In Praise of Judge Rukn al-Din

How many wise minds have been trapped in the chains of desire; once love arrives, where does wisdom remain? It is an unavoidable fate for anyone who turns toward the sun of love: like a speck of dust in its light, he stays a prisoner of longing. The only cure for love is endurance, if you can bear it; and if not, bearing the burden of a beloved is like suffering a tyrant king's cruelty. One who loves the beautiful pays no mind to slanderers. Come, if you have the courage to let their taunts fall behind your back. If Croesus himself came one night among the lovely-faced, they would plunder him tonight so thoroughly that by morning he would be a pauper. Bring, spring wind, the fragrance of the garden of triumph, for its amber-laced scent resembles the scent of my beloved. You are lost in your pleasures and amusements; how would you take pity on me? Only a friend who has been parted from a friend can feel such pity. Answer me, scold me with any bitterness you like, for insults from your ruby lips are sweeter than a blessing. I know no other door to turn my face away from you. Beware, do not harm my soul, or my pain will be left without a cure. The useless faultfinder cannot understand Saadi's pain, unless one day, in some lane, he too is stricken by a beautiful face. If an idol as lovely as you sat at the head of every lane, I doubt anyone but the judge would keep his chaste soul intact. The pride of every gathering and assembly, the leader of religious law, Rukn al-Din, whose reasoning so strengthens the faith that it recalls the age of Muhammad. The perfection of his wise counsel has so adorned the world that as long as the ages last, fine praise of him will remain. The whole world prays for him, and Saadi is the least of those who speak; may this good fortune endure as long as existence lasts.