Sa'di
سعدي شيرازي
The Master of Speech
Born: ~1210
Died: ~1291
Also known as: Muslih al-Din Sa'di Shirazi, Saadi, Sheikh Sa'di
Sa'di was a Persian poet and prose writer from Shiraz, celebrated for the Gulistan (Rose Garden) and Bustan (Orchard). His verse "Children of Adam" on the unity of humanity is inscribed at the entrance of the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Key Accomplishments
- Authored the Gulistan and Bustan, masterpieces of Persian prose and poetry
- Composed the "Children of Adam" verses, now inscribed at the United Nations headquarters
- Traveled for over 30 years across the Islamic world, enriching his writing with cosmopolitan wisdom
- Set the standard for Persian literary prose that endured for centuries
The Full Story
Born in Shiraz during the tumultuous period of the Mongol invasions, Sa'di spent decades traveling across the Islamic world. He studied at the Nizamiyya in Baghdad and journeyed through the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Anatolia, Central Asia, and India. These extensive travels gave his writing a cosmopolitan wisdom and wealth of anecdote unmatched in Persian literature.
His two masterworks, the Bustan (1257) and Gulistan (1258), established him as one of the greatest writers in the Persian language. The Bustan is a book of poetry organized into ten chapters on virtues such as justice, generosity, and love. The Gulistan, written in a mix of prose and verse, collects anecdotes, moral stories, and practical wisdom drawn from his travels and reading. Both works are characterized by an elegant, accessible style that made them standard texts in Persian education for centuries.
Sa'di's most famous lines, from the Gulistan, declare: "The children of Adam are limbs of one body, having been created of one essence. When the calamity of time affects one limb, the other limbs cannot remain at rest." This poem is inscribed on the entrance to the Hall of Nations at the United Nations in New York. Sa'di's influence on Persian prose style was immense, and he is considered one of the greatest masters of the ghazal after Hafiz.
Notable Words
“The children of Adam are limbs of one body, having been created of one essence. When the calamity of time affects one limb, the other limbs cannot remain at rest.”
- Gulistan, Chapter 1
Places
Connected Figures
Hafiz
The Tongue of the Unseen
Later Shirazi poet who perfected the ghazal tradition Sa'di helped establish
Thinkers & PoetsRumi
The Master of Ecstatic Love
Contemporary Persian poet of complementary genius
Thinkers & PoetsFarid al-Din Attar
The Apothecary of the Soul
Earlier Persian poet who influenced Sa'di's mystical sensibility
Notes
Sources
- [1]Katouzian, Homa. Sa'di: The Poet of Life, Love, and Compassion. Oneworld, 2006.
- [2]Thackston, Wheeler M., trans. The Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di. Ibex Publishers, 2008.
- [3]Wickens, G.M., trans. Morals Pointed and Tales Adorned: The Bustan of Sa'di. University of Toronto Press, 1974.