Sayings of Sa'di of Shiraz: Sufi quotations
Contents
Sa’di of Shiraz (d. 1292) travelled for thirty years before writing the Gulistan and the Bustan, books of wisdom in which humour vies with gravity. In him, the path is told in parables.
Sa’di: attach your heart only
Attach your heart only to the Beloved. Close your eyes to all the rest.
Sa’di: a single lament can overturn the world
As far as lies in your power, give no being cause to lament, for a single lament can overturn the world.
Sa’di: bad habits
A man of bad habits is caught in the snare of an enemy who follows him wherever he goes.
Sa’di: forgiveness through sheer adoration
I offer my apologies for my negligent service, for I have no confidence in my capacity to serve. Sinners repent of their sins. Those who have knowledge seek forgiveness through sheer adoration.
Sa’di: do not grieve over the harm men can inflict on you
Do not grieve over the harm men can inflict on you, for neither joy nor affliction comes from man. See in God the origin of the deeds of your friends and your foes, for the heart of each is under the sway of the One. Though the arrow is loosed from the bow, understand that it was shot by the Archer.
Sa’di
I asked a sage the meaning of this passage from the Tradition of the Prophet (pbuh): “Your worst enemy is yourself.” He answered me: “every enemy treated by you with kindness becomes your friend, with the exception of your ego (nafs). The more indulgence you show it, the more hostile it becomes towards you.”
Sa’di
A man whose eyes hurt went to see a veterinarian, who gave him a medicine for horses. The man went blind and brought a lawsuit. The judge dismissed his case, adding: had he not been a donkey, he would not have gone to a veterinarian… An important matter must not be entrusted to an unqualified person, on pain of suffering affliction and of passing, into the bargain, for a fool. A straw weaver is a weaver, but he is not fit to weave silk.