Chapter VIII: Discourse on the Pre-eminence of God's Orders and Providence
First, God to the heart the intention conveyed,And then, on the threshold this slave his head laid.If the means to do good, from the Lord you don't gain,When will other men good, through your efforts, obtain?In the tongue that acknowledged him, what do you see?On the Giver of speech, let your scrutiny be !The doors of God's knowledge are man's seeing eyes,Which are open so wide to the earth and the skies.When would you the low and the lofty have known,If He had not this door in your face open thrown?He the head and the hand from nonentity brought,And to them, adoration and almsgiving taught.Had He not, would the hand have munificence spread?Adoration would never have come from the head !He gave, in His wisdom, a tongue, made the ear ;As the key of the chest of the mind these appear!Had the tongue not for speaking an aptitude shown,Would a person the heart's hidden secrets have known?Had the spy of the ear not to effort inclined,When would news have been brought to the monarch the mind?The pronouncer of sweet sounding words He gave me ;The acute and intelligent ear He gave thee.Like porters, these two always stand at the gate,And from monarch to monarch the news they relate.Why trouble yourself? saying, "Good, is my deed !"From the other side look, for by Him 'tis decreed!To the halls of the monarch the gard'ner repairs,And a present of fruit from the king's garden bears !
Words in this poem
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- nonentity n.
- Nonexistence; the negation of being.
- almsgiving n.
- The giving of alms.
- munificence n.
- Means of defense; fortification. [Cf. L. munire to fortify.]
- pronouncer n.
- One who pronounces, utters, or declares; also, a pronouncing book.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter VIII: Discourse on the Pre-eminence of God's Orders and Providence 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 VIII: Discourse on the Pre-eminence of God's Orders and Providence, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/8-15.html, id L29733.
Form and metre
Chapter VIII: Discourse on the Pre-eminence of God's Orders and Providence 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 93%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHEEIICCJJKKLL conveyedA · laidA · gainB · obtainB · seeC · beC · eyesD · skiesD · knownE · thrownE · broughtF · taughtF · spreadG · headG · earH · appearH · shownE · knownE · inclinedI · mindI · meC · theeC · gateJ · relateJ · deedK · decreedK · repairsL · bearsL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| First, God to the heart the intention conveyed, | 12 | ······˘/˘˘/˘ |
| And then, on the threshold this slave his head laid. | 11 | ····/······ |
| If the means to do good, from the Lord you don't gain, | 12 | ············ |
| When will other men good, through your efforts, obtain? | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| In the tongue that acknowledged him, what do you see? | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| On the Giver of speech, let your scrutiny be ! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘· |
| The doors of God's knowledge are man's seeing eyes, | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| Which are open so wide to the earth and the skies. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| When would you the low and the lofty have known, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| If He had not this door in your face open thrown? | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| He the head and the hand from nonentity brought, | 12 | ·······˘/˘˘· |
| And to them, adoration and almsgiving taught. | 11 | ····˘/˘·/˘· |
| Had He not, would the hand have munificence spread? | 12 | ·······˘/˘˘· |
| Adoration would never have come from the head ! | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘····· |
| He gave, in His wisdom, a tongue, made the ear ; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| As the key of the chest of the mind these appear! | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Had the tongue not for speaking an aptitude shown, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Would a person the heart's hidden secrets have known? | 12 | ··/˘··/˘/˘·· |
| Had the spy of the ear not to effort inclined, | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| When would news have been brought to the monarch the mind? | 12 | ········/··· |
| The pronouncer of sweet sounding words He gave me ; | 12 | ·˘/˘··/˘···· |
| The acute and intelligent ear He gave thee. | 12 | ·˘/·˘/˘˘···· |
| Like porters, these two always stand at the gate, | 11 | ·/˘··/····· |
| And from monarch to monarch the news they relate. | 12 | ··/··/····˘/ |
| Why trouble yourself? saying, "Good, is my deed !" | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘···· |
| From the other side look, for by Him 'tis decreed! | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| To the halls of the monarch the gard'ner repairs, | 12 | ·····/··/˘˘/ |
| And a present of fruit from the king's garden bears ! | 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.