Praise of the Chief of Created Beings (Mohamed).
(ON HIM BE EXCELLENCE AND PEACE.)
Of kind disposition and nature refined!
The Prophet and Pleader of all human-kind !
The Chief of the Prophets! the Guide of the road!
Place of Gabriel's1 alighting! the Trusted of God!
Mediator of men! Lord of raising the dead!
The Chief of the Guides and the Judgment Court's Head!
A communer with God, circling Heav'n in his flight;
All lights that have shown are but rays from his light.
The orphan who showed in his reading defect,
Abolished the churches of many a sect.
When the sabre of dread he resolved to draw out;
With ease, he bisected the scabbard of doubt!
When the mouth of the world was replete with his fame,
To the palace of Cyrus a shivering came.
With "la-illa" he Lats into particles crushed,
And before the grand faith Uza's lustre forth gushed.
Not alone Lat and Uza3 beneath his feet fell,
He the "Gospel" and "Pentateuch" wiped out as well!
One night riding forth, he passed Heav'n's lofty sphere,
And in glory and pomp left the angels in rear.
In the desert so warmly to God he inclined,
That Gabriel was left in his mansion behind.
To him spoke the chief of the Kāba1 divine :—
"Oh Gabriel! may higher enjoyment be thine !
When you found honest friendship in me to exist,
Why did you the reins from my fellowship twist ?"
1 Gabriel always descended to Mohamed when he came to Earth with the commandments of God.
2 Cyrus, King of Persia, and name of a dynasty.
3 Lat and Uza, pagan idols in Arabia before the time of Mohamed. The Kaba is the sanctum sanctorum of the temple of Mecca, the chief of which was Mohamed.
He answered, “To me no more power pertained;
I stopped, for no strength in my pinions remained.
If but one hair's-breadth higher to fly I presumed,
By the blaze of your light had my wings been consumed."
From sin unredeemed not a soul can abide,
Who has such a leader before him as guide.
What suitable praises to you can I pen
?
Upon you be safety, oh, Prophet of men!
May the blessing of God on your spirit remain !
On your comrades and all who belong to your train !
First, the aged disciple, Abu-Băkăr, stands;
Second, Omar, who twisted a proud Devil's hands;
Third, Osman, the wise, who made vigils his rule;
And fourth, Ali-Shah who rode Duldul1 the mule.
Oh God! by the sons who from Fatima rose !
On the word of the Faith! I now draw to a close.
If my pray'r Thou accept or my prayer Thou shun,
My hand and the "prophet's "2 son's skirt shall be one.
Oh leader of fortunate step! what decline
To the height of your glory at God's holy shrine,
If a few who belong to the mendicant race,
Should be guests and not pests at the kingdom of grace?
The Lord has commended and raised you up so,
That in front of your pow'r, Gabriel bows his head low.
Confronting your power the heav'ns shame display ;
You had being when Adam was water and clay.
At first, as the root of existence you came,
And all who have lived, you as branches can claim.
I am doubtful what words unto you to address,
For you're higher than I can find words to express.
1 Duldul, name of a mule famous for its fleetness on which Ali was accustomed to ride.
2 He would always cling to the skirt of the Prophet's son.
In your honour the glory of Laulak1 will do ;
And Tah and Yasin 2 will be suitable too.
What praises can Sádi, the faulty, give thee?
Oh, Prophet! ma mercy and peace on you be !
The Reason for Composing the Book.
Very much I have travelled in many a clime;
And with many a person have utilized time.
From many a corner I pleasure have gained;
And from many a harvest have corn-ears obtained.
Like the pure of Shiraz, with humility crowned,
I have never seen one, mercy be on that ground!
My love for the men of this sanctified part,
From Syria and Rum1 made me sever my heart.
I regretted, from all of those gardens so fair,
To my friends empty-handed again to repair.
I said to myself that from Egypt they bear
Sugar-candy to friends, as an offering rare.
If none of that candy I brought in my hand,
Words sweeter than candy are mine to command.
Not like candy in form, that for eating may serve,
But such as the thoughtful on paper preserve.
When this palace of wealth I designed and arrayed,
Ten doors for the sake of instruction I made.
First, a chapter with justice and counsels is stored;
Taking care of the people and serving the Lord.
In the Second, I've laid generosity's base;
For he who is good for God's favours gives praise.
1 Laulaka: "but for thee (the world would not have been created)."
2 Tah and Yasin, certain chapters of the Kurān.
3 Shiraz, a city of Persia, the birthplace of Sádi.
4 Rum, the south-eastern corner of Europe.
The Third is on love and on rapture of mind ;
Not the love to which profligate men are inclined.
Humility, Fourth. Resignation, the Fifth.
On those choosing contentment is chapter the Sixth.
The Sev'nth is a chapter on discipline's sphere;
And the Eighth will to thanking for welfare adhere.
Repentance and probity's path, the Ninth shows;
And the Tenth brings to pray'rs, and the book to a close.
In a prosperous year, on a fortunate day,
And felicitous date that between two 'Eeds1 lay;
When Six Hundred and Fifty and Five years had flown,2
Replete with rare pearls was this treasure, well known.
Oh, wise One of affable nature, beware!
I've not heard that the cultured for fault-finding care.
Is a cloak Părniän, or plain silk? you will find
That, of course, with a padding of cotton 'tis lined.
Are
you Părnian? then, to harm show not zeal !
Be gracious, and all my coarse padding conceal!
I do not presume on my own virtue's store;
As a beggar, I come with my hands stretched before.
I have heard :-"On the day full of hope and of fear,
To the bad and the good God in mercy is near."
In my writings should you see depravity, too;
By the people God made! then, expose it to view !
If in one thousand couplets, of one you approve,
By manhood! in taunting, a hand do not move!
In Persia, my writings are, doubtless, thought nice;
As musk is in Cathay esteemed beyond price.
Like the noise of a drum, from afar was my fright;
In my heart, all my errors lay hidden from sight.
To the garden brought Sádi, with boldness, a rose,
As they do spice to India, where spice freely grows.
1 'Eed, a Mohamedan festival.
2 A.D. 1257.
3 Părnian, rich painted silk made in China.
They resemble1 the date with a sweet crusted skin,
Which when opened to view, has a hard stone within.
In praise of Atabik-Abu-Băkăr-Bin-Sád-Zangi.
(MAY THE EARTH LIE LIGHT UPON HIM!)
To desire such a nature I was not inclined;
To eulogize kings did not enter my mind;
Yet some verses I wrote, in a certain one's name,
And perhaps pious men will repeat oft the same :
That Sádi, who Rhetoric's ball bore away,
Was alive in Abū-Băkăr-B'ini-Sád's day.
It is well I should honour his reign in my rhymes,
As did Sayed the poet-of Náushirwan's times-
A king Faith defending, to do justice sworn-
Since Umar, like Bū-Băkăr, none has been born.
He's the chief of the noble and crown of the great ;
In his ruling with justice, oh World, be elate!
When a person from trouble to safe shelter goes,
No country but this has a place for repose.
As unto the Kaba's delightful abode,
They travel by many a long valley road,
I've not seen such a Treasure, and Country, and Throne,
Which on child, poor, and agèd have equally shone.
No person approached him afflicted with grief,
That he placed not a salve on his heart for relief.
He's a searcher for good and is hopeful, likewise;
The hope he possesses, oh, God, realize !
1 The writings of Sádi resemble the date.
2 Abu-Bǎkår, king of Persia, Sádi's patron.
3 Sayed, a poet who wrote in praise of Náushirwān.
• Náushirwan, a king of Persia famed for justice.
5 Kaba, sacred mosque at Mecca.
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