Chapter I: On Justice, Wisdom, and Government
THE extent of God's mercies no mortal can guess ;The meed of His praises what tongue can express?Oh God! cause this king who befriends the distressed,And under whose shadow the people have rest,On the heads of the subjects for long to survive !By the grace of devotion his soul keep alive !Keep the tree of his hope bearing fruit choice to sight !Keep his head fresh ! his face, in compassion, keep bright!In the path of pretence walk not, Sadi, like some;If you harbour sincerity, bring you, and come!You are pious, and walking the King's road appear ;You speak truth, and to truths of the King you give ear.What loss though the footstool of Heav'n you don't putAs a rest under K'izil Arslan's royal foot !Do not say, "Grandeur's foot on the highest Heav'n place!"But say, "On the dust put sincerity's face !"In obedience, your face on the threshold place low !For this is the highway all good people go.If you are a slave, place your head at this gate !And take from your temples the head-dress of state.When serving the Lord, royal robes do not wear!Like the Dervish sincere, let your cries fill the air!You are patron of those who in riches excel ;And the pow'rful protector of paupers, as well.I am lord of no country, no mandates are mine ;I am one of the seekers at God's holy shrine.From my hand and my labour, what good can ascend,Should the hand of Thy favour refuse to befriend?Arise! oh Thou Helper! and make good my heart!Else how can I good unto others impart?Like beggars, with zeal in the night-watches pray ;If you exercise royal pursuits all the day!The arrogant stand at your door with loins braced,Your head on the threshold of worship is placed.How well that the slaves have a lord of this kind!And the Lord has a slave who is upright in mind.
Words in this poem
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
- pretence n.
- The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- footstool n.
- A low stool to support the feet of one when sitting.
- dervish n.
- A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life. [Per. derw, fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: On Justice, Wisdom, and Government 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, Chapter I: On Justice, Wisdom, and Government, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-1.html, id L29506.
Form and metre
Chapter I: On Justice, Wisdom, and Government is 36 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRR guessA · expressA · distressedB · restB · surviveC · aliveC · sightD · brightD · someE · comeE · appearF · earF · putG · footG · placeH · faceH · lowI · goI · gateJ · stateJ · wearK · airK · excelL · wellL · mineM · shrineM · ascendN · befriendN · heartO · impartO · prayP · dayP · bracedQ · placedQ · kindR · mindR
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THE extent of God's mercies no mortal can guess ; | 12 | ·˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| The meed of His praises what tongue can express? | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Oh God! cause this king who befriends the distressed, | 12 | ······˘/·˘/˘ |
| And under whose shadow the people have rest, | 11 | ····/··/˘·· |
| On the heads of the subjects for long to survive ! | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| By the grace of devotion his soul keep alive ! | 12 | ····˘/˘···˘/ |
| Keep the tree of his hope bearing fruit choice to sight ! | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| Keep his head fresh ! his face, in compassion, keep bright! | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| In the path of pretence walk not, Sadi, like some; | 12 | ············ |
| If you harbour sincerity, bring you, and come! | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘˘···· |
| You are pious, and walking the King's road appear ; | 12 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| You speak truth, and to truths of the King you give ear. | 12 | ············ |
| What loss though the footstool of Heav'n you don't put | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| As a rest under K'izil Arslan's royal foot ! | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Do not say, "Grandeur's foot on the highest Heav'n place!" | 12 | ···˘/···/˘·· |
| But say, "On the dust put sincerity's face !" | 11 | ······˘/˘˘· |
| In obedience, your face on the threshold place low ! | 12 | ·˘/˘····/··· |
| For this is the highway all good people go. | 11 | ····/···/˘· |
| If you are a slave, place your head at this gate ! | 11 | ··········· |
| And take from your temples the head-dress of state. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| When serving the Lord, royal robes do not wear! | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| Like the Dervish sincere, let your cries fill the air! | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| You are patron of those who in riches excel ; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| And the pow'rful protector of paupers, as well. | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| I am lord of no country, no mandates are mine ; | 12 | ·····/˘·/··· |
| I am one of the seekers at God's holy shrine. | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| From my hand and my labour, what good can ascend, | 12 | ·····/····˘/ |
| Should the hand of Thy favour refuse to befriend? | 12 | ·····/˘/··˘/ |
| Arise! oh Thou Helper! and make good my heart! | 11 | ˘/··/˘····· |
| Else how can I good unto others impart? | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| Like beggars, with zeal in the night-watches pray ; | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| If you exercise royal pursuits all the day! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/··· |
| The arrogant stand at your door with loins braced, | 12 | ·/˘˘·······˘ |
| Your head on the threshold of worship is placed. | 12 | ····/··/˘··˘ |
| How well that the slaves have a lord of this kind! | 11 | ··········· |
| And the Lord has a slave who is upright in mind. | 12 | ········˘/·· |
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.