There Is No Kingdom Like Contentment

GhazalIraqi style
English

There Is No Kingdom Like Contentment

No royal life in this world matches the ease of beggars; no realm is more complete than the kingdom of contentment. If anyone has real standing, it belongs only to the one who seeks no standing at all in anyone's eyes. Everyone has a trait, a color, a mark of their own; give up your traits, for there is no finer trait than that. The one you see clothed will be exposed on Judgment Day, for today they are naked and wear nothing but borrowed things. Who is the person who truly knows? It is the one who claims acquaintance with no one. A stone or a plant that holds some usefulness is better than a human being who offers none. Poor soul, you cannot judge your own good; be glad, for nothing that happens to you is without purpose. One who complains about a friend is no friend at all; if the beloved sheds your blood, no compensation is owed. This is the way of manners that Saadi has taught you; if you truly listen, there is no better upbringing than this.
Explanation: The 'borrowed things' in couplet 4 are worldly status and appearances that will be stripped away in the afterlife. 'No compensation is owed' (diya) refers to Islamic blood-money; here the lover forgives even the beloved's cruelty.

Original · Persian

غزل شمارهٔ ۱۷

چون عیش گدایان به جهان سلطنتی نیست مجموع‌تر از ملک رضا مملکتی نیست
گر منزلتی هست کسی را مگر آن است کاندر نظر هیچ کسش منزلتی نیست
هر کس صفتی دارد و رنگی و نشانی تو ترک صفت کن که از این به صفتی نیست
پوشیده کسی بینی فردای قیامت کامروز برهنه‌ست و بر او عاریتی نیست
آن کس که در او معرفتی هست کدام است؟ آن است که با هیچ کسش معرفتی نیست
سنگی و گیاهی که در آن خاصیتی هست از آدمیی به که در او منفعتی نیست
درویش تو در مصلحت خویش ندانی خوش باش اگرت نیست که بی مصلحتی نیست
آن دوست نباشد که شکایت کند از دوست بر خون که دلارام بریزد دیتی نیست
راه ادب این است که سعدی به تو آموخت گر گوش بداری به از این تربیتی نیست