliance on present prosperity, for thy 
 wealth may no longer remain in thine hand. 
 
 Let his hand he but skilful at some trade, and why 
 should he stretch out the hand of necessity to any 
 one ; 
 
 Thy purse of silver and gold may come to an end ; 
 the purse of the artizan will never be empty. 
 
 Dost thou not know how Sadi attained his wishes ? 
 
 He roamed not over plains, nor divided seas : 
 
 In his youth he bore cuflFs from his elders, and in 
 his age God gave him recreation. 
 
 Whoever submitteth his neck to authority, doth it 
 not frequently happen that he cometh to authority 
 himself ? 
 
 The child who hath never felt the austerity of the 
 teacher, will have to learn from the severity of life. 
 
 Be good to the child, and treat him with kindness, 
 that his eye may not be directed to look for it from 
 others. 
 
 "Whoever doth not himself sympathize with his
 
 134 
 
 child, Tvill make others sjTiipathize, and gain him a 
 bad name. 
 
 Take heed, that thou commit him not to a vicious 
 teacher, for he will make him as vicious and led-astray 
 as himself. 
 
 Thou canst not find him a blacker book than that 
 good-for-nothing fellow, to blacken him ere his face 
 is blackened by his beard. 
 
 Fly from that man so lost to honour, that his im 
 worthiness causeth worthy men to weep. 
 
 If his son hath sat in the society of Kalanders, say 
 to his father, " Hope no good of him. 
 
 Cry not — ' Alas ! ' over his death or ruin ; for it 
 is well that the degenerate one should die before his 
 father."— G^>-^/'s Text, p. 354. Trand. II. 59.
 
 THE BOSTAX, 
 
 135 
 
 feo:\i book the eighth 
 o:n^ thaxkeiil]S"ess. 
 
 I cannot draw a breath wdtliout gratitude to the 
 Friend, though I know no gratitude which is worthy 
 of him I 
 
 Every hair of my hody is a gift from Him ; how 
 express my gratitude for every hair ! 
 
 Praise he to the Lord, the giver of all good, who 
 created his slave out of nonentity ! 
 
 Who is there who hath power to describe His 
 beneficence ; for the description of His favours would 
 quite overwhelm him ! 
 
 The Wonderful One ! Who created man out of 
 clay ; and gave him a soul, and understanding, and 
 wisdom, and a heart ! 
 
 From the loins of thy father till thine hoary head, 
 see what honour Ho bestoweth on thee from the 
 unseen world !
 
 136 SADI. 
 
 Since He created tliee holy, be thou wise and holy ; 
 for it is shameful to return impure to the earth. 
 
 Gradually disperse the dust from the mirror, for it 
 will not take the polish when the rust hath eaten 
 into it. 
 
 Wast thou not in the beginning but a drop of 
 water ? Now that thou art a man expel from thine 
 head every grain of egotism. 
 
 When thou hast gained thy daily bread by thine 
 own endeavours, place not thy reliance on the strength 
 of thine own arm ! 
 
 Wherefore discemest thou not God, thou wor- 
 shipper of self, who gave to thine hand and arm its 
 activity ? 
 
 When from thy labouring thou receivest any thing, 
 know that it is by the grace of God, not by thine own 
 efforts. 
 
 No one by the power of his wrist drove the ball to 
 the goal ; render the praise to Him, the All-gracious I 
 
 Thou art not able to stand, or set one foot before 
 another, did not assistance come to thee every 
 moment from the unseen world I — Graf's Text, p. 371. 
 Tra/isl. II. 73.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 137 
 
 King Toghrul and the Sentinel. 
 
 I have heard that King Toghrul came in his rounds 
 on a Hindu sentinel. 
 
 The snow was falling thick, and it rained in tor- 
 rents, and he shivered with the cold like the star 
 Canopus. 
 
 The heart of the king was moved with compassion, 
 and he said, — " Thou shalt put on my fur-mantle ; 
 
 Wait a moment at the end of the terrace, and I 
 will send it out by the hand of a slave." 
 
 Meanwhile a piercing wind was blowing, and the 
 king walked into his royal hall. 
 
 There the sight of a lovely lady so enchanted him, 
 that the poor sentinel entirely slipped his memory. 
 
 As though the wintry cold were not suffering- 
 enough, to his evil fortune were added the pangs of 
 disappointment. 
 
 Hear, whilst the king slept in comfort, what the 
 watchman was sapng towards the dawning of the 
 morning.
 
 *' Perhaps thy good fortune made thee forgetful, for 
 thy hand was clasped in the hand of thy beloved. 
 
 For thee the night passed in mirth and enjoy- 
 ment ; what knowest thou of how it passed with us ? 
 
 i "When the company of the caravan are stooping 
 
 ; the head over the platter, what concern have the}- for 
 those who have fallen down in the sand {desert ?) 
 
 ! O boatman, launch thy boat into the water, for 
 
 I it hath nearly reached the head of the helpless waders! 
 
 I Stay jour steps awhile, ye active youths, for in 
 the caravan are weak old men also I 
 
 Thou who art sleeping sweetly in thy litter, whilst 
 the bridle of the camel is in the hand of the driver, 
 
 { What to thee is plain, and hill, and stone, and 
 sand I — Ask, how it is with those who are left behind 
 
 I on the journey I 
 
 j Thou who art borne along on thy high and strong 
 
 j dromedary, how kuowcst thou how he fareth who is 
 travelling on foot I 
 
 They who in the quiet of their hearts are reposing 
 
 ! at the resting-place, what know they of the condition 
 of the hungry wa}-iarer!" — Grafs Textj p. 381. 
 Transl. II. SI.
 
 THE BOSTAX. 
 
 139 
 
 PROM THE miS^Tir BOOK 
 01^ CONYESSIO]!^. 
 
 Come thou whose life hath reached its seventieth 
 year I — perchance thou hast heen asleep, and it is 
 gone to the wind. 
 
 Thou hast made ample provision for thy living; 
 what preparation hast thou made for thy departure ? 
 
 At the resurrection, when the market of heaven is 
 thi'own open, good works are the price which must be 
 paid for the pleasant mansions. 
 
 ^Hiatever capital thou hringest, so much wilt thou 
 carrry hack ; and if thou art bankrupt, thou canst 
 purchase naught but shame : 
 
 For by how much the market is more abundantly 
 supplied with wares, by so much will the empt}-- 
 handed be grieved in his heart.
 
 140 SAM. 
 
 If out of fifty dii'hams thou losest five, from the loss 
 of those five thine heart is afflicted : 
 
 If fifty years have slipped from thy grasp, the five 
 days which remain count as a treasure. 
 
 If the poor dead man had but a tongue, with shouts 
 and groans he would cry aloud, 
 
 " thou li^■ing-one, to whom speech is still possible, 
 press not thy lips together, rest not, like the dead, 
 from praising God I " 
 
 If thou hast passed thy day in carelessness, count 
 at once as thine opportvmity the few moments that 
 stiU are left ihee.—Graj s Text, p. 398. TransL 11. 97.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 141 
 
 The Gold-fnder. 
 
 A man of unsullied morals and a worshipper of God 
 found by chance a lump of gold. 
 
 His once clearly-discerning head was so bewildered 
 by the gain, that his hitherto pure heart became 
 darkened thereby. 
 
 All the night long he kept thinking, — "This wealth 
 and treasure, withersoever we push our journey, will 
 suffer no exhaustion. 
 
 Besides, when I am too weak to rise, I shall not 
 have to keep bowing and lifting myself up again to 
 any one. 
 
 I will build myself a palace with foundations of 
 marble, the beams of its roof of fresh aloes-wood. 
 
 It shall have a private chamber for the entertain- 
 ment of my friends, the door of which shall open into 
 the palace-garden. 
 
 I wore myself down with sewing patch to patch on 
 my garments ; envy of others consumed mine eye and 
 my brain. 
 
 Now my meat shall be cooked for me bj" servants, 
 and I will cherish my soul in quietness.
 
 142 SADI. 
 
 My bed hath been hitherto a hard one and made of 
 felt ; my couch shall henceforth be of the finest 
 tapestry." 
 
 The crab so plunged its claws into his brain, that 
 his fancies turned him into dotage and insanity. 
 
 Attention to his devotions and duties was forgotten ; 
 and to food, and sleep, and praise, and praj'crs alike. 
 
 He went forth into a solitary place, his head dis- 
 tracted with delusions, for he found no spot in which 
 he could sit down and remain at rest. 
 
 There he saw a man who was tempering clay at the 
 head of a grave, and who was making brick of the 
 clay of the grave. 
 
 Then the holy man fell into deep thought, and 
 said, — *' O short-sighted soul, take council from tliis : 
 
 Why bind thine heart to this brick of gold, when 
 one day they will make bricks of thine own clay ? 
 
 Thou careless man, who in thy thought about gain 
 and riches tramplest imder foot the capital of life ! " 
 
 Over our clay will blow a wind so strong, that 
 every atom of it will be borne to a different place. 
 
 The dust of ambition hath so choked up the eye of 
 judgment, that the hot-wind of passion hath burnt up 
 the harvest of me.—Grafs Text, p. 409. TransL 
 11. 107.
 
 THE BOSTAX. 143 
 
 The Two Enemies. 
 
 There were two men between wliom was enmity, 
 and contention, and who fought like tigers for the 
 pride of being one above the other ; 
 
 Fl5-ing from one another in their aversion to such 
 a degree that the heavens seemed too narrow to 
 contain them. 
 
 On the head of one of them Destiny brought down 
 his legion, and his days of delight came to an end. 
 
 The other in his evil thoughts was inwardly filled 
 with gladness, and when some time had passed he 
 went to visit his grave. 
 
 The chamber of his tomb, which once had been 
 ornamented with gilding like a palace, he found be- 
 smeared with clay. 
 
 Exultingiy he v.-cnt down to his couch, and said 
 to himself with a laugh on his open lip, 
 
 " Joy for the rest of life to him who after the death 
 of his enemy is in the embraces of a friend. 
 
 There is no need to weep over the death of that 
 man, who hath lived one day after the death of his 
 enemy."
 
 I 144 SADI. 
 
 ! 
 
 I In the excess of his hatred -with the strength of 
 
 I liis arm he tore down a board from the face of the 
 
 sepulchre. 
 
 He saw the royal head brought do^s-n to a pit ; the 
 
 I two eyes, which once looked round upon the world, 
 
 I stuffed with clay ; 
 
 I His person a captive in the prison of the tomb ; his 
 
 ' body the food of the worm, and the prey of the ant ; 
 
 j From the revolutions of the spheres the full-moon of 
 
 his countenance dwindled away to the changing 
 
 moon ; from the ^'iolence of fate his cypress-like form 
 
 reduced to a bodkin ; 
 
 I The palm of his hand and the power of his fist 
 
 disjoined by time, member from member. 
 
 Then was his heart so JBlled with pity, that with 
 
 his weeping he changed the dust into clay. 
 
 He repented himself of what he had done, and of 
 
 his ugly disposition, and caused to be inscribed on the 
 
 stone of the sepulchre, 
 
 " Make no rejoicing over the death of any one ; for 
 
 thine own time will not be long after his." 
 
 An intelligent holy-man heard of this, and breathed 
 
 out a prayer, saying, — "0 all-powerful Creator, 
 
 It would be wonderful, wert thou not to extend 
 
 thy mercy to one over whom his very enemy hath 
 
 wept with many groans I
 
 THE BOSTAl^. 
 
 145 
 
 May my body also one day bo found in such a 
 condition, that the hearts of my enemies may be 
 kindled towards me I 
 
 Perhaps the heart of the Friend will have mercy 
 upon me, when he see'th that even my enemies have 
 forgiven me." — Graf s Text, p. 411. Traml. II. 108.
 
 146 s.iDi. 
 
 Sadi and the Ring. 
 
 I recall to my memory, how during the life of my 
 father — may the rain of mercy every moment descend 
 upon him ! — 
 
 He bought for mc in my childhood a tablet and a 
 writing-book, and for my finger a golden seal-ring. 
 
 As it happened, a pedlar came to the door, and in 
 exchange for a date carried off the ring from my hand ; 
 
 For a little child cannot estimate the value of a seal- 
 ring, and will easily part with it for anything sweet. 
 
 And thou too dost not estimate the value of a life, 
 who throwest it away in luxm-ious indulgencies. 
 
 In the resurrection, when the righteous arrive at 
 the loftj' place, and are raised from the damp pit to 
 the region of the Pleiades, 
 
 "Will thine head not be bowed down in abasement, 
 when all thy works shall be assembled before thee ? 
 
 brother, be ashamed now to do the deeds of the 
 bad, that thou mayest not need to be ashamed in the 
 face of the good. 
 
 On that day when inquest shall bo made into deeds
 
 THE BOSTAN. 
 
 147 
 
 and words, aud the body even of those who have 
 striven after holiness shall tremble, 
 
 With what excuse for thy sins wilt thou hear thy 
 summons, when the very prophets will be over- 
 whelmed with terror ? Graf'sText^p.ilQ. Traiisl. 
 11. 112.
 
 148 SADI. 
 
 The Bad JTan ami the Sheikh. 
 
 KJnock at the door of mercy, ere the chastisement 
 come ; for lamentation is useless when thou art under 
 the rod. 
 
 Lift up thine head from the hosom of carelessness 
 for to-morrow shame may no longer remain in thy 
 breast. 
 
 A man of an excellent character was passing by 
 one addicted to forbidden things ; 
 
 ~SVh.o sat, his face suffused with the dew of shame, 
 and was exclaiming : — *' "\Miat shame to be seen thus 
 by the Shaikh of my village ! " 
 
 The holy man heard hi* words, and approached 
 him, and said with some asperity : 
 
 " young man shouldest thou not be ashamed of 
 thyself, that, when God is present, thou art ashamed 
 at seeing me ? 
 
 Feel so much shame in the presence of thy Lord, as 
 thou wouldest feel in that of the faultless and thy 
 friends. 
 
 Thou wilt not find rest beside thy fellow-man : go 
 look for it to the side of God, and that will be enough." 
 —Grafs Text, p. 426. TransL IL 119.
 
 THE BOSTAN-. 149 
 
 Ask pardon in time. 
 
 A king of Damaglian Leat some one with a drum- 
 stick so soundly, that his cries resounded like his 
 drum. 
 
 In the night he was so restless, that he was unahle 
 to sleep. A pious man, who was passing, said : 
 
 " If thou hadst brought thy regrets to the prince in 
 the evening, thou would' st not have had to bear this 
 humiliation in the morning." 
 
 He will not need to be ashamed in the day of 
 judgment, who brings his sorrows at night into the 
 court of the Supreme. 
 
 If to-day thou canst hold up thine head in sincerity, 
 what fsar that the Merciful-One will close the door 
 against those who ask for pardon ! 
 
 If thou art wise, petition the Just-One ; and the 
 night of repentance will abridge the day of wrong- 
 doing. 
 
 The Merciful- One, who brought thee, a non-entity, 
 into being — is it wonderful that Ho, if thou be 
 falling, should take thee by the hand ! 
 
 If thou art a servant, lift-up the hand of supplica-
 
 150 
 
 tion ; and, if thou hast cause for shame, rain-down 
 the waters of regret. 
 
 No one hath come to this door to implore forgive- 
 ness, whose transgTession will not have been washed 
 away by the toiTcnt of repentance. 
 
 God wiU not wipe-out the character of him, whose 
 fault hath been wiped out by his many tears. — Grafs 
 Text, p. 430. TransL II. 123.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 151 
 
 Sadi at the Grave of Ms Child, 
 
 Whilst I was at Scnaa, I lost a child :— Y/hy talk 
 of the blow which then fell upon my head ? 
 
 Fate never formed an image of comeliness like 
 Joseph's, that a fish did not become like Jonah's its 
 tomb. 
 
 In this garden no cypress ever reached its full 
 stature, that the blast of destiny did not tear its trunk 
 from the I'oot. 
 
 It is not wonderful that roses should spring out of 
 the earth, when so many rose-like forms sleep within 
 its clay. 
 
 I said in my heart : "Die! for, shame to man, the 
 child departeth unsullied, and the old man polluted!" 
 
 In my melancholy and distraction, whilst dwelling 
 on his image, I erected a stone over the spot where 
 he reposeth. 
 
 In terror of that place, so dark and narrow, my 
 colour paled, and my senses failed me. 
 
 When from that disturbance my understanding 
 came back to me, a voice from my darling child 
 struck mine ear :
 
 152 
 
 •' If that dark spot make thee feel thy desolation, 
 recall thy reason, and come out into the light. 
 
 Wouldest thou make the night of the tomb bright 
 as day, light it up with the lamp of good* works." 
 
 The body of the gardener trembleth as in a fever, 
 lest the palm-tree should not produce its date. 
 
 Crowds are there of those who, greedy of the 
 world's pleasures, think, that not having scattered 
 the grain, they can j^et gather in the crop ; 
 
 But Sadi telleth you : — " Only he who planteth a 
 tree will eat the fruit of it ; only he who casteth 
 the seed will reap the harvest," — Grafs Text, p. 431. 
 Transl II. 12 i.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 
 
 15: 
 
 FROir THE TENTH BOOK: 
 OX PRAYEH. 
 
 Come, let us lift up our hands from the heart, for 
 to-morrow it wiU not he possible to lift them up from 
 the clay. 
 
 Dost thou not behold the tree in the wintcrly 
 season, how it standeth leafless from the piercing cold! 
 
 See, how it holdeth out its hands in supplication, 
 that, for pity's sake, it may not become empty-handed 
 again ; 
 
 That fate may restore to it its robe of honour ; may 
 replace in its lap its abundance of fruit I 
 
 Bethink thee of that door which is never closed, 
 where the up-i'aised hand is never despairing I 
 
 "Whither all may bring their devotion, and the 
 wretched his supplication : and through which all 
 may come to the court of the Comforter of the 
 miserable !
 
 154 S-U3I. 
 
 Like the naked branch, let us lift our hands ; for 
 we cannot sit longer before a leafless tree. 
 
 O Lord, do thou look down upon us benignantly, 
 that our sins may be removed from thy servants 
 whilst still in the body I 
 
 If thine earth-formed creatures commit faults, let 
 it be in the hope of mercy from him who is the 
 Pardoner of transgressors. 
 
 O Generous one, we have been nourished by Thy 
 daily bread ; Thy bounties and Thy grace have made 
 our habit. 
 
 When the beggar beholdeth liberality, kind- 
 ness, and soothing, let him not turn back from the 
 track of the giver. 
 
 Since in this world thou hast regarded us as 
 precious, let us keep in our eye that also which fol- 
 loweth it. 
 
 Greatness or meanness assign us, and it is enough ! 
 Great as Thou art, there is meanness from no one | 
 else I 
 
 Place not one like myself a ruler over my head ; if 
 I am to bear chastisement, it is better that it be from 
 thee. 
 
 In the world, of bad there is nothing worse, than 
 to bear injustice from one like oneself.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 
 
 155 
 
 Shame in Thy face is enough for me ; let me not 
 be ashamed in the sight of any other ! 
 
 If a shadow from Thee fall upon my head, may 
 my shield be Thy lowest step ! 
 
 If Thou shouldest place a crown on my head and 
 give me exaltation, do Thou uphold me, so that no 
 one else shall cast me down! — Graf's Text, p. 433. 
 TransL II. 126.
 
 156 
 
 Supplication. 
 
 My body still trcmbleth when I recall to memory 
 tlie prayers of one absorbed in ecstacy in the Holy- 
 place, 
 
 "Who kept exclaiming to God with many lamenta- 
 tions : — "Cast me not off, for no one else will take me ' 
 by the hand I 
 
 Call me to Thy mercy, or drive me from Thy door ; 
 on Thy threshold alone will I rest my head. 
 
 Thou knowest that we are helpless and miserable, 
 sunk under the weight of tew desires, 
 
 And that these rebellious desires rush on with so 
 much impetuosity, that wisdom is unable to check the 
 rein. 
 
 For they come on in the spirit and power of Satan, 
 and how can the ant contend with an army of tigers ! 
 
 Oh ! lead me in the way of those who walk in Thy 
 way, and from those enemies grant me Thy asylum ! 
 
 By the essence of Thy majesty, O God ; by Thine 
 attributes without comparison or likeness ; 
 
 By the — "Great is God" — of the pilgrim in the
 
 THE BOSTAN, 157 
 
 Holy-house ; by Him who is buried at Yathreb 
 f Medina) on -whom be peace (Mohammed) ; 
 
 By the shout of men of the sword (great is God) ^ 
 who account their antagonists in the battle as 
 women ; 
 
 By the devotion of the aged, tried, and approved ; 
 by the purity of the young just arisen ; 
 
 In the whirlpool of the last breath, O save us in 
 the last cry from the shame of apostacy (denying Thy 
 unity) / 
 
 There is hope in those who have been obedient, 
 that they may be allowed to make intercession for 
 those who have not been obedient. 
 
 For the sake of the pure keep me far from con- 
 tamination ; and if error escape me, hold me excused ! 
 
 By the aged whose backs are bowed in obedience, 
 whose eyes through shame for their past misdeeds 
 look down upon their feet, 
 
 Grant that mine eye may not be blind to the face 
 of happiness ; that my tongue may not be mute in 
 bearing witness to tho faith ! 
 
 Grant that the lamp of truth may shine upon my 
 path ; that uiy hand may be cut off from committing 
 evil! 
 
 Cause mine eyes to be free from blindness; with- 
 hold my hand from all that is unseemly.
 
 158 SADI. 
 
 A mere atom, carried atout by the wind, stay ( 
 me in Thy favour ! j 
 
 Mean as I am, existence and non-existence in me i 
 are but one thinar. ! 
 
 From the sun of Thy graciousness a single ray ! 
 sufficeth me ; for except in Thy ray, no one would ' 
 perceive me. 
 
 Look upon my evil, for on whomsoever Thou loohest, | 
 he is the better ; courtesy from a king is enough for j 
 the beg-gar. ! 
 
 If in Thy justice and mercy Thou receive me, shall i 
 I complain that the remission was not promised me ? 
 
 God, drive me not on account of my errors from 
 Thy door, for even in imagination I can see no other 
 door. 
 
 And if in my ignorance I became for some days a 
 stranger to Thee, now that I am returned, shut not 
 Thy door in my face. 
 
 "What excuse shall I l.ring for the disgrace of my 
 sensuality except to i^lcad my weakness before the 
 Eich-One. 
 
 Leave me not — the poor one — in my crimes and 
 sins I — the rich man is pitiful to him who is poor. 
 
 AMiy weep over my feeble condition !— if I am 
 feeble, I have Thee for my refuge.
 
 THE BOSTAN. 159 
 
 O God, we have wasted our lives in cai-elessness ! — 
 what can the struggling hand against the power of 
 fate! 
 
 AVliat can we contrive with all our planning ? — our 
 only prop is apology for our faults. 
 
 All that I have done Thou hast utterly shattered 1 — 
 what strength hath our self-will against the strength 
 of God ! 
 
 My head I cannot withdraw from Thy sentence, 
 when once Thy sentence hath been passed on my head. 
 Grafs Text, p. 435. Transl. II.Vll.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 BEING AN EXTRACT FROM THE 
 
 MESNAVI, OF JELAL-UD-DIN-EUMI.
 
 THE JTESXATI. 163 
 
 ^::^^51^S:^==^==^te- 
 
 FKOM THE MESXAVI OF JELAL-rD-DIX EUMI. 
 
 (Flourished in 13th Century.) 
 
 Divine Affections. 
 
 List how that reed is telling its story ; how it is i 
 bewailing the pangs of separation ■ 
 
 Whilst they are cutting me away from the reed-bed, 
 men and maidens are regretting my fluting. 
 
 My bosom is torn to pieces with the anguish of 
 parting, in my efforts to express the yearnings of 
 affection. 
 
 Every [one who liveth banished from his own family, 
 will long for the day which will see them re-united. 
 
 To every assembly I still bore my sorrow, whether 
 the companion of the happy or the unhappy. 
 
 Every one personally was ever a friend, but no one 
 sought to know the secrets within me. 
 
 My affections and ray regrets were never far distant, 
 but neither eye nor ear can always discern the light. 
 
 The body is not veiled from the soul, nor the soul
 
 164 JELAL-I'D-DIX-RU-MI. 
 
 from the body, but to see the soul hath not been 
 permittod. 
 
 It is love that with its fire iuspireth the reed : it is 
 love that with its fervour inflameth the wine. 
 
 Like the reed the ^\*ine is at once bane and antidote ; 
 like the reed it longeth for companionship, and to 
 breathe the same breath. 
 
 The reed it is that painteth in blood the story of the 
 jom-ney; and inspired the love-tale of the frenzied 
 Mejnun. 
 
 Devoid of this sense we are but senseless our- 
 selves ; and the ear and the tongue are but partners 
 to one another. 
 
 In our grief our days glide on unprofitably ; and 
 heart-compunctions accompany them on their way. 
 
 But if our days pass in blindneps, and we are im- 
 pure, oh : remain Thou — Thou, like whom none is 
 pure. 
 
 Xo untried man can imderstand the condition of 
 him who hath been sifted : therefore, let your words 
 be short, and let him go in peace. 
 
 Rise up, young man — burst thy bonds, and be free ! 
 How long wilt thou be the slave of thy silver and thy 
 gold ? 
 
 If thou shouldest fill thy pitcher from the ocean, 
 what were thy store r — The pittance of a day I
 
 THE MESXAYI. 16^ 
 
 In the eye of the covetous man it would not bo full. 
 If the shell lay not contented in its bed, it would 
 never be filled with the pearl. 
 
 He whose garment is rent by love divine — he only 
 is cleansed from avarice and the multitude of sins. 
 
 Hail to thee, Love, our sweet insanity ! thou, the 
 physician of all our ills ! 
 
 Thou, our Plato and our Galon, the medicine of our 
 pride and our self- estimation. 
 
 By love the earthly eye is raised to heaven, the 
 hills begin to dance, and the mountains are quickened. 
 
 Could I join my lip to that of one who breatheth my 
 breath, I would utter words as mxclodious as my reed. 
 
 When the rose garden is vrithered, and the rose is 
 gone, thou wilt hear no longer news of the nightin- 
 gale. 
 
 How should I be able any longer to retain my 
 understanding, when the light of my beloved one no 
 longer shineth upon me ? 
 
 If the lover no longer recciveth his nourishment, he 
 must perish like a bird deprived of its food. 
 
 asg^&§=^^5^§5=^5^^=lBr=
 
 1G6 JULAL-rD-DTX-RUMI. 
 
 A beloved one said to her lover — " O dear youth, 
 thou hast seen in thy travels many a city. Tell me, 
 then, which of them appeared to thee the most plea- 
 sant r " 
 
 He replied — " That wliich contained her who rohbed 
 me of my heart." 
 
 Wherever the sovereign of my soul spreadeth her 
 carpet of repose, that place, though it were the eye 
 of a needle, would seem boundless as the desert. 
 
 Wherever there is a maiden beautiful as Joseph 
 {the Oriental type of perfect beaiiti/) and radiant as 
 the moon ; that place, though the bottom of a well, 
 would be an Eden. 
 
 With thee a prison would be a rose garden, thou 
 ravish er of hearts : with thee Hell would be a Paradise, 
 thou cheorer of souls.
 
 THE MESXAVI, 167 
 
 FROM THE MESXAVI, OF JELAL-rD-DIX-RUMI. 
 
 The Merchant and the Parrot. 
 
 There was a mercliaiit who possessed a parrot, a 
 beautiful parrot, which he kept in a cage. 
 
 The merchant was preparing to make a journey, 
 which he intended to begin with Hindustan ; 
 
 And the kind-hearted man called before him every 
 man-servant and every maid-servant, and said, — 
 "What present shall I bring for thee ? tell me 
 frankly." 
 
 Each one of them answered him accordin.g to his 
 desire ; and to every one the good man promised 
 what he asked. 
 
 Then he said to the parrot : — " And what present 
 from the regions of Hindustan wilt thou have ? " 
 
 And the parrot answered : "V^^len thou see'st the 
 parrots there, tell them my condition. 
 
 Say : "A certain parrot is yearning to see you, but 
 is shut out by a cage from the free space of heaven. 
 
 He sendeth you his benediction, and asketh you to 
 do him justice, and beggeth you to save his life, and 
 to show hi^l the paths of safety.
 
 168 JELAD-rD-DIX-EUMI. 
 
 Is it right that I should consume my soul in vain 
 longings, and that I should die here in loneliness ? 
 
 Is it proper that I should be bound in hard 
 shackles, whilst ye dwell amidst green places upon 
 the trees ? 
 
 Is this the kind of faith to keep with a friend ? 
 I in a cage and ye in a garden ? 
 
 Call to mind, ye fortunate ones, that verdant lawn, 
 and our morning draught in the midst of the 
 meadows I 
 
 The remembrance of a friend should be a happy 
 one to friends, as was that of Laila and ilejnun ! 
 
 My comrades my precious idols, I am drinking 
 cu^DS of my own blood ; drink ye to my remembrance 
 one cup of wine, if ye desire to do me justice." 
 
 The merchant received the salutation and the 
 message he was to carry to those of its race ; 
 
 And when he reached the boundaries of Hindustan 
 he saw in the desert a large company of parrots. 
 
 Then he staid his horse and lifted up his voice, and 
 delivered the salutation and the message entrusted to 
 him. 
 
 And immediately one of the parrots fluttered exces- 
 sively, and fell dovs-n, and gave up its breath, and 
 died.
 
 THE MESNAVI. 169 
 
 Then the merchant repented him of what he had 
 Baid and done, and exclaimed : — " Did I come to hring 
 death to a living creature ? 
 
 Perhaps this parrot was a relative of my parrot : 
 perhaps they were two in hody and one in soul. 
 
 Why did I do this ? — Why deliver this message ? 
 Mj heart is on fire, and for this unlucky event I see 
 no remedy. 
 
 The tongue is like flint, and the lip is like iron, 
 and that which is struck in ignorance from the 
 tongue is as flame. 
 
 Do not, foolish man, whether in easy good nature, 
 or in idle hoasting, strike flint and steel together ! 
 
 For it is dark, and there is much cotton around, 
 and in the midst of cotton wherefore scatter sparks ! 
 
 A single word may desolate a world ; can convert 
 dead foxes into lions. 
 
 When the merchant had finished his business he 
 returned once more to his happy home. 
 
 For every man-servant he brought a present, and 
 to every maiden he gave a token. 
 
 Then said the parrot : — " And what present hast 
 thou brought to the captive ? — Say ! what hast thou 
 seen, and what hast thou said ? — Tell it me again."
 
 170 jELA-L-rD-DrN'-Exrin. 
 
 He replied : — " Oh me ! that of which I much 
 repent ; that for which I could gnaw my hands and 
 hite off my fingers. 
 
 " Wherefore did I foolishly carry that unlucky 
 message, which I carried ignorantly." 
 
 It answered : " merchant, repentance is of 
 small value I what is it that requireth this passion 
 and sorrow f " 
 
 He replied : I delivered thy complaint to a com- 
 pany of parrots, thy fellows. 
 
 One of those parrots took such a share in thine 
 affliction, that its heart hroke, and it fluttered, and 
 died." 
 
 When the parrot heard what that parrot had done, 
 it too fluttered, and fell, and hecame cold. {died). 
 
 When he saw it fall in such wise, the merchani; 
 started-up, and dashed his cap upon the ground ; 
 
 And when he saw its colour and condition, he 
 leaped-up, and tore the breast of his garment, and 
 exclaimed : 
 
 " my parrot, my beautiful, my dear one, what 
 is this that hath befallen thee ? — Wherefore art thou 
 thus ? 
 
 Alas I and alas ! my bird of the melodious voice, 
 who didst breathe the same breath, and knewest my 
 every secret,
 
 THE MESNAYI. 171 
 
 Alas ! and alas ! bird of the s^veet notes, and tones 
 of the harp ; pleasant to me as my garden, and sweet 
 as my sweet-basil! " 
 
 Then the merchant cast-out the dead bird from its 
 cage, and immediately it flew up to a high branch of 
 a tree. 
 
 He was amazed at the action of the bird, and was 
 seized with desire to understand this strange mystery ; 
 
 And turning his face upwards he said : " my 
 sweet one, to me sweet as a nightingale, give me, I 
 pray thee, some explanation of what thou hast done." 
 
 It replied: "The message thou broughtest me 
 gave me counsel. It said, — * Free thyself from speech 
 and voice. 
 
 Since it was thy voice which brought thee into 
 bondage ; ' — and it died itself to confirm the message." 
 
 The parrot then gave him one or two counsels, and 
 bestowed upon him a parting benediction. 
 
 The merchant said to it : — " Depart in peace ! 
 thou hast shown me now a new path." 
 
 " Farewell ! merchant," it replied, " thou hast 
 done me a mercy ; thy benevolence hath freed me 
 from the chain and from the net." 
 
 Farewell ! merchant ; I was away from my home. 
 May'st thou, by God's grace, become free like me.
 
 NOTES Al^D ILLTJSTRATIOl^S. 
 
 Note 1. Page 43.—" The Night of Power." 
 " Verily we sent down the Koran in the Night of 
 Al Kadr (of power). And what shall make thee 
 understand how excellent the Night of Al Kadr is ? 
 The Night of Al Kadr is better than a thousand 
 months. Therein do the Angels descend, and the 
 Spirit of Gahriel also, with the permission of their 
 Lord, with his decrees concerning every matter. It 
 is peace until the rising of the morn." — The Koran 
 {Sale's TransL), Surah 97. 
 
 Note 2. Page 51. — He turned fire into a bed of 
 roses. 
 
 "And when Abraham was cast into the burning 
 pile, we said, — O fire be cold, and a preservation unto 
 Abraham," — Koran, Sarah 21. 
 
 The legend referred to is, that Nimrod, to prevent 
 Abraham from converting his people from their
 
 174 NOTES. 
 
 ancient gods, filled a large square -with an immense 
 quantity of wood, and had . Abraham east into the 
 blazing furnace, from -which he was saved at the 
 command of God by the angel Gabriel. 
 
 Note 3. Page 86. — " Put a saddle on a male 
 lion," That is, by his devices and tricks control it 
 as a horse ; as we say, " can bell the cat." 
 
 "Abu Zaaid" {misprinted Alu in the text,) is the 
 name of a Chess-player who had no equal, and was, 
 moreover, a master in words and eloquence. The 
 "Yizier" — the wise man, the councillor — is, but 
 with more propriety than on our chess-board, our 
 Queen. The " Horse" is our Knight. 
 
 The change of Yizier to Queen is due probably to 
 the chivalric spirit of the times when chess was 
 introduced from the East into Europe. 
 
 XoTE 4. Page 121. — "Thou may'st reach the 
 Sidrah-tree itself : " or Paradise. 
 
 The Sidrah-tree is one of the trees in the Seventh 
 Heaven ; which is also the mansion of the angel 
 Gabriel.
 
 By the same Translator, and published in the same 
 form, at Is. 6d. each volume, hy Williams & Norgate, 
 Henrietta-street, Covent Garden, London ; and James 
 Cornish, Piccadilly, Manchester : — 
 
 I. Analysis and Specimens of Joseph and Zulaikha, 
 by the Persian Poet Jami. 
 
 II. Memoir of the Life and Writings of the Persian 
 Poet NizAMi ; with an Analysis of the Second 
 Part of his Alexander Book, from the 
 German of Dr. Bacher. 
 
 III. A Century op Ghazels, or a Hundred Odes, 
 from the Diwan of the Persian Poet Hafiz. 
 
 IV. Flowers Culled from the Gulistan or Eose 
 Garden, and from the Bostan or Pleasure 
 Garden of the Persian Poet Sadi ; with a 
 few Specimens of the Mesnavi of Jelal-ud- 
 
 DlN RUMI.
 
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