English
First Correct Yourself
We drew a line through our own will and let it go;
true free will is to share your portion with the poor.
Whoever wants more wealth than the share allotted to him,
tell him to want less: the more you have, the more the trouble.
The wine of this world comes with a hangover, the rose with a thorn.
So you want the sweet sip? Then be ready for the sting.
You who dozed off and fell behind the caravan,
make the effort to catch up with your companions again.
I don't see in you the courage to break an infidel;
if you are truly a man, break the infidel that is your own craving self.
The ignorant man wakes up only after he is ruined,
like the shepherd who stirs only once the wolf has downed the sheep.
If you wish yourself well, then wish others well too,
for a soul that means good to people will never come to harm.
Being human means having mercy on the helpless,
for a real person's body shudders at the sight of another's wound.
The men of God spoke the truth and gave this counsel:
O scholar, first give your own soul the advice you preach.
Whatever you would forbid for your own self, Saadi,
don't wish it on the stranger either, or on your own kin.