His best known works are
Bostan ("The Orchard") completed in 1257 and
Gulistan ("The Rose Garden") in 1258.
Bustan is entirely in verse (epic metre) and consists of stories aptly illustrating the standard virtues recommended to Muslims (justice, liberality, modesty, contentment) as well as of reflections on the behaviour of dervishes and their ecstatic practices.
Gulistan is mainly in prose and contains stories and personal anecdotes. The text is interspersed with a variety of short poems, containing aphorisms, advice, and humorous reflections. Saadi demonstrates a profound awareness of the absurdity of human existence. The fate of those who depend on the changeable moods of kings is contrasted with the freedom of the dervishes.
For Western students,
Bustan and
Gulistan have a special attraction; but Saadi is also remembered as a great panegyrist and lyricist, the author of a number of masterly general odes portraying human experience, and also of particular odes such as the lament on the fall of Baghdad after the Mongol invasion in 1258. His lyrics are to be found in
Ghazaliyat ("Lyrics") and his odes in
Qasa'id ("Odes"). He is also known for a number of works in Arabic. The peculiar blend of human kindness and cynicism, humour, and resignation displayed in Saadi's works, together with a tendency to avoid the hard dilemma, make him, to many, the most typical and loveable writer in the world of Iranian culture.
Of the Mongols he writes:
In Isfahan I had a friend who was warlike, spirited, and shrewd. His hands and dagger were forever stained with blood. The hearts of his enemies were consumed by fear of him; even the tigers stood in awe of him. In battle he was like a sparrow among locusts; but in combat,"after long I met him: O tiger-seizer!" I exclaimed, "what has made thee decrepit like an old fox?"He laughed and said: "Since the days of war against the Mongols, I have expelled the thoughts of fighting from my head. Then did I see the earth arrayed with spears like a forest of reeds. I raised like smoke the dust of conflict; but when Fortune does not favour, of what avail is fury? I am one who, in combat, could take with a spear a ring from the palm of the hand; but, as my star did not befriend me, they encircled me as with a ring. I seized the opportunity of flight, for only a fool strives with Fate. How could my helmet and cuirass aid me when my bright star favoured me not? When the key of victory is not in the hand, no one can break open the door of conquest with his arms."The enemy were a pack of leopards, and as strong as elephants. The heads of the heroes were encased in iron, as were also the hoofs of the horses. We urged on our Arab steeds like a cloud, and when the two armies encountered each other thou wouldst have said they had struck the sky down to the earth. From the raining of arrows, that descended like hail, the storm of death arose in every corner. Not one of our troops came out of the battle but his cuirass was soaked with blood. Not that our swords were blunt...it was the vengeance of stars of ill fortune. Overpowered, we surrendered, like a fish which, though protected by scales, is caught by the hook in the bait. Since Fortune averted her face, useless was our shield against the arrows of Fate."Alexander Pushkin, one of Russia's most celebrated poets, quotes Saadi in his masterpiece
Eugene Onegin:
as Saadi sang in earlier ages,"some are far distant, some are dead".
Saadi distinguished between the spiritual and the practical or mundane aspects of life. In his
Bustan, for example, spiritual Saadi uses the mundane world as a spring board to propel himself beyond the earthly realms. The images in
Bustan are delicate in nature and soothing. In the
Gulistan, on the other hand, mundane Saadi lowers the spiritual to touch the heart of his fellow wayfarers. Here the images are graphic and, thanks to Saadi's dexterity, remain concrete in the reader's mind. Realistically, too, there is a ring of truth in the division. The Sheikh preaching in the Khanqah experiences a totally different world than the merchant passing through a town. The unique thing about Saadi is that he embodies both the Sufi Sheikh and the travelling merchant. They are, as he himself puts it, two almond kernels in the same shell.
Saadi's prose style, described as "simple but impossible to imitate" flows quite naturally and effortlessly. Its simplicity, however, is grounded in a semantic web consisting of synonymy, homophony, and oxymoron buttressed by internal rhythm and external rhyme something that Dr. Iraj Bashiri quite skillfully captures in his translation of the Prologue of the work:
- "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
- Laudation is due the most High, the most Glorious, Whose worship bridges the Gap and Whose recognition breeds beneficence. Each breath inhaled sustains life, exhaled imparts rejuvenation. Two blessings in every breath, each due a separate salutation.
- Whose hand properly offers and whose tongue,
- The salutation due Him, and not be wrong?
- Says He: "Ingratiate yourself, O family of David,
- Unlike the unthankful, that I thee bid!"
- Subjects proper, best admit to all transgression,
- At His threshold, with contrite expression;
- How otherwise could mortal creatures ever,
- Make themselves worthy of His discretion?
- The shower of His merciful bounty gratifies all, and His banquet of limitless generosity recognizes no fall. The inner secrets of His subjects, He does not divulge, nor does He, for a rogue's slight frailty, in injustice indulge.
- :O generosity personified!
- :To the Christian and the Magi,
- :You bestow with pleasure,
- :From Your invisible treasure.
- :O ardent benefactor!
- :You will lift Your friends high,
- :There is solid proof of that,
- :Not abandoning enemies to die!
- He has ordered the zephyr to cover, with the emerald carpet of spring, the earth; and He has instructed the maternal vernal clouds to nourish the seeds of autumn to birth. In foliage green, He has clothed the trees, and through beautiful blossoms of many hues, has perfumed the breeze. He has allowed the life-imparting sap to percolate and its delicious honey to circulate. His power is hidden in the tiny seed that sires the lofty palm.
- :The clouds, the wind, the moon, and the sun,
- :For your comfort, and at your behest, run;
- :They toil continuously for your satisfaction,
- :Should not you halt, monitor your action?"
Chief among these works is Goethe's
West-Oestlicher Divan. Andre du Ryer was the first European to present Saadi to the West, by means of a partial French translation of
Gulistan in 1634. Adam Olearius followed soon with a complete translation of the
Bustan and the
Gulistan into German in 1654.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was also an avid fan of Sadi's writings, contributing to some translated editions himself. Emerson, who read Saadi only in translation, compared his writing to the Bible in terms of its wisdom and the beauty of its narrative.
Saadi is well known for his aphorisms, the most famous of which is this call for breaking all barriers:
- ??? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ? ?? ??????
- ?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ????? ????
- ?? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ???? ????
- Human being 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've no sympathy for human pain,
- The name of human you cannot retain!
translated by M. Aryanpoor
- Another translation:
- Adam's sons are body limbs, to say;
- For they're created of the same clay.
- Should one organ be troubled by pain,
- Others would suffer severe strain.
- Thou, careless of people's suffering,
- Deserve not the name, "human being".
translated by H. Vahid Dastjerdi
- and the last translation by Dr. Iraj Bashiri:
- Of One Essence is the Human Race,
- Thusly has Creation put the Base.
- One Limb impacted is sufficient,
- For all Others to feel the Mace.
- The Unconcern'd with Others' Plight,
- Are but Brutes with Human Face.