Analysis of Introductory 05
Sa di 1210 (Shiraz) – 1291 (Shiraz)
My negligence and backwardness in diligent attendance at the royal court resemble the case of Barzachumihr, whose merits the sages of India were discussing but could at last not reproach him with anything except slowness of speech because he delayed long and his hearers were obliged to wait till he delivered himself of what he had to say. When Barzachumihr heard of this he said: ‘It is better for me to consider what to speak than to repent of what I have spoken.’
A trained orator, old, aged,
First meditates and then speaks.
Do not speak without consideration.
Speak well and if slow what matters it?
Deliberate and then begin to talk.
Say thyself enough before others say enough.
By speech a man is better than a brute
But a beast is better unless thou speakest properly.
How then could I venture to appear in the sight of the grandees of my lord, may his victory be glorious, who are an assembly of pious men and the centre of profound scholars? If I were to be led in the ardour of conversation to speak petulantly, I could produce only a trifling stock-in-trade in the noble presence but glass beads are not worth a barleycorn in the bazar of jewellers, a lamp does not shine in the presence of the sun, and a minaret looks low at the foot of Mount Alvend.
Who lifts up his neck with pretentions,
Foes hasten to him from every side.
Sa’di has fallen to be a hermit.
No one came to attack a fallen man.
First deliberation, then speech;
The foundation was laid first, then the wall.
I know bouquet-binding but not in the garden. I sell a sweetheart but not in Canaan. Loqman the philosopher, being asked from whom he had learnt wisdom, replied: ‘From the blind, who do not take a step before trying the place.’ First move about, then stir out.
Try thy virility first, then marry.
Though a cock may be brave in war
He strikes his claws in vain on a brazen falcon.
A cat is a lion in catching mice
But a mouse in combat with a tiger.
But, trusting in the liberal sentiments of the great, who shut their eyes to the faults of their inferiors and abstain from divulging the crimes of humble men, we have in this book recorded, by way of abridgment, some rare events, stories, poetry and accounts about ancient kings, spending a portion of our precious life in the task. This was the reason for composing the book Gulistan; and help is from Allah.
This well-arranged composition will remain for years,
When every atom of our dust is dispersed.
The intention of this design was that it should survive
Because I perceive no stability in my existence,
Unless one day a pious man compassionately
Utters a prayer for the works of dervishes.
The author, having deliberated upon the arrangement of the book, and the adornment of the chapters, deemed it suitable to curtail the diction of this beautiful garden and luxuriant grove and to make it resemble paradise, which also has eight entrances. The abridgment was made to avoid tediousness.
I The Manners of Kings
II On the Morals of Dervishes
III On the Excellence of Content
IV On the Advantages of Silence
V On Love and Youth
VI On Weakness and Old Age
VII On the Effects of Education
VIII On Rules for Conduct in Life
At a period when our time was pleasant
The Hejret was six hundred and fifty-six.
Our intention was advice and we gave it.
We recommended thee to God and departed.
Scheme | A BCADXXXE B CXXXXX X EXAXX X XXXFEC C XCXFXXAX XXDX |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11000100010001010101010011111001011000010111110111100110110110110110001111101001111111111111111101110101111101111110 0110011 11011 111010010 110111101 0100010111 11010110101 1101110101 1011100111100 111110101001101111111001100111010110100101011011011100110101111101100101010010101111110100011100011110010101000111101111 1111111 1101111001 111011010 1111010101 1001011 0010111101 1101101100101101110101001001011111110011011111010110011101111 1101001110 10111101 111101101010 0110100101 1010101010 11000100100101111110111100110100111011101101011111101101000010110110010110101001110101010011011110 110101010111 1100101101101 00101101111101 011011010001010 0111010101000 100110111 0101001000100101010001010101110010101011100100010010111010101101110001111011 101011 1101011 110100110 1100100110 11101 1110011 110011010 11110101 101001101110 0111100101 100101010111 10101110010 |
Characters | 3,498 |
Words | 608 |
Sentences | 31 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 8, 1, 6, 1, 5, 1, 6, 1, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 63 |
Words per line (avg) | 14 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 241 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 3:02 min read
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"Introductory 05" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34058/introductory-05>.
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