English
Counsel and Advice
Life is sweet, but sadly it does not last forever;
so don't put your trust in these five fleeting days.
The cypress-tall figure of a person
will not keep the fresh bloom of youth forever.
It is a flower, bright and smiling, fresh and fragrant,
but, as you know, there is no hope it will endure.
Don't expect the arms of time, this mother, to nurse you forever,
for there is no scent of tenderness in her.
Don't be smug and heedless, head down like a grazing sheep,
for there is no shepherd's care in this wolf's nature.
What need has the obvious to be explained aloud?
The faithlessness of the turning sky is no secret.
What spring breeze ever blew across the horizons
without an autumn ruin trailing close behind it?
Even if you seized every kingdom on earth,
it would not be worth one more day's respite of life.
My friend, don't set your heart on this caravanserai,
for building a house is not the way of travelers.
Even if the whole world grants your wishes while your enemy pursues,
I swear the world is no place for lasting triumph.
Like an idol-worshipper you have grown so absorbed in appearances
that you no longer sense the sweetness of deeper meaning.
Walk the path of truth and be wherever you like,
for the solitary corner of the awakened heart belongs to no fixed place.
God's friends let go of the world,
for nothing binds a person to hardship except craving to possess it.
Guard your tongue so it doesn't drag you to hell,
for there is no greater harm in the world than the tongue.
Bring deeds, and don't uproot knowledge, for the healthiest road
for true men is the trackless lane of humility.
Raise your empty, pleading hands to the court of the Self-Sufficient,
for the work of God's man is nothing but calling upon God.
Don't devour like the ill-mannered, both the ox and its seed,
for they can hope neither for harvest nor for fortune in the world to come.
Do not do it: it is a shame to wound a friend for your own sake,
especially the Friend who has no equal.
What use is the rain of preaching pouring on people's heads
when a man has no shell-like, receptive mouth for it?
Saadi, you have conquered the earth with the sword of eloquence;
be thankful, for this is nothing but a heavenly gift.
The fame your poetry has spread across the horizons,
even the Tigris hasn't traveled so far, for its waters don't flow this freely.
Not everyone who boasts of strength against us
will prevail, for happiness does not lie in brute power.
But tell the perfume-merchant: do not go on praising the musk,
for its sweet scent is no secret from the buyer.