Striving for integrity, grace and excellence: Sa‘di Shirazi in Iran and India

Raziuddin Aquil 

 

Historically admired as the most elegant or eloquent among orators (afsah-ul-mutakallemin), Shaikh Sa‘di Shirazi (Musharraf-ud-Din ibn Muslih-ud-Din, circa 1210 - 1292) wrote a number of works in Persian and Arabic in both prose and poetry. The worldly-wise Sa‘di’s widely read and cited works Bostan (1257) and Gulistan (1258) especially made him one of the greatest figures in the history of classical Persian literature. A contemporary of the more saintly Jalal-ud-Din Rumi, Sa‘di’s life coincided with the emergence of Mongols who ransacked large parts of the world, sacking cities, burning houses and enslaving large numbers of people. Baghdad was sacked by Halaku Khan in 1258, the year Sa‘di composed his Gulistan. The text contains autobiographical anecdotes, humour, advice, moral and ethical precepts as well as value of expediency when situation demanded. As Sa‘di put it: a well-intentioned lie was preferable to a seditious truth (durogh maslehat amez beh az raast fitna angez)!

Within a couple of decades after his death, Sa‘di’s excellent poetry was being quoted by Chishti Sufi Hazrat Khwaja Nizam-ud-Din Auliya, while speaking to his disciples in his hospice (jama‘atkhana) in Delhi. This is recorded by Amir Hasan Sijzi, himself a celebrated poet and known as the Sa‘di of Hindustan, in his compilation of Hazrat Nizam-ud-Din’s spiritual conversations, malfuzat, titled famously as Fawa’id-ul-Fu’ad (Benefiting the Heart). Stressing on the impact of fine conversations on matters of spiritual love and devotion, the shaikh explained through an anecdote that a sinner or even a person with lesser credentials as a man devoted to piety does not sound credible. Imbued with the light of spiritual knowledge (be-nur-e ma‘refat), the conversations of a man accomplished in pietistic achievements (buzurgi o sahib-e ne‘mati) create considerable zauq, or spiritual pleasure, for listeners. By contrast, a less accomplished person, who is not known for proper and noble conduct, does not sound convincing (sukhan-e kasi keh ma‘mla-e nek na-darad zauq na-dehad). Hazrat Nizam-ud-Din embellished his observation with this couplet by Shaikh Sa‘di:

بزبان هر که جز من برود حدیث عشقت 

چو معامله ندارد سخن آشنا نباشد 

 

Be-zuban har keh juz man be-rawad hadis-e ishqat 

Chu ma‘mle na-darad sukhan aashna na-bashad 

On another occasion, during the conversation at Hazrat Nizam-ud-Din’s hospice, Amir Hasan Sijzi quoted Shaikh Sa‘di to the appreciation of the former. The conversation was on the blessed vision of God (ne‘mat-e ruyat) on the Day of Judgement. Hazrat Nizam-ud-Din had quoted a tradition to the effect that the experience of the vision of God will create an ecstasy lasting several thousand years, adding that it will be an utter lack of vision, or short-sightedness that after having seen the beloved God, someone should be interested to see anything else. Amir Hasan has reported that he submitted to the shaikh that there was a couplet by Sa‘di, which was  relevant to the discussion and recited that:

افسوس بران دیده که روی تو ندیده است 

یا دیده و بعد از تو روئی نگریده است 

Afsos bar aan dideh keh ruyi tu nadideh ast

Ya dideh o ba‘d az tu be-ruyi-e negarideh ast

Full of such words of wisdom, Sa‘di’s Gulistan and Bostan straightaway became popular textbooks, inducing many imitations by lesser mortals, who composed phonetically sounding brotherly publications, titled: Baharistan, Kharistan, Multan, and even a desperate Pareshan! Understandably, these were not expected to create impact of the kind Sa‘di’s classic work did, historically and across the Persianate world and beyond.