THE GULISTAN OF SADI [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

A grove the melody of whose birds was harmonious.

The former full of bright-coloured tulips,

The latter full of fruits of various kinds;

The wind had in the shade of its trees

Spread out a bed of all kinds of flowers.

The next morning when the intention of returning had prevailed
over the opinion of tarrying, I saw that my friend had in his skirt
collected roses, sweet basil, hyacinths and fragrant herbs with the
determination to carry them to town; whereon I said: 'Thou knowest
that the roses of the garden are perishable and the season passes
away', and philosophers have said: 'Whatever is not of long duration
is not to be cherished.

He asked: 'Then what is to be done?' I
replied: 'I may compose for the amusement of those who look and for
the instruction of those who are present a book of a Rose Garden, a
Gulistan, whose leaves cannot be touched by the tyranny of autumnal
blasts and the delight of whose spring the vicissitudes of time will
be unable to change into the inconstancy of autumn.

Of what use will be a dish of roses to thee?
Take a leaf from my rose-garden.

A flower endures but five or six days

But this rose-garden is always delightful.

After I had uttered these words he threw away the flowers from his
skirts, and attached himself to mine, saying: 'When a generous
fellow makes a promise he keeps it.

On the same day I happened to write two chapters, namely on polite
society and the rules of conversation, in a style acceptable to
orators and instructive to letter-writers.

In short, some roses of the
garden still remained when the book of the Rose-garden was finished
but it will in reality be completed only after approbation in the
court of the Shah, who is the refuge of the world, the shadow of
God, the ray of his grace, the treasury of the age, the asylum of
the Faith, strengthened by heaven, aided against enemies, the arm of
the victorious government, the lamp of the resplendent religion, the
beauty of mankind, the boast of Islam, Sa'd son of Atabek the great,
the majestic Shahanshah, owner of the necks of nations, lord of the
kings of Arabia and Persia, the sultan of the land and the sea, the
heir of the kingdom of Solomon, Muzaffaruddin Ibu Bekr, son of Sa'd
Zanki, may Allah the most high perpetuate the prosperity of them
both and direct their inclinations to every good thing.

Perused with a kind glance,

Adorned with approbation by the sovereign,
It wi

ll be a Chinese picture-gallery or design of the Arzank,

Hopes are entertained that he will not be wearied

By these contents because a Pose-garden is not a place of
displeasure.

The more so as its august preface is dedicated

To Sa'd Abu Bekr Sa'd the son of Zanki.

RECORD OF THE GREAT AMIR FAKHRUDDIN BEN ABU BEKR, SON OF ABU NASSAR
Again, the bride of imagination can for want of beauty not lift up
her head nor raise her eyes from the feet of bashfulness to appear
in the assembly of persons endowed with pulchritude, unless adorned
with the ornaments of approbation from the great Amir, who is learned,
just, aided by heaven, victorious, supporter of the throne of the
Sultanate and councillor in deliberations of the realm, refuge of
the poor, asylum of strangers, patron of learned men, lover of the
pious, glory of the dynasty of Pares, right hand of the kingdom, chief
of the nobles, boast of the monarchy and of the religion, succour of
Islam and of the Musalmans, buttress of kings and sultans, Abu Bekr,
son of Abu Nassar, may Allah prolong his life, augment his dignity,
enlighten his breast and increase his reward twofold, because he
enjoys the praise of all great men and is the embodiment of every
laudable quality.

Whoever reposes in the shadow of his favour,

His sin is transmuted to obedience and his foe into a friend.

Every attendant and follower has an appointed duty and if, in the
performance thereof, he gives way to remissness and indolence, he is
certainly called to account and becomes subject to reproaches,
except the tribe of dervishes, from whom thanks are due for the
benefits they receive from great men as well as praises and prayers,
all of which duties are more suitably performed in their absence
than in their presence, because in the latter they look like
ostentation and in the former they are free from ceremony.

The back of the bent sky became flat with joy,

When dame nature brought forth a child like thee.

It is an instance of wisdom if the Creator

Causes a servant to make the general welfare his special duty.

He has found eternal happiness who lived a good life,

Because, after his end, good repute will keep his name alive.

No matter whether virtuous men praise you or not

A lovely maid stands in no need of a tire woman.

EXCUSE FOR REMISSNESS IN SERVICE AND CAUSE
FOR PREFERRING SOLITUDE

My negligence and backwardness in diligent attendance at the royal
court resemble the case of Barzachumihr, whose merits the sages of
India were discussing but could at last not reproach him with anything
except slowness of speech because he delayed long and his hearers were
obliged to wait till he delivered himself of what he had to say.

When Barzachumihr heard of this he said: 'It is better for me to
consider what to speak than to repent of what I have spoken.

A trained orator, old, aged,

First meditates and then speaks.

Do not speak without consideration.

Speak well and if slow what matters it?
Deliberate and then begin to talk.

Say thyself enough before others say enough.

By speech a man is better than a brute

But a beast is better unless thou speakest properly.

How then could I venture to appear in the sight of the grandees of
my lord, may his victory be glorious, who are an assembly of pious men
and the centre of profound scholars? If I were to be led in the ardour
of conversation to speak petulantly, I could produce only a trifling
stock-in-trade in the noble presence but glass beads are not worth a
barleycorn in the bazar of jewellers, a lamp does not shine in the
presence of the sun, and a minaret looks low at the foot of Mount
Alvend.

Who lifts up his neck with pretentions,

Foes hasten to him from every side.

Sa'di has fallen to be a hermit.

No one came to attack a fallen man.

First deliberation, then speech;

The foundation was laid first, then the wall.

I know bouquet-binding but not in the garden.

I sell a sweetheart
but not in Canaan.

Loqman the philosopher, being asked from whom he
had learnt wisdom, replied: 'From the blind, who do not take a step
before trying the place.

First move about, then stir out.

Try thy virility first, then marry.

Though a cock may be brave in war

He strikes his claws in vain on a brazen falcon.

A cat is a lion in catching mice

But a mouse in combat with a tiger.

But, trusting in the liberal sentiments of the great, who shut their
eyes to the faults of their inferiors and abstain from divulging the
crimes of humble men, we have in this book recorded, by way of
abridgment, some rare events, stories, poetry and accounts about
ancient kings, spending a portion of our precious life in the task.

This was the reason for composing the book Gulistan; and help is
from Allah.

This well-arranged composition will remain for years,

When every atom of our dust is dispersed.

The intention of this design was that it should survive

Because I perceive no stability in my existence,

Unless one day a pious man compassionately

Utters a prayer for the works of dervishes.

The author, having deliberated upon the arrangement of the book, and
the adornment of the chapters, deemed it suitable to curtail the
diction of this beautiful garden and luxuriant grove and to make it
resemble paradise, which also has eight entrances.

The abridgment
was made to avoid tediousness.

I The Manners of Kings

II On the Morals of Dervishes

III On the Excellence of Content

IV On the Advantages of Silence

V On Love and Youth

VI On Weakness and Old Age

VII On the Effects of Education

VIII On Rules for Conduct in Life

At a period when our time was pleasant

The Hejret was six hundred and fifty-six.

Our intention was advice and we gave it.

We recommended thee to God and departed.

CHAPTER I
THE MANNERS OF KINGS

Story

I heard a padshah giving orders to kill a prisoner.

The helpless
fellow began to insult the king on that occasion of despair, with
the tongue he had, and to use foul expressions according to the
saying:

Who washes his hands of life

Says whatever he has in his heart.

When a man is in despair his tongue becomes long and he is like a
vanquished cat assailing a dog.

In time of need, when flight is no more possible,

The hand grasps the point of the sharp sword.

When the king asked what he was saying, a good-natured vezier
replied: 'My lord, he says: Those who bridle their anger and forgive
men; for Allah loveth the beneficent.

The king, moved with pity, forbore taking his life but another
vezier, the antagonist of the former, said: 'Men of our rank ought
to speak nothing but the truth in the presence of padshahs.

This
fellow has insulted the king and spoken unbecomingly.

The king, being
displeased with these words, said: 'That lie was more acceptable to me
than this truth thou hast uttered because the former proceeded from
a conciliatory disposition and the latter from malignity; and wise men
have said: "A falsehood resulting in conciliation is better than a
truth producing trouble.

"

He whom the shah follows in what he says,

It is a pity if he speaks anything but what is good.

The following inscription was upon the portico of the hall of
Feridun:

O brother, the world remains with no one.

Bind the heart to the Creator, it is enough.

Rely not upon possessions and this world

Because it has cherished many like thee and slain them.

When the pure soul is about to depart,

What boots it if one dies on a throne or on the ground?

Story

One of the kings of Khorasan had a vision in a dream of Sultan
Mahmud, one hundred years after his death.

His whole person appeared
to have been dissolved and turned to dust, except his eyes, which were
revolving in their orbits and looking about.

All the sages were unable
to give an interpretation, except a dervish who made his salutation
and said: 'He is still looking amazed how his kingdom belongs to
others.

Many famous men have been buried under ground
Of whose existence on earth not a trace has remained
And that old corpse which had been surrendered to the earth
Was so consumed by the soil that not a bone remains.

The glorious name of Nushirvan survives in good repute
Although much time elapsed since he passed away.

Do good, O man, and consider life as a good fortune,
The more so, as when a shout is raised, a man exists no more.

Story

I have heard that a royal prince of short stature and mean presence,
whose brothers were tall and good-looking, once saw his father
glancing on him with aversion and contempt but he had the shrewdness
and penetration to guess the meaning and said: 'O father, a puny
intelligent fellow is better than a tall ignorant man, neither is
everything bigger in stature higher in price.

A sheep is nice to eat
and an elephant is carrion.

The smallest mountain on earth is Jur; nevertheless

It is great with Allah in dignity and station.

Hast thou not heard that a lean scholar

One day said to a fat fool:

'Although an Arab horse may be weak

It is thus more worth than a stable full of asses.

The father laughed at this sally, the pillars of the state
approved of it, but the brothers felt much aggrieved.

While a man says not a word

His fault and virtue are concealed.

Think not that every desert is empty.

Possibly it may contain a sleeping tiger.

I heard that on the said occasion the king was menaced by a powerful
enemy and that when the two armies were about to encounter each other,
the first who entered the battlefield was the little fellow who said:

'I am not he whose back thou wilt see on the day of battle

But he whom thou shalt behold in dust and blood.

Who himself fights, stakes his own life

In battle but he who flees, the blood of his army.

After uttering these words he rushed among the troops of the
enemy, slew several warriors and, returning to his father, made humble
obeisance and said:

'O thou, to whom my person appeared contemptible,

Didst not believe in the impetuosity of my valour.

A horse with slender girth is of use

On the day of battle, not a fattened ox.

It is related that the troops of the enemy were numerous, and that
the king's, being few, were about to flee, but that the puny youth
raised a shout, saying: 'O men, take care not to put on the garments
of women.

These words augmented the rage of the troopers so that they
made a unanimous attack and I heard that they gained the victory on
the said occasion.

The king kissed the head and eyes of his son,
took him in his arms and daily augmented his affection till he
appointed him to succeed him on the throne.

His brothers became
envious and placed poison in his food but were perceived by his sister
from her apartment, whereon she closed the window violently and the
youth, shrewdly guessing the significance of the act, restrained his
hands from touching the food, and said: 'It is impossible that men
of honour should die, and those who possess none should take their
place.