Chapter IV: Story of Omar, Commander of the Faithful
Saint Omar, I've heard, in a rough, narrow road,On a poor beggar's instep by accident trode.Who he was, the poor beggar distressed did not know,For a sufferer knows not a friend from a foe."You surely are blind !" in a passion, he cried.Saint Omar, the chief of the just, thus replied:"I'm not blind; yet a fault I've committed to-day,Without my intending ; forgive me ! I pray."What judges the chiefs of religion were then,Since they acted like this towards poor, subject men.In the man choosing wisdom, humility's found;The branch bearing fruit bends its head to the ground.Those who practise abasement are happy at last;The heads of the haughty from shame are downcast.If concerning the day of account you have fear,Overlook the defects of those dreading you here !By oppression, oh Brave ! make not subjects repine !For a hand, too, exists that is higher than thine.
Words in this poem
- instep n.
- The arched middle portion of the human foot next in front of the ankle joint.
- trode n.
- Tread; footing. [AS. trod, fr. tredan to tread. See Tread.]
- sufferer n.
- One who suffers; one who endures or undergoes suffering; one who sustains inconvenience or loss; as, sufferers by poverty or sickness; men are sufferers by fire or by losses at sea.
- abasement n.
- The act of abasing, humbling, or bringing low; the state of being abased or humbled; humiliation. [Cf. F. abaissement.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- repine v. i.
- To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IV: Story of Omar, Commander of the Faithful 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 IV: Story of Omar, Commander of the Faithful, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/4-28.html, id L29649.
Form and metre
Chapter IV: Story of Omar, Commander of the Faithful is 18 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII roadA · trodeA · knowB · foeB · criedC · repliedC · dayD · prayD · thenE · menE · foundF · groundF · lastG · downcastG · fearH · hereH · repineI · thineI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Omar, I've heard, in a rough, narrow road, | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| On a poor beggar's instep by accident trode. | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| Who he was, the poor beggar distressed did not know, | 12 | ·····/˘˘/··· |
| For a sufferer knows not a friend from a foe. | 12 | ··/˘˘······· |
| "You surely are blind !" in a passion, he cried. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Saint Omar, the chief of the just, thus replied: | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| "I'm not blind; yet a fault I've committed to-day, | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| Without my intending ; forgive me ! I pray." | 11 | ···˘/˘˘/··· |
| What judges the chiefs of religion were then, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘·· |
| Since they acted like this towards poor, subject men. | 12 | ··/˘·····˘/· |
| In the man choosing wisdom, humility's found; | 12 | ···/˘/˘˘/˘˘· |
| The branch bearing fruit bends its head to the ground. | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Those who practise abasement are happy at last; | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| The heads of the haughty from shame are downcast. | 11 | ····/˘···/· |
| If concerning the day of account you have fear, | 12 | ·˘/˘···˘/··· |
| Overlook the defects of those dreading you here ! | 12 | /˘··/˘··/˘·· |
| By oppression, oh Brave ! make not subjects repine ! | 12 | ·˘/˘····/˘˘/ |
| For a hand, too, exists that is higher than thine. | 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.