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Malek
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Classic Persian Poets:
Sheikh Mosleh-ed-din Sadi
By Manu Malek
21 January 2009

Sadis life
Sadi (s:-~ s-~ --- *-~- *-~, 1210 1292 AD, 588 670 AH) is one of the
greatest figures in classic Persian literature. He is recognized not only for the
quality of his writing, but also for the depth of his social thought. He is
respectfully referred to as Sheikh (*-~, Master) for the simplicity and yet depth of
his works. He is also known as Afsah-ol-Motakallemn (------ *~-, The Most
Clear Speaker). This article describes Sadis life, his works, and his view of life.




Sadi Saadi's mausoleum in Shiraz, Iran

Sadi was born in Shirz and is buried there. He left Shirz when he was fourteen
years old for Baghdd to study Arabic literature and Islamic sciences at the
Nezmiyyeh (--'=-) School there. The unsettled conditions following the Mongol
invasion of Irn, as well as his love for travel, led him to wander through the
Middle East, North Africa, and India for more than 20 years. In his works he
refers to having been enslaved by the Franks and forced to work in the trenches
of Tripoli for some time! During his travels he performed preaching, advising, and
learning.

When he returned to Shirz in 1246 AD, he was an elderly man. Shirz at that
time was under the rule of Abubakr-ebn-Sad-ebn-Zangi and enjoyed relative
tranquility. Sadi was welcomed back to Shirz and the ruler showed him
kindness and respect. In appreciation, Sadi took his nom de plume from the
name of the ruler, and dedicated two of his works, Golestn and Boostn, to him
as a gesture of gratitude.

He seems to have spent the rest of his life in Shirz. But at times he seemed to
still have a yearning for Baghdd:

-:- _-- - :-~ ~-=~ -- ~ -- :-= _~:- - ~~-' ~- ...
'= - - - _-=~ - :- :-- *-=~ ~~----= = :- = ~= '--~

Sadis works
Sadis main works are collected in three books: Golestn ('-~--, the Rose
Garden), Boostn ('-~:-, the Orchard), and Ghazaliyt ('--:-, the Lyrics). The
first two works represent wisdom, ethics, and advice. Ghazaliyt is a collection of
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sublime odes dealing with human experiences and emotions like love, friendship,
separation, and patience.

Golestn, completed in 1258 AD, is written in prose interspersed with verses of
poetry and contains many stories of his travels and observations, reflecting on
human life, ethics, prejudice, kindness, hope, and struggle for improvement.
Sadis prose style, described as simple but impossible to imitate ( ---- J+~ )
flows quite naturally and effortlessly. It is considered by the Persian scholar M. A.
Forooghi as the most beautiful prose work in Persian. Golestn contains eight
chapters with the following titles:
(1) On the Manner of Kings ( ~ ''~'- :- )
(2) On the Morals of Dervishes ('~- >= )
(3) On the Virtues of Contentment ( - ~--~- ~-'- )
(4) On the Benefits of Silence ( - _~:-'= --: )
(5) On Love and Youth (_-:= ~- )
(6) On Weakness and Old Age ( ~ s:-- ~ )
(7) On the Effects of Education (~--:- :--'- )
(8) On the Manner of Conversation (~-=~ ' )

Boostn, completed in 1257 AD, is a book of poems in masnavi ( -- s:- , rhymed
couplet) style, in the same prosody ( :=- :~- '--- ) as Ferdowsis Shhnmeh.
It contains 159 stories illustrating good human virtues like justice, modesty, and
contentment. Boostn contains ten chapters with the following titles:
(1) On Justice, Management and Judgment
(2) On Beneficence
(3) On Love, Intoxication and Ecstasy
(4) On Humility
(5) On Acceptance and Satisfaction
(6) On Contentment
(7) On The World of Education
(8) On Gratitude for Well-being
(9) On Repentance and the Virtuous Path
(10) On Communion and Conclusion of the Book

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s :---- ~~ -- '- _- +- = _-'- - = :- s-
= '- +- '~ '~ ' '-~ = J~- --- --- -
:~ _-~- ~~ ~- '- :~ -- - _-~- - :- := :- ---
- '+= ~: =-- '~ -- - :- :- -~~ -'- - ~ -:
- - - - -:- --'- - ~ ~--'- :- :~ --~ -
:~ - ~~ -:- '- -+- - --= '='-- - '-

Sadis Ghazaliyt are divided into several sections: Tayyebt, Badyee,
Khavteem, and Molammat (' --- ---:= --- '- -=). They contain about 600
odes, with about 10 lines each per ode. Sadi has also written about 150 robyis
(quatrains). He is also known for a number of works in Arabic.

Sadis view of life
Sadi is recognized not only for the quality of his writing, but also for the depth of
his social thought. In his travels, he mingled with the ordinary people and
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exchanged views with merchants, farmers, preachers, wayfarers, thieves, and
Sufi mendicants. In his works, which are treasures of wisdom and guidelines for
ethical living, he narrates stories about places and events during his travels.

Sadi, like most Iranians before the advent of the Safavids, was a Moslem of
Sunni sect. His view of religion is simple; he worships the unique God and has
great respect for Prophet Mohammad, but does not get involved in complex
spiritual issues, as Hafez does. Like Hafez, however, he criticizes hypocrisy. Some
samples follow:

- '- ---= :- '+-- :-- --- :-:- - ' ----:-:- :~ -:-
'- :-- -:~ - -- _~>- '- :- '- - - --+- :~ ~- '- :-=:-
-'= - --- _-'= '--'~ - :-- -:= - :-- s-~ -V c--:- :~

One of his more famous poems focuses on the oneness of mankind:

- ' _-- - s'~ - - --: ~- c--:-' - --::-
--'-- ':~- :- '- ' - :~- := :-
~-=- :- :- _-' --+- ~-'- - --'~- _-- _- :-

The English translation of this poem graces the entrance to the Hall of Nations of
the United Nations building in New York:

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

Sadi places great importance on friends and friendship. He mentions friend in
many places in his poetry; has twelve odes ending in friend (~~).

Translations of Sadis works:
Andre du Ryer was the first European to present Sadi to the West via a partial
French translation of Golestn in 1634 (LEmprise des Roses). A year later, this
French version was translated into German by Johann Friedrich Ochsenbach
(Tubingen, 1635). A Latin translation of Golestn together with the Persian text
by George Gentz was published in Amsterdam in 1651. Adam Olearius (born
Adam Oelschlager), a German diplomat who had visited Iran, translated both
Golestn and Boostn (1654 and 1696) into German. Although free-style
translations, these works were widely read by European intellectuals, including
the German poet Goethe who used some of Sadis poems in his work West-
Ostlicher Diwan. About 150 years later, Karl Heinrich Graf published excellent
German translations of both Golestn and Boostn (1845 and 1850). These two
Sadis works were also translated into French by N. Semelet (1834 and 1880).

The first English translation of Golestn appeared in the late 18th century by
Stephen Sullivan (1774, selections), and later by other scholars, notably, James
Dumoulin (1807), Francis Gladwain (1808), James Ross (1823), S. Lee (1827),
Edward B. Eastwick (1852), John T. Platts (1867), E.H. Whinfield (1880), Edward
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Rehatsek (1888), Edwin Arnold (1899, the first four chapters), L. Cranmer-Byng
(1905), Celwyn E. Hampton (1913), and Arthur John Arberry (1945, the first two
chapters). Ralph Waldo Emerson was an avid fan of Sadi's writings, contributing
to some translated editions himself.

Sadis other works have received relatively less attention. Lucas White King was
the first one to translate hundreds of Sadis ghazals into English (The Odes of
Sadi, 2 volumes, 1925; and an additional volume, 1926). Sadis poems and
parables have also been included in many English anthologies of Persian poetry
published throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Translations of Sadis works
are also available in many other languages both European (Dutch, Italian,
Russian, Polish, Romanian, ...) and Eastern (Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, and Bengali,
...).

Honoring Sadi
21 April is designated as Sadis commemoration day in the Persian calendar. This
day has been celebrated every year since 1996 with presence of many of
intellectuals, writers, and poets in Shirz. It corresponds to the first day of
Ordibehesht, the second month in the Persian calendar, when Sadi decided to
embark on writing Golestn. He says in the introduction section of Golestn:

... ---~ ~- '- :- ----' :- ~-:~ - -- J~- ---- :-- '-- :--
'-= :- :- :-- =--- --- -'= := '-
- s _->= -'- ~~+ '-~- :-'-- :- ----:- J---
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... = : -- --- '-= -~'-- _-'- '-~-- -+- _-'-- _- -'-= '-~- J- ----
--'~- _-~-- --'-- ~~-= -:= '--- ~:- s:- ---- '-- :~'= ~=~- :='-
~'-- '=- ~~ :- := '- - :- ~--~- --:- '-~-- c-- '- :- -
- c-- --- --- ~-:= c-=
= J- --' '- =- _-- - :-- - '-~-- _
-~'- c~ -- -- J- -~'- := ~-- '-~-- -
- ~=-' --- ~=-:- J- - ---- - - - _-'= : '- -- --:- . _-~-
--' '- - '---- - _~'-- '=- ' :~'- ~= '-- '-- '-- '-
->- > ~:-- --:--- ~ . '-- '-~-- '-- - :- :=:- _- --- '-~- J- :- --=- _-
-~ .

Related web sites and references:
Golestn-e Saadi, Borookhim Publications, Tehran, 1316
Boostan-e Saadi, Amir Kabir Publications, Tehran, 1333
Ghazaliat-e Saadi, Ghaghnoos Publications, Tehran, 1384
http://ganjoor.net/saadi/
The Golestn of Saadi, English translation, 213 p., Iran Chamber Society:
http://www.iranchamber.com/literature/saadi/books/Golestn_saadi.pdf
The Bostan of Saadi, English translation, 74 p., Iran Chamber Society:
http://www.iranchamber.com/literature/saadi/books/bostan_saadi.pdf
The Gulistan of Sa'di http://classics.mit.edu/Sadi/gulistan.html
Sadis biography: http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Poets/Sadi.html