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 .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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 24 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
King Zuzan had a khajah of noble sentiments and of good aspect who served his companions when they were present and spoke well of them when they were absent. He happened to do something whereby he incurred the displeasure of the king who inflicted a
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 23-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
Nothing is better for an ignorant man than silence, and if he were to consider it to be suitable, he would not be ignorant. If thou possessest not the perfection of excellence It is best to keep thy tongue within thy mouth. Disgrace is brought on
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 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 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 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 11 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
I spoke in the cathedral mosque of Damascus a few words by way of a sermon but to a congregation whose hearts were withered and dead, not having travelled from the road of the world of form, the physical, to the world of meaning, the moral world. I perceived
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 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 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 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 17-the Excellence of Contentment- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
I noticed an Arab of the desert sitting in a company jewellers at Bosrah and narrating stories to them. He said: 'I had once lost my road in the desert and consumed all my provisions. I considered that I must perish when I suddenly caught sight of a
Story 20-the Effects of Education- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
Contention of Sa'di with a Disputant concerning Wealth and Poverty I saw a man in the form but not with the character of a dervish, sitting in an assembly, who had begun a quarrel; and, having opened the record of complaints, reviled wealthy men, alleging
Story 51-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
A man without virility is a woman and an avaricious devote is a highway robber. O thou, who hast put on a white robe for a show, To be approved of men, whilst the book of thy acts is black. The hand is to be restrained from the world, No matter
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 8-The Weakness and Old Age- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
An old man, having been asked why he did not marry, replied that he could not be happy with an aged woman, and on being told that as he was a man of property, he might take a young one, he said: 'I being an old man and unwilling to associate with an
Story 15-the Excellence of Contentment- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
Hatim Tai, having been asked whether he had seen in the world anyone of more exalted sentiments than himself, replied: 'Yes, one day I slaughtered forty camels to entertain Arab amirs. I had occasion to go out on some business into a corner of the desert,
Story 30 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
Abu Harirah, may the approbation of Allah be upon him, was in the habit of daily waiting upon the Mustafa, peace on him, who said: 'Abu Harira, visit me on alternate days that our love may increase.' A man said to a devotee: 'Beautiful as the sun is,
Story 30 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
A padshah having issued orders to kill an innocent man, the latter said: 'O king, seek not thine own injury on account of the anger thou bearest towards me.' He asked: 'How?' The man replied: 'This punishment will abide with me one moment but the sin
Story 29-the Excellence of Contentment- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
I heard that a dervish, sitting in a cave, had closed the doors upon the face of the world, so that no regard for kings and rich persons remained in the eyes of his desire. Who opens to himself a door for begging Will till he dies remain a needy
Story 31-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
If there were no craving of the stomach, no bird would enter the snare of the fowler; nay, he would not even set the snare.
Story 27-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
If every night were to be the night of Qadr, the night of Qadr would be without Qadr. If all stones were rubies of Badakhshan, The price of rubies and of stones would be the same.
Story 25 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
One of the Arab kings ordered his officials to double the allowance of a certain attendant because he was always at the palace expecting orders while the other servants were engaged in amusements and sports, neglecting their duties. A pious man who heard
Story 75-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
The gambler requires three sixes and only three aces turn up. The pasture is a thousand times more pleasant than the racecourse But the steed has not the bridle at its option. Story 1 A dervish prayed thus: 'O Lord, have mercy upon the wicked,
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 16-the Excellence of Contentment- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
Moses, to whom be salutation, beheld a dervish who had on account of his nudity concealed himself in the sand exclaiming: 'O Moses, utter a supplication to God the most high to give me an allowance because I am, on account of my distress, on the point
Story 14 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
One of the ancient kings neglected the government of his realm and kept the army in distress. Accordingly the whole of it ran away when a powerful enemy appeared. If he refrains from giving treasure to the troops They refrain from putting their
Story 4-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
A learned man who is not abstinent resembles a torchbearer who guides others but does not guide himself. Who has spent a profitless life Bought nothing and threw away his gold.
Story 2-the Advantages of Silence- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
A merchant, having suffered loss of a thousand dinars, enjoined his son not to reveal it to anyone. The boy said: 'It is thy order and I shall not tell it but thou must inform me of the utility of this proceeding and of the propriety of concealment.'
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 44 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
I asked a good man concerning the qualities of the brethren of purity. He replied: 'The least of them is that they prefer to please their friends rather than themselves; and philosophers have said that a brother who is fettered by affairs relating to
Story 49 - The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
A sage having been asked whether liberality or bravery is better replied: 'He who possesses liberality needs no bravery.' It is written on the tomb of Behram Gur: 'A liberal hand is better than a strong arm.' Hatim Tai has passed away but for ever His
Story 61-the Rules for Conduct in Life- gulistaan-e-sa.adii
The noblest of beings is evidently man, and the meanest a dog, but intelligent persons agree that a grateful dog is better than an ungrateful man. A dog never forgets a morsel received Though thou throwest a stone at him a hundred times. But if
Story 37 - The Manners of Kings - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
Someone had brought information to Nushirvan the just that an enemy of his had been removed from this world by God the most high. He asked: 'Hast thou heard anything about his intending to spare me?' There is no occasion for our rejoicing at a foe's
Story 15- The Morals of Dervishes - gulistaan-e-sa.adii
A padshah, meeting a holy man, asked him whether he did not sometimes remember him for the purpose of getting presents. He replied: 'Yes, I do, whenever I forget God.' Whom He drives from his door, runs everywhere. Whom He calls, runs to no one's
