Fragments

The ordering of the world belongs to a Lord who has no likeness, no equal, no kind, no match. If some day your wish is not fulfilled, complaining does no good; be patient, and wait.

Tell the oppressed man, bound and beaten down, to keep his eyes on fate and bear the cruelty with patience. For these bound hands will be set free at last, and those hands now free will be tied behind their backs.

Give thanks to God, gentle and all-knowing, who kindly set our enemies against each other. May the feud between Jew and Christian never end, for the death of either side is cause for us to celebrate.

If I dress up my words with your name, it is only so that I might earn some standing among people of art and skill. Otherwise the sun's glory needs no telling; what use has a lovely face for a beautician's touch?

It is the way and custom of the fortunate and noble to honor good people. And when these good people have dealt kindly with the lords of life, their children too are treated well.

Whoever falls into your bond stays bound forever; truly, one who is chained has no strength left to walk away. Servants give thanks to their Lord, yet how can anyone put into words the Lord's boundless acts of grace?

You have never done a good deed for me or anyone else that would make the hand of your grace let go of hope's hem. Except at the threshold of your grace, the goal of all nations, where else in the whole world can worthy people place their trust? My own worth looked trivial in my eyes, for the faint star Suha gives no light before the sun. It seems this truth has reached the master's ears: the best of a generous man's gifts is the one he repeats.

Don't be fooled by the words of a greedy flatterer; he has laid a trap of deceit to catch his share of you. A cruel, ignorant ruler who feeds on the people's blood, how could he become wise and just just because a preacher says so?

You are the One who hears every whispered prayer, the Eternal who suffices for all our needs. Nothing hidden is concealed from you; you know all secrets and everything unseen. I cannot fully speak of what is below and above, Creator of the earth and the heavens. How can I ever offer you enough thanks and praise, you who keep watch over us in every state? Whatever prayer Sa'di makes, answer it, you who respond to those who call.

Nothing was left to Alexander, neither kingdom nor wealth; nothing was left to Fereydun, neither crown nor throne. Settle your own accounts now, before someone else calls you to a harsh reckoning.

When the judge himself can't get his wine, he has no choice but to come down hard on everyone else. Who said the old woman gives up fruit out of virtue? She lied; the truth is her hand just can't reach the tree.

The stability of power and kingdom will not stay as it is now, for every night, without fail, gives way to a coming day. While the upper hand is yours, reach out and do as much as you can, because the power may shift and the hand may change.

Deal with trouble before it strikes; once the chance is gone, regret does no good. Forge your weapons while times are calm; once the flood breaks loose, no dam can hold it back.

They tell me: go and grapple with the enemy, if you have the nerve and manhood for it. Has anyone ever spilled his own blood for nothing? Would even a drunkard do something so insane? You can't bring yourself to lay a little gold on your palm; how then would a soldier place his head on his?

One person you see blessed with good fortune; another, pinched by hardship and empty-handed. The first did not throw himself into his pit, nor did the second seat himself on his throne. It is God who grants the crown of prosperity to whoever holds such a station and rank. So inevitably the people must gird themselves in service and devotion to that person.

Only by walking the straight path will you reach your goal. Be honest, for every good fortune there is belongs to the honest. Even a straight piece of wood you spare from the fire; so how could honest people ever be sent to burn in hell?

Don't fault those who bow their backs low before kings while they stand tall everywhere else. Anyone who has sat at another's table is bound to rise and serve them. Since we cannot repay their kindness in kind, we should at least make excuses for the helpless.

If you are a person of true insight, everything you see is beautiful, for whatever the Beloved does is, like the Beloved, worthy of love. If you look closely, which single leaf on any tree does not carry the secret of God's craft written upon it?

Fulfill people's hopes as best you can, since you too hope to be forgiven. For if you ever stumble and fall, you will understand what it means to lift up those who are helpless.

Has anyone ever called the peacock's feather ugly? Or ever called a demon the guardian of paradise? Good and evil are woven into the very nature of people; from the book of their deeds nothing is read but what was written there.

A mount is meant to bring you comfort, yet I suffer because of my own horse. There is absolutely no flesh on its bones; to tell the truth, it moves like a chess knight.

My father was your servant from the start; he spent his whole life in devotion to you. And the child born of that servant, when he came into the world, first opened his eyes upon your face. He will serve no other master, for it was your kindness that raised me.

If the poor person looks worthless in your eyes, don't be shortsighted, for there are jewels hidden inside plain stone. The musk pod's leather is cheap and stained, yet people value it because it is full of the finest fragrant musk.

Someone said dignity lies in wealth, that money is the ally of both this world and faith. What strength can the arm of high rank show? Without money, a king is a commander with no army. An empty handed man with an imposing air, a loud name, and reputation is like an ugly woman in a beautiful veil. He is like a bird whose body is covered in feathers and plumes, yet is itself skinny beneath them. Now look at what the other man replied: it is rank, if anyone is to be a leader. A man with no known name will meet only disgrace, even if his very threshold were made of gold from his wealth. A lord needs rank, not wealth; and if you want wealth, it comes with rank anyway. If you want the truth, hear it from Saadi: contentment is better than either of these two.

Stroking a snake's back gently, hoping to soothe it, is not the act of a wise man. For that vicious, merciless creature, the right response is a stone struck on its head.