Sa'di Iran/Persia (1207? - 1291) Timeline Muslim / Sufi Poems by Sa'di Books - Links |
Although Sa'di was born and died in Shiraz, Persia (Iran), during his life he traveled extensively. He is said to have traveled for thirty years throughout the Islamic world. Iran has filled the centuries with some of the world's finest poets, but Iranians consider Sa'di to be one of the greatest.
Historians often divide his life into three parts. His first twenty-five years were spent studying in various countries, going to university at Baghdad. During the next thirty years he traveled widely, east to India and as far west as Syria. He made his pilgrimage to Mecca fourteen times. Finally, Sa;di returned to Shiraz where he devoted himself to writing and to teaching.
Sa'di was a disciple of the Sufi master Sheikh Shahabud-Din Sahrawardi.
Sa'di's two best known works are the Bustan (the Garden), composed entirely in verse, and the Gulistan (the Rose Garden), in both prose and verse. He was particularly known for the wry wit he injected into his poems.
Sa'di is probably the first Persian poet to have been translated into European languages. A German version of the Gulistan appeared in 1654.
Sa'di's tomb can be seen in the town of Shiraz. Lines from Saadi's poems are still commonly used in conversations by Iranians today.
Poems by Sa'di
- How could I ever thank my Friend?
- All Adam's offspring form one family tree
- Have no doubts because of trouble nor be thou discomfited
- If one His praise of me would learn
- In Love
- The man of God with half his loaf content
- The world, my brother! will abide with none
- To the wall of the faithful what sorrow, when pillared securely on thee?
Islamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi | Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations from Sufi Wisdom | The Gulistan of Sadi: The Rose Garden | The Mystics of Islam |
Related Links
Internet Classics Archive | The Gulistan of Sadi
http://classics.mit.edu/Sadi/gulistan.html
The complete Gulistan of Sadi on-line.
Sa'di
http://www.humanistictexts.org/sa'di.htm
A brief introduction and several poems and prose excerpts.
Sadi: The Gulistan or Rose Garden
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/sadi.html
The complete Gulistan of Sadi on-line.
The Mausoleum of Sadi
http://www.shirazcity.org/shiraz/Shiraz%20Information/Sightseeing/Sa'di%20e.htm
Description and several photos of the revered mausoleum of Sadi.