Sentenced to death, the desperate captive cursed and abused the king. Not understanding his language, the king wondered what he had said. A senior official, who was a kind man, explained that the prisoner had said that God loves those who restrain their anger and show mercy to others. The king forgave the slave. Insisting that only the truth should be told before those in power, another official, of a different nature, told the king that the captive had abused him. But the king stood by his former determination. A well-intentioned lie, he noted, was better than a truth intended to cause strife.
Found in the first chapter entitled The Conduct of Kings, this is the remarkable opening story of Gulistan (The Garden of Roses), a book of moral tales written by Saadi Shirazi, the great Sufi and Persian poet, in 1258. Story after story, this chapter exhorts rulers to be kind to their subjects. My favorite of these is when a cruel king asks a hermit what act of piety would be most meritorious for him to perform, the hermit advises him to sleep at noon, as his subjects would then receive a reprieve from tyranny during that time. Other concerns also appear in these stories. One story asks rulers not to rejoice in the death of the enemy, because no life is eternal. Another teaches that greater dignity lies in earning one’s bread by one’s labor than in serving the king for a living.
Late one night, Saadi was devastated thinking that he had lost most of his life. Fifty years had passed and he had done so little: should he not do something with the few days that remained of his life? Every person who comes into this world builds a house that after his departure passes into other hands and is changed according to the wishes of the other. The house always remains unfinished. Another thought crossed his mind: since the good and the bad go to the grave in the end, happy is he who departs with the prize of virtue. Overwhelmed by such thoughts, Saadi cleared his mind of idle talk, gave up idle talk, and withdrew into silence. A friend of his discouraged him: If the tongue is tied, how can one know if its owner has sold jewels or small items. He continued: to be silent when you should speak and to speak when you should be silent both show a lack of judgment. Saadi surrendered.
After a long walk, Saadi and his friend spent the night in a beautiful orchard. In the morning, Saadi saw that his friend had gathered roses, basil, herbs and hyacinths in his arms to carry them back. “The flowers won’t last,” he told her. “The wise have advised us not to attach ourselves to anything temporary.” When the friend asked what should be done now, Saadi offered to write a book called The Rose Garden, the freshness of which would never fade. Throwing the roses, the friend asked him to keep his promise. Thus, Saadi’s Preface explains, thus came Gulistan.
In addition to advice for rulers, Gulistan offers moral reflections on the character of dervishes, the importance of silence, contentment, love and youth, old age, education and the art of conversation. All of these focus on shaping people’s behavior towards each other.
As Prashant Keshavmurthy, a scholar of Persian literature and dear friend, pointed out to me, God appears in the Preface to Gulistan as a generous provider, only to disappear as an actor from the text. “This,” he noted, “fundamentally distinguishes Gulistan from premodern Islamic understandings of history as the site of a moral drama overseen by God. Saadi’s world in the main text is an exclusively human universe abandoned by God and His prophets.”
Gulistan’s composition in the form of disjointed anecdotes is consistent with Saadi’s lack of any ultimate vision of human life: “Neither the Muslim paradise of theologians awaits Saadi’s people, nor the happiness that preoccupied the Islamic (Aristotelian) philosophers.”
Gulistan has been read in the Middle East, East Africa, Central Asia and South Asia for centuries. It was used in madrassas and schools to teach Persian and to teach moral lessons. Becoming available in European languages in the early 17th century and in several Indian languages in later times, Gulistan has delighted millions of people. It’s indisputable, as they say.
Chandan Gowda Professor Vidyashilp seeks new ways to look  @Chandan_Gowda73
The writer is a Vidyashilp Professor seeking new ways of seeing.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
