Introduction: In Praise of Sad-Bin-Abu-Bakar
Oh promising youth with a luminous heart !Young in fortune, but old when you counsels impart.In knowledge profound ; spirit reaching the skies ;Intrepid in arm, and in intellect wise.Well done! the good luck of the mother of Time,Since she nursed in her bosom a son so sublime.With his generous hand the sea's sheen he effaced,And, in highness, the Pleiades mansion displaced.How well for the monarchs, exalted in place,That the eye of their fortune is fixed on your face!You see that the shell which with pearls is replete,With one Royal pearl can't in value compete.You are that priceless pearl in its hidden retreat,And an ornament bright to the Empire's fair seat.Take care of him, Lord, with Thine own guarding eye !And permit not the Evil Eye's stroke to come nigh !Oh God! through the world make him famous appear!By the grace of devotion, oh render him dear !In justice and grace keep him strong by Thy will !In this world and the next all his wishes fulfil !May he never be vexed by a rancorous foe,And harm from the changes of Earth never know!Fruit like you the rich Paradise tree has sustained ;The son seeks a name that the father has gained.Consider them strange to that household, so fair,Who to say a bad word of this household should dare !Well done! faith and knowledge, and justice and right ;Well done ! realm and fortune, ne'er pass from our sight!]
Words in this poem
- promising a.
- Making a promise or promises; affording hope or assurance; as, promising person; a promising day.
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- highness n.
- The state of being high; elevation; loftiness. [AS. heáhnes.]
- pleiades n.
- The seven daughters of Atlas and the nymph Pleione, fabled to have been made by Jupiter a constellation in the sky.
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- replete a.
- Filled again; completely filled; full; charged; abounding. [L. repletus, p. p. of replere to fill again, fill up; pref. re- re- + plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. replet corpulent. See Plenty, Replenish.]
- priceless a.
- Too valuable to admit of being appraised; of inestimable worth; invaluable.
- rancorous a.
- Full of rancor; evincing, or caused by, rancor; deeply malignant; implacably spiteful or malicious; intensely virulent. [OF. rancuros.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Introduction: In Praise of Sad-Bin-Abu-Bakar is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Garden of Fragrance: being a complete translation of the Bostan of Sadi from the original Persian into English verse, by G. S. Davie (London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Co., 1882), Internet Archive, the G. S. Davie translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Saadi, Introduction: In Praise of Sad-Bin-Abu-Bakar, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/0-5.html, id L29505.
Form and metre
Introduction: In Praise of Sad-Bin-Abu-Bakar is 28 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNN heartA · impartA · skiesB · wiseB · timeC · sublimeC · effacedD · displacedD · placeE · faceE · repleteF · competeF · retreatG · seatG · eyeH · nighH · appearI · dearI · willJ · fulfilJ · foeK · knowK · sustainedL · gainedL · fairM · dareM · rightN · sightN
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh promising youth with a luminous heart ! | 11 | ·/˘˘···/˘˘· |
| Young in fortune, but old when you counsels impart. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| In knowledge profound ; spirit reaching the skies ; | 11 | ·/˘˘//˘/˘·· |
| Intrepid in arm, and in intellect wise. | 11 | ˘/˘····/˘·· |
| Well done! the good luck of the mother of Time, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Since she nursed in her bosom a son so sublime. | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| With his generous hand the sea's sheen he effaced, | 11 | ··/˘·····˘/ |
| And, in highness, the Pleiades mansion displaced. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| How well for the monarchs, exalted in place, | 11 | ····/·˘/˘·· |
| That the eye of their fortune is fixed on your face! | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| You see that the shell which with pearls is replete, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| With one Royal pearl can't in value compete. | 11 | ··/˘···/˘˘/ |
| You are that priceless pearl in its hidden retreat, | 12 | ···/˘···/˘˘/ |
| And an ornament bright to the Empire's fair seat. | 11 | ··/˘···/˘·· |
| Take care of him, Lord, with Thine own guarding eye ! | 11 | ········/˘· |
| And permit not the Evil Eye's stroke to come nigh ! | 11 | ·/···/····· |
| Oh God! through the world make him famous appear! | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| By the grace of devotion, oh render him dear ! | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| In justice and grace keep him strong by Thy will ! | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| In this world and the next all his wishes fulfil ! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| May he never be vexed by a rancorous foe, | 11 | ··/····/˘˘· |
| And harm from the changes of Earth never know! | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| Fruit like you the rich Paradise tree has sustained ; | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| The son seeks a name that the father has gained. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Consider them strange to that household, so fair, | 11 | ˘/˘····/··· |
| Who to say a bad word of this household should dare ! | 12 | ········/··· |
| Well done! faith and knowledge, and justice and right ; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Well done ! realm and fortune, ne'er pass from our sight!] | 11 | ····/˘···/· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.