Chapter I: Story of Hajaj and the Righteous Man
Of one of the God-fearing people, they sayThat he did not respect to Hajaj-Yusuf pay.He gave the court headsman a look of command,Saying, "Spread out his leather and sprinkle his sand !"When argument fails the tyrannical wight,He draws up his face into wrinkles, for fight.The godly man smiled, and then wept bitter tears;The hard-hearted dullard astonished appears.When Hajaj saw him smile and again saw him cry,He asked, "Why these smiles and these tears in your eye?"He replied, "I am weeping, for Fate's at my door,And of helpless young children, I'm bringing up four.I smile, that by favour of God, the most pure,I die the oppressed, not the heartless pursuer."Some one said, " Oh illustrious king of the land,Beware ! and withdraw from this peasant your hand!For a fam'ly in him have their succour and stay;It is wrong that a tribe, all at once, you should slay.Magnanimity, pardon, and kindness pursue !Keep the innocent age of his children in view !Perhaps you've become your own family's foe,Since, when harm comes to families, pleasure you show !Do not think that with hearts sorely scorched by your brand,When the 'last day' arrives you will justified stand!The oppressed has not slept ; of his sobs have a care !Of the sighs of his heart in the morning, beware!You fear not lest one of the holy, one night,From his hot, burning liver should cry, 'Lord, requite !'"In passion he flourished his hands on him, so,That the arguing hand of Hajaj was bound low.Did not Satan do ill and no good on him smiled ?Pure fruit will not spring from a seed that's defiled.In the season of war, tear not any one's screen!For to you may belong some dishonour, unseen.Against tiger-like men do not enter the lists,When you cannot prevail over boys with your fists!I have heard that he list not and caused him to die;From the orders of God, who can know how to fly?At night, a wise man in that thought went to bed,And saw in a dream the poor martyr, who said :—"His torture of me, in a moment was passed ;But torture on him, till the 'Judgment' will last."
Words in this poem
- headsman
- An executioner who cuts off heads.
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- heartless a.
- Without a heart.
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
- sorely adv.
- In a sore manner; grievously; painfully; as, to be sorely afflicted.
- dishonour n.
- Lack of honor; disgrace; ignominy; shame; reproach. [OE. deshonour, dishonour, OF. deshonor, deshonur, F. déshonneur; pref. des- (L. dis-) + honor, honur, F. honneur, fr. L. honor. See Honor.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: Story of Hajaj and the Righteous Man 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: Story of Hajaj and the Righteous Man, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-30.html, id L29535.
Form and metre
Chapter I: Story of Hajaj and the Righteous Man is 42 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABBCC--DDEE--FFGGHHIIJJKK--LLMMNNOOPPQQRR sayA · payA · commandB · sandB · wightC · fightC · tears · appears · cryD · eyeD · doorE · fourE · pure · pursuer · landF · handF · stayG · slayG · pursueH · viewH · foeI · showI · brandJ · standJ · careK · bewareK · night · requite · soL · lowL · smiledM · defiledM · screenN · unseenN · listsO · fistsO · dieP · flyP · bedQ · saidQ · passedR · lastR
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Of one of the God-fearing people, they say | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| That he did not respect to Hajaj-Yusuf pay. | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| He gave the court headsman a look of command, | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Saying, "Spread out his leather and sprinkle his sand !" | 12 | /˘···/˘·/˘·· |
| When argument fails the tyrannical wight, | 11 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘˘· |
| He draws up his face into wrinkles, for fight. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| The godly man smiled, and then wept bitter tears; | 12 | ·/˘··˘···/˘· |
| The hard-hearted dullard astonished appears. | 12 | ··/˘/˘˘/˘˘˘/ |
| When Hajaj saw him smile and again saw him cry, | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| He asked, "Why these smiles and these tears in your eye?" | 12 | ··˘········· |
| He replied, "I am weeping, for Fate's at my door, | 12 | ·˘/··/˘····· |
| And of helpless young children, I'm bringing up four. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| I smile, that by favour of God, the most pure, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| I die the oppressed, not the heartless pursuer." | 12 | ···˘/··/˘˘/˘ |
| Some one said, " Oh illustrious king of the land, | 12 | ····˘/˘˘···· |
| Beware ! and withdraw from this peasant your hand! | 11 | ˘/·˘/··/˘·· |
| For a fam'ly in him have their succour and stay; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| It is wrong that a tribe, all at once, you should slay. | 12 | ············ |
| Magnanimity, pardon, and kindness pursue ! | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Keep the innocent age of his children in view ! | 12 | ··/˘˘···/˘·· |
| Perhaps you've become your own family's foe, | 11 | ˘/·˘/··/˘˘· |
| Since, when harm comes to families, pleasure you show ! | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘·· |
| Do not think that with hearts sorely scorched by your brand, | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| When the 'last day' arrives you will justified stand! | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
| The oppressed has not slept ; of his sobs have a care ! | 12 | ·˘/········· |
| Of the sighs of his heart in the morning, beware! | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| You fear not lest one of the holy, one night, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| From his hot, burning liver should cry, 'Lord, requite !'" | 12 | ···/˘/˘···/˘ |
| In passion he flourished his hands on him, so, | 12 | ·/˘·/˘˘····· |
| That the arguing hand of Hajaj was bound low. | 12 | ··/˘˘······· |
| Did not Satan do ill and no good on him smiled ? | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Pure fruit will not spring from a seed that's defiled. | 12 | ···········˘ |
| In the season of war, tear not any one's screen! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| For to you may belong some dishonour, unseen. | 12 | ····˘/·˘/˘˘/ |
| Against tiger-like men do not enter the lists, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| When you cannot prevail over boys with your fists! | 12 | ··˘/˘/······ |
| I have heard that he list not and caused him to die; | 12 | ············ |
| From the orders of God, who can know how to fly? | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| At night, a wise man in that thought went to bed, | 11 | ··········· |
| And saw in a dream the poor martyr, who said :— | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| "His torture of me, in a moment was passed ; | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··˘ |
| But torture on him, till the 'Judgment' will last." | 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.