Chapter IV: On Men of God viewing Themselves with Contempt
A wise youth with a nature from wickedness free,Arrived at the harbour of Rum, from the sea.Devoutness, discernment and wisdom he showed ;They placed his effects in a holy abode.The chief-of-the-pious addressed him, one day:"From the mosque, brush the dust and the rubbish away!"The instant the wanderer heard this affair,He departed and no one again saw him there.From that the companions and elders opined,That the needy young man was to work disinclined.A servant next day met him walking along,And said, "Through your folly you did very wrong!You were not aware, oh self-satisfied swain !That people by service their wishes obtain."With sincereness and warmth he began tears to shed:"Oh heart-lighting, life-guarding comrade," he said;"Neither rubbish nor dust in that spot could I trace ;I alone was defiled in that sanctified place.I therefore determined my feet to withdraw ;For a mosque, pure, is better than rubbish and straw.No pathway, save this, for the Dervish is seen—He must count his own body as humble and mean.Humility choose, if you wish to be high;For that ladder, alone, to this roof can come nigh !
Words in this poem
- 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]
- devoutness n.
- Quality or state of being devout.
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- sanctified a.
- Made holy; also, made to have the air of sanctity; sanctimonious.
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IV: On Men of God viewing Themselves with Contempt 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: On Men of God viewing Themselves with Contempt, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/4-3.html, id L29624.
Form and metre
Chapter IV: On Men of God viewing Themselves with Contempt is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLL freeA · seaA · showedB · abodeB · dayC · awayC · affairD · thereD · opinedE · disinclinedE · alongF · wrongF · swainG · obtainG · shedH · saidH · traceI · placeI · withdrawJ · strawJ · seenK · meanK · highL · nighL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A wise youth with a nature from wickedness free, | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| Arrived at the harbour of Rum, from the sea. | 11 | ˘/··/˘····· |
| Devoutness, discernment and wisdom he showed ; | 11 | ˘/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| They placed his effects in a holy abode. | 11 | ···˘/··/˘˘/ |
| The chief-of-the-pious addressed him, one day: | 11 | ····/˘˘/··· |
| "From the mosque, brush the dust and the rubbish away!" | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| The instant the wanderer heard this affair, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘··˘/ |
| He departed and no one again saw him there. | 12 | ·˘/˘···˘/··· |
| From that the companions and elders opined, | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| That the needy young man was to work disinclined. | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| A servant next day met him walking along, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
| And said, "Through your folly you did very wrong! | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| You were not aware, oh self-satisfied swain ! | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| That people by service their wishes obtain." | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| With sincereness and warmth he began tears to shed: | 12 | ·˘/˘···˘/··· |
| "Oh heart-lighting, life-guarding comrade," he said; | 11 | ··/˘·/˘/··· |
| "Neither rubbish nor dust in that spot could I trace ; | 12 | /˘/˘········ |
| I alone was defiled in that sanctified place. | 12 | ·˘/·····/˘˘· |
| I therefore determined my feet to withdraw ; | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| For a mosque, pure, is better than rubbish and straw. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| No pathway, save this, for the Dervish is seen— | 11 | ·/·····/˘·· |
| He must count his own body as humble and mean. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Humility choose, if you wish to be high; | 11 | ˘/˘˘······· |
| For that ladder, alone, to this roof can come nigh ! | 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.