Sufi Stories of Saadi Shirazi

Story 4 -The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A band of Arab brigands having taken up their position on the top of a mountain and closed the passage of caravans, the inhabitants of the country were distressed by their stratagems and the troops of the sultan foiled because the robbers, having obtained

Story 1- The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Story 1 One of the great devotees having been asked about his opinion concerning a hermit whom others had censured in their conversation, he replied: 'I do not see any external blemishes on him and do not know of internal ones.' Whomsoever thou

Story 2 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I saw a dervish who placed his head upon the threshold of the Ka'bah, groaned, and said: 'O forgiving, 0 merciful one, thou knowest what an unrighteous, ignorant man can offer to thee.' I have craved pardon for the deficiency of my service Because

Story 1-The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I heard a padshah giving orders to kill a prisoner. The helpless fellow began to insult the king on that occasion of despair, with the tongue he had, and to use foul expressions according to the saying: Who washes his hands of life Says whatever

Story .6 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A hermit, being the guest of a padshah, ate less than he wished when sitting at dinner and when he rose for prayers he prolonged them more than was his wont in order to enhance the opinion entertained by the padshah of his piety. O Arab of the desert,

Story 3-The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I have heard that a royal prince of short stature and mean presence, whose brothers were tall and good-looking, once saw his father glancing on him with aversion and contempt but he had the shrewdness and penetration to guess the meaning and said: 'O

Story 22 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A king was subject to a terrible disease, the mention of which is not sanctioned by custom. The tribe of Yunani physicians agreed that this pain cannot be allayed except by means of the bile of a person endued with certain qualities. Orders having been

Story 38 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A company of philosophers were discussing a subject in the palace of Kesra and Barzachumihr, having remained silent, they asked him why he took no share in the debate. He replied: 'Veziers are like physicians and the latter give medicine to the sick

Story 15 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A vezier, who had been removed from his post, entered the circle of dervishes and the blessing of their society took such effect upon him that he became contented in his mind. When the king was again favourably disposed towards him and ordered him to

Story 5 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Several travellers were on a journey together and equally sharing each other's troubles and comforts. I desired to accompany them but they would not agree. Then I said: 'It is foreign to the manners of great men to turn away the face from the company

Story 2-The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

One of the kings of Khorasan had a vision in a dream of Sultan Mahmud, one hundred years after his death. His whole person appeared to have been dissolved and turned to dust, except his eyes, which were revolving in their orbits and looking about. All

Story 19 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A caravan having been plundered in the Yunan country and deprived of boundless wealth, the merchants wept and lamented, beseeching God and the prophet to intercede for them with the robbers, but ineffectually. When a dark-minded robber is victorious

Story 4 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A thief paid a visit to the house of a pious man but, although he sought a great deal, found nothing and was much grieved. The pious man, who knew this, threw the blanket upon which he had been sleeping into the way of the thief that he might not go

Story 10 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I was constantly engaged in prayer, at the head of the prophet Yahia's tomb in the cathedral mosque of Damascus, when one of the Arab kings, notorious for his injustice, happened to arrive on a pilgrimage to it, who offered his supplications and asked

Story 12 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

An unjust king asked a devotee what kind of worship is best? He replied: 'For thee the best is to sleep one half of the day so as not to injure the people for a while.' I saw a tyrant sleeping half the day. I said: 'This confusion, if sleep removes

Story 41 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Iskandur Rumi, having been asked how he had conquered the east and the west, considering that the treasures, territories, reigns and armies of former kings exceeded his own and they had not gained such a victory, replied: 'Whatever country I conquered

Story 7 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A padshah was in the same boat with a Persian slave who had never before been at sea and experienced the inconvenience of a vessel. He began to cry and to tremble to such a degree that he could not be pacified by kindness, so that at last the king became

Story 6 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

It is narrated that one of the kings of Persia had stretched forth his tyrannical hand to the possessions of his subjects and had begun to oppress them so violently that in consequence of his fraudulent extortions they dispersed in the world and chose

Story 5 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I saw at the palace-gate of Oglimish the son of a military officer who was endued with marvellous intellect, sagacity, perception and shrewdness; also the signs of future greatness manifested themselves on his forehead whilst yet a small boy. From

Story 9 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

An Arab king was sick in his state of decrepitude so that all hopes of life were cut off. A trooper entered the gate with the good news that a certain fort had been conquered by the good luck of the king, that the enemies had been captured and that the

Story 46-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Two things are contrary to reason: to enjoy more than is decreed and to die before the time appointed. Fate will not change by a thousand laments and sighs, By thanks or complaints, issuing from the mouth. The angel appointed over the treasures

Story 26-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

From a body without a heart obedience does not arise and a husk without a kernel is no stock in trade. Not everyone who is brisk in dispute is correct in business. Many a stature concealed by a sheet If revealed appears to be the mother of one's

Story 7-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

To have mercy upon the bad is to injure the good; to pardon tyrants is to do violence to dervishes. If thou associatest and art friendly with a wretch He will commit sin with thy wealth and make thee his partner. Admonition 1 The amity of princes

Story 33-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

To consult women brings on ruin and to be liberal to rebellious men crime. To have mercy on sharp-toothed tigers Is to be tyrannical towards sheep. Admonition 18 Who has power over his foe and does not slay him is his own enemy. With a stone

Story 30-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Whoever does not listen to advice will have occasion to hear reproof. If admonition enters not thy ear Be silent when I blame thee. Elegant saying 1 Men void of accomplishments cannot behold those who possess some, without barking like the

Story 72-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Gold is obtained from a mine by digging it, but from a miser by digging the soul. Vile men spend not, but preserve. They say hope of spending is better than spending. One day thou seest the wish of the foe fulfilled The gold remaining and the vile

Story 40 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A Chinese slave-girl having been brought to a king, he desired to have connection with her whilst in a state of intoxication but, as she repelled him, he became angry and presented her to one of his negro-slaves whose upper lip was higher than his nostrils

Story 6-The Weakness and Old Age- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

In the folly of youth I one day shouted at my mother who then sat down with a grieved heart in a corner and said, weeping: 'Hast thou forgotten thy infancy that thou art harsh towards me?' How sweetly said the old woman to her son When she saw him overthrow

Story 82-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Two men died, bearing away their grief One had possessed wealth and not enjoyed it, the other knowledge and not practised it. No one sees an excellent but avaricious man Without publishing his defect But if a liberal man has a hundred faults His

Story 13 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I saw a holy man on the seashore who had been wounded by a tiger. No medicine could relieve his pain; he suffered much but he nevertheless constantly thanked God the most high, saying: 'Praise be to Allah that I have fallen into a calamity and not into

Story 7-the Advantages of Silence- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I heard a philosopher say that no one has ever made a confession of his own folly except he who begins speaking, whilst another has not yet finished his talk. Words have a head, O shrewd man, and a tail. Do not insert thy words between words of others. The

Story 54-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

It is contrary to what is proper, and against the opinion of to partake of medicine by guess and to go after a caravan without seeing the road. The Imam Murshid Muhammad Ghazali, upon whom be the mercy of Allah, having been asked in what manner he had

Story 1-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Property is for the comfort of life, not for the accumulation of wealth. A sage, having been asked who is lucky and who is not, replied: 'He is lucky who has eaten and sowed but he is unlucky who has died and not enjoyed.' Pray not for the nobody

Story 74-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

When a wise man encounters obstacles, he leaps away and casts anchor at the proper opportunity, for thus he will be in the former instance safe on shore, and in the latter he will enjoy himself.

Story 9- The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

One of the devotees of Mount Lebanon, whose piety was famed in the Arab country and his miracles well known, entered the cathedral mosque of Damascus and was performing his purificatory ablution on the edge of a tank when his feet slipped and he fell

Story 58-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Who interrupts the conversation of others that they may know his excellence, they will become acquainted only with the degree of his folly. An intelligent man will not give a reply Unless he be asked a question. Because though his words may be based

Story 3-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Knowledge is for the cherishing of religion, not for amassing wealth. Who sold abstinence, knowledge and piety Filled a granary but burnt it clean away.

Story 22-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Affairs succeed by patience and a hasty man fails. I saw with my eyes in the desert That a slow man overtook a fast one. A galloping horse, fleet like the wind, fell back Whilst the camel-man continued slowly his progress.

Story 29 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A vezier paid a visit to Zulnun Misri and asked for his favour, saying: 'I am day and night engaged in the service of the sultan and hoping to be rewarded but nevertheless dread to be punished by him.' Zulnun wept and said: 'Had I feared God, the great

Story 34-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

When a sage comes in contact with fools, he must not expect to be honoured, and if an ignorant man overcomes a sage in an oratorical contest, it is no wonder, because even a stone breaks a jewel. What wonder is there that the song Of a nightingale

Story 19-the Excellence of Contentment- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I never lamented about the vicissitudes of time or complained of the turns of fortune except on the occasion when I was barefooted and unable to procure slippers. But when I entered the great mosque of Kufah with a sore heart and beheld a man without

Story 33 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A padshah asked a hermit: 'How spendest thou thy precious time?' He replied: 'I am all night engaged in prayer, during the morning in supplications and the rest of the day in restricting my expenses.' Then the king ordered a sufficient allowance to be

Story 8-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A weak foe, who professes submission and shows friendship, has no other object than to become a strong enemy. It has been said that as the friendship of friends is unreliable, what trust can be put in the flattery of enemies? Admonition 4 Who despises

Story 24 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I complained to one of the sheikhs that a certain man had falsely accused me of lasciviousness. He replied: 'Put him to shame by thy good conduct.' Be thou well behaved that a maligner May not find occasion to speak of thy faults. When the harp is in

Story 16-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Unless an orator's defects are mentioned by someone, his good points will not be praised. Be not proud of the beauty of thy speech, Of the approbation of an ignoramus and of thy own opinion.

Story 20 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

I heard that an oppressor ruined the habitations of the subjects to fill the treasury of the sultan, unmindful of the maxim of philosophers, who have said: 'Who offends God the most high to gain the heart of a created being, God will use that very being

Story 11 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

A dervish, whose prayers met with answers, made his appearance, and Hejaj Yusuf, calling him, said: 'Utter a good prayer for me', whereon the dervish exclaimed: 'O God, take his life.' He replied: 'For God's sake, what prayer is this?' The dervish rejoined:

Story 17-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

Everyone thinks himself perfect in intellect and his child in beauty. A Jew was debating with a Musalman Till I shook with laughter at their dispute. The Moslem said in anger: 'If this deed of mine Is not correct, may God cause me to die a Jew.' The

Story 16 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii

One of my friends complained of the unpropitious times, telling me that he had a slender income, a large family, without strength to bear the load of poverty and had often entertained the idea to emigrate to another country so that no matter how he made

Story 13-the Effects of Education- gulistaan-e-sa.adii

An Indian who was learning how to throw naphtha was thus reproved by a sage: 'This is not a play for thee whose house is made of reeds.' Speak not unless thou knowest it is perfectly proper And ask not what thou knowest will not elicit a good reply.

Saadi Shirazi