The library

The children of Adam are limbs of one another, formed in creation from a single essence.

When one limb is afflicted with pain, the other limbs cannot rest easy.

You who feel no sorrow for others' suffering do not deserve to be called human.

However much knowledge you gain, without putting it into practice you remain ignorant.

Wealth found in contentment is better than wealth found in possessions.

O cupbearer, pass the cup and offer it, for love seemed easy at first, but difficulties followed.

Listen to this reed as it complains, telling the tale of separations.

Whoever is kept far from their origin longs again for the time of union.

O heart, sit only with one who truly understands the heart.

Powerful is whoever has knowledge; through knowledge even an old heart grows young.

One flower does not make a spring.

Mountain never meets mountain, but person always meets person again.

Every person's dignity rests in their own hands.

It is from us that it falls upon us — we brought it on ourselves.

The wall has a mouse, and the mouse has an ear — be careful what you say.

The higher the roof, the more snow it collects — greater standing brings greater burdens.

Water that has flowed away never returns to the stream.

Count the chicks only at the end of autumn — don't celebrate a success too soon.

To want is to be able — where there's a will, there's a way.

What seeps from the jug is only what was already inside it.

A reckless red tongue can send a healthy head to the wind.

If you are patient, you can turn sour unripe grapes into sweet halva.

One hand alone makes no sound — cooperation is needed.

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

A person already tested by experience need not be tested again.

Not everything round is a walnut — appearances can deceive.

The pot calls the pot black-faced — the pot calling the kettle black.

To eat someone's salt and then break their saltcellar — the ultimate betrayal of hospitality.

The fish is fresh whenever you pull it from the water — it's never too late to start over.

Even a single shoe has its match — there is someone for everyone.

The plain truth is best heard from a child.

Careful, thorough work never suffers for it.

Whoever sits with the wicked will be judged by their ways, even if untouched by their nature.

Wisdom is better than anything else God has given; to praise wisdom is itself the way of justice.

Wisdom is a guide, and wisdom opens the heart; wisdom takes you by the hand in both worlds.

When your heart is cleansed of worldly attributes, the light of the Divine Essence begins to shine within it.

Whoever witnessed my rapture lost himself — however sober he came, he left intoxicated.

Though the rose is possessed of great beauty, its beauty fades within a week.

Whoever loves anything other than the true pearl — the dominion of that thing is fleeting and passes away.

My inner worth must be made manifest — of what use can a man without inner worth ever be?

A hundred thousand who wore green burned in sorrow, before even a single lamp was lit for Adam.

Here, worth belongs neither to the new nor the old — whether you act here or not makes no difference.

When aloe-wood and common firewood both enter the flame, both alike turn to the same ashes.

Knowledge without forbearance is worthless as the dust of the street; knowledge joined with forbearance is as precious as one's honor.

Whoever lacks knowledge is lost; his hand falls short of reaching that higher abode.

Knowledge guides a man to paradise; ignorance drags a man into hellfire.

Knowledge becomes truly well-grounded through patience — for how can a stone ever become a ruby without enduring the right pressure?

A sick heart can be healed — but know that for foolishness there is no remedy at all.

You, like me, are powerless and constrained, and are far from true greatness and superiority.

The world's wise agree: the means to a good life rest on five things.

Peace of mind, safety, health, sufficient means, and a good-natured, well-behaved companion.

The writer's pen paints three things as ugly, when they come from three kinds of people.

Harshness in a mighty king, greed in a wise man, and stinginess in the wealthy.

Strive for justice — like the dawn, its light travels a thousand leagues.

Do not let fasting darken your temper — patience and forbearance surpass all else.

Let me tie my shawl and don my humble cloak, and bow to the turning of the wheel of heaven.

O God, I have a body worn by suffering; a heart that has made peace with grief.

My ill-fated self came to this world only to feed this body for the worms of the grave.

I am the free spirit who exacts tribute from kings, who wears armor and sets a crown on his head.

A sapling that pokes its head out of a garden — everyone reaches out a hand for its fruit.

Ask the perfumer about my grief and pain; ask the sick one about the length of the night.

At night I remember you, O piece of the moon; by day I am helpless with pain and grief.

Strive, learn knowledge, and cast your light — for the chance you have been given has no equal.

Do not stain a pure heart with evil deeds — to seek darkness is to flee from the light.

The bird that flies from its nest driven by greed — its punishment, in the end, is to have its wings soaked in blood.

One cannot out-argue fate — they will sew shut your mouths, even if you have a hundred of them.

The turning of the world is a bloodletter of blood-drinkers — it is the courtroom that judges good and bad deeds.

The laborer's reward is simply this: in the garden of hope, to plant one rosebush at the edge of a meadow.

Guided by the eye, I took this wrong path — the fault of this wrongdoing was my own sight.

Do good to the poor and the empty-handed — for goodness itself becomes a cause for prayer on your behalf.

Listen to counsel, dear one — fortunate youths hold the wise elder's advice dearer than their own life.

If the grace of the Holy Spirit lends its aid again, others too may do what the Messiah did.

Good news has come: the days of sorrow will not last — as that did not remain, neither will this.

O wealthy one, win over the poor man's heart — for treasuries of gold and coin will not endure.

The lost Joseph will return to Canaan — do not grieve; the hut of sorrows will one day become a rose garden.

If the wheel of fortune ran against us for a few days, do not grieve — the state of the age never stays the same.

Seek no faithfulness in this frail-founded world — this old crone has been bride to a thousand grooms.

Plant the tree of friendship, for it bears the heart's desire; uproot the sapling of enmity, for it brings countless grief.

Those whose glance turns dust into gold — might they too spare a glance for us?

A hundred hidden faults are better than the worship others perform with pretense and show.

Strive, my friend, and do not go without love — no one buys a servant marked by the flaw of no skill.

The heart's bird again longs for the bow-browed one — be watchful, dove, for the hawk has come.

Drive out old sorrow with well-aged wine — this, said the old farmer, is the seed of a joyful heart.

Do not tie a knot in the wind, even when it blows your way — this the wind itself said to Solomon, as a proverb.

No ruby of generosity has come from that mine in years — what became of the sun's warmth, the wind and rain's labor?

One boasts of reason, another weaves empty claims — come, let us leave all these disputes to the true judge.

Whoever became intimate with the heart remained in the beloved's sanctuary; whoever knew not this art remained in denial.

I have found nothing sweeter than the sound of love's words — the one legacy that endures beneath this turning dome.

Place no trust at all in the world's constancy — this is a workshop where everything is remade.

The wise are the fixed point of the compass of being, yet love knows they still wander lost within its circle.

The sky's promises deserve little trust — I make my pact with the wine-cup, my agreement with the goblet.

The secret we told no stranger and never will, we tell our friend, for a true friend keeps a secret.

Blessed is that moment when, in the freedom of my own joy, I need neither king nor minister.

The sky's brief ten-day favor is but a fable and a spell — count it your chance, friend, to do good for friends.

In times of hardship, strive still for joy and delight — this alchemy of being turns even a beggar into Croesus.

As a guest among the free-spirited, treat them with honor — for you will bear the headache your own pleasure brings.

Treasure this night of companionship, for after our time the sky will turn through many more days and nights.

All my willfulness led at last to disgrace — how can a secret stay hidden once whole gatherings are built around it?

A dark night, fear of waves, a whirlpool so dreadful — how could those resting light on the shore know our state?

Rise, my love, come for the sake of our heart — solve our trouble with your own beauty.

Today you have no claim on tomorrow — worrying about tomorrow is nothing but madness.

Do not waste this moment, if your heart is not mad with love — for the rest of life has no fixed price.

This reason that seeks the path of happiness tells you itself, a hundred times a day.

Seize this one moment of your time — you are not the herb that, once cut, will grow again.

Since fate's pen wrote upon me without me, why then is its good and bad ascribed to me?

Before they raid you by surprise in the night, call for them to bring the rose-red wine.

You are no buried gold, O heedless fool, that once placed in the earth, you would be dug out again.

The heavens raise no flower from the earth that they do not break and return again to the earth.

Do not abstain from the elixir of which a single sip can carry away a thousand ailments.

My true friends, one by one, have all been lost — laid low, one after another, at the feet of death.

We all drank the same wine at life's gathering — some simply grew drunk a round or two before us.

Friend, why fret over what must be, wearying heart and soul with useless worry?

Live joyfully and pass through the world in gladness — the plan of things was never made with your consent.

It is the hour of dawn — rise, fair one, and fill the crystal cup with ruby wine.

This one borrowed moment, in this corner of oblivion — search as long as you like, you will not find it again.

With a cypress-figure fresher than a harvest of roses, do not let go the cup of wine or the hem of the rose.

Before the wind of death suddenly comes, and the garment of our life becomes like the garment of a rose.

We are the very root of joy and the mine of sorrow, the wellspring of justice and the nature of tyranny.

We are lowness and height, perfection and lack — a tarnished mirror, yet also the world-revealing cup.

I heard of a king who gave a sign to have a captive put to death.

A beneficial lie is better than a mischief-making truth.

Whoever the king heeds should be ashamed to speak anything but good.

The world, brother, stays true to no one — bind your heart only to the Creator of the world.

When the pure soul sets out to depart, it is the same to die on a throne or on the bare earth.

Many a renowned one lies buried beneath the earth, leaving no trace of their existence upon it.

The blessed name of Nushirvan still lives on in goodness, though long since he himself has passed away.

Do good, my friend, and treasure your life, before the cry goes up that you are no more.

Whoever you see wearing the garb of piety, take them for pious and good — unless you know their inner secret.

I see no fault in his outward appearance, and I know nothing hidden of his heart.

Sinners repent of their sins, but the truly wise seek forgiveness even for their worship.

At the Ka'ba's gate I saw a beggar weeping sweetly as he spoke his prayer.

I do not ask that my devotion be accepted — only draw the pen of pardon over my sin.

O Contentment! Make me rich — for beyond you there is no blessing at all.

The corner of patience was Luqman's chosen refuge — whoever lacks patience lacks wisdom.

If you had fairness and we had contentment, the custom of begging would vanish from the world.

It is better that an enemy see no good in you at all.

To the eye of enmity, virtue looks like the greatest fault — Saadi is a rose, yet to his enemies' eyes a thorn.

The world-lighting radiance of the sun's own source looks ugly to the eye of a blind bat.

Whatever settles into the heart appears beautiful to the eye.

If one looks with the eye of denial, even the face of Joseph will seem flawed.

Whoever the king favors — even their every wrong is counted as good.

Skill is an ever-flowing spring, and an everlasting fortune.

Wherever the skilled go, they find honor and take the seat of pride; the unskilled scrape for scraps and meet hardship.

It is hard, after losing rank, to bear command from others — used to comfort, now to bear the world's harshness.

The learned sons of villagers rose to become the king's ministers.

Both the poor and the rich are servants of this earth — and those who are richer are in fact more needy.

With a strong arm and a powerful hand, it is wrong to break the fingers of the poor and weak.

Whoever sows the seed of evil while hoping for good has cooked up folly and woven an empty dream.

When the door is shut, how can anyone tell a jeweler from a peddler?

Though silence is courtesy before the wise, when the moment calls, it is better to speak.

Two things mark the failure of reason: falling silent when it is time to speak, and speaking when it is time for silence.

O wise one, what is the tongue in the mouth? The key to the door of a treasure of skill.

First comes thought, then speech — the foundation is laid before the wall.

Saadi is one who has humbly fallen — no one comes to fight the fallen.

Whoever raises their neck in boastful claim brings the burden down upon their own neck.

Luqman was asked, from whom did you learn wisdom? He said, from the blind, who never set foot until they know the ground.

Behold the grace and kindness of the Lord: the servant commits the sin, yet He is the one ashamed.

The excellence of my companion left its mark on me — otherwise I am but the same clay I always was.

One day in the bathhouse, a piece of fragrant clay came from my beloved's hand to mine.

With every moment a breath of life departs; when I look closely, little of it remains.

You whose fifty years have passed while still asleep — will you at least seize these last five days?

Ashamed is the one who departed without preparing — the drum of departure sounded, and they had packed nothing.

Everyone who came built a new dwelling, then departed, leaving the house to another.

Do not befriend an unfaithful companion — this treacherous world is not fit for true friendship.

Since good and bad alike must die, happy is the one who carried off the prize of goodness.

Send provisions ahead to your own grave — no one brings anything after death, so send it before.

Life is snow under the summer sun — little remains, yet the master still boasts in pride.

Whoever eats their crop while it is still green will have to glean single stalks at harvest time.

One silent and tongueless in a corner is better than someone whose tongue is not under their own command.

To hurt one's friends is folly, though the penance for a broken oath is easy.

What use is a tray of flowers to you? Take instead a single page from my Golestan.

A rose lasts only five or six days, but this Rose Garden stays lovely forever.

The generous one, when they make a promise, keeps it.

Cloud and wind and moon and sun and sky all labor, so that you may earn your bread — do not eat it in heedlessness.

All things wander and obey for your sake — it is not fair that you alone should not obey.

Thanks be to God, the mighty and glorious, whose obedience draws us near to Him.

From whose hand and tongue could ever come the gratitude His due deserves?

Whoever has knowledge has power; through knowledge, even an old heart grows young.

Whoever does not put reason first will end up with a heart wounded by his own deeds.

Reason is the eye of the soul; without it, you cannot pass through the world happily.

Your three guardians are eye, ear, and tongue — from these three, good and bad surely arrive.

Seek the path through the words of the wise; travel the world and share it with everyone.

When you hear words of any kind of knowledge, never rest a moment from learning.

When you glimpse a branch of learning, you will know that knowledge never reaches its root.

Since the Wise One was mighty and just, He hid no skill of creation at all.

His head rose straight like a tall cypress; he holds to good speech and puts reason to work.

It is right to put your body through hardship, for enduring hardship is worthy in pursuit of knowledge.

Look at this swift-turning dome of the sky — both cure and pain come from it.

It never rests from its motion, and unlike us, it never accepts ruin.

Patience is wisdom's brother; wisdom sits upon the soul like a crown.

When one's years reach sixty, one must take patience as one's guide.

Even if the just man has no one, truth alone is guardian enough for him.

Seek skill and do not grieve for excess, for the world is a wayside inn and we are passing through.

Wealthy is whoever has no greed; blessed is the servant who has no partnership with greed.

Speak not the word that carries no benefit, for from that fire your only share is smoke.

When a man is patient and forbearing, no trickery can work against him.

Like the generous man who sought no reward for generosity — he forgave, and washed darkness from his heart.

Forgive what is forgivable; withhold not from a friend what you possess.

The good man's heart is full of hope; the evildoer's heart is full of fear and pain.

Neither this endures in the world, nor that — good and bad both surely come to an end.

He weighs both reason and soul — how could He ever fit within our crafted thought?

You were raised up from two worlds, and nurtured through so many intermediaries.

God created something from nothing, so that His power might be made manifest.

The first stirring the pen made caught its first letter from speech itself.

Speak little, and speak choicely, like a pearl — so that with your few words the world may be filled.

Though speech has the grace of water, it is right to say little of every word.

A kingdom stands firm through justice; your affairs find their footing through your own justice.

To conquer the world is not the way of tyranny; a realm can only be won through fairness.

Seek people's ease — what is there in causing harm? What does that work yield but shame?

You are careless of youth's worth — until you grow old, you will not know what it was.

In all this purity and defilement, nothing is sweeter than peace of mind.

Since you are a bird of fortune, act with honor: eat little, speak little, harm little.

To find the worth of the heart and the rank of the soul cannot be found except through discipline.

Whatever runs contrary to habit is the caravan-leader of happiness.

The world is love; all else is trickery — everything is a game, except the game of love.

Whoever becomes empty of love has withered; even with a hundred lives, without love he is dead.

Seek knowledge and learn greatness, so your days are seen to improve, day upon day.

With everyone, be humble like the earth's dust; toward everything, be unattached like the wind.

Take the world lightly — you are less than no one; do not grieve, you are not a slave to the world.

Tyranny is what plunders a kingdom; lasting fortune comes from doing little harm.

It goes in one ear and out the other — advice most needed is the least heeded.

A sound mind dwells in a healthy body. (≈ A sound mind in a sound body)

People's wisdom is in their eyes. (≈ Seeing is believing)

Whatever you give with one hand, you get back through the same hand. (≈ What goes around comes around)

To put a watermelon under someone's arm — to flatter someone into thinking they are greater than they are.

Hasani never went to school, and when he finally did, it was on Friday, the day it was closed — doing the right thing at the wrong time.

They took a bite bigger than their mouth. (≈ Don't bite off more than you can chew)

The leek takes after its seed, Hasani takes after his father. (≈ Like father, like son)

Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.

Asking is not shameful, not knowing is. (≈ He that nothing questions, nothing learns)

As long as you are standing, give a hand to those who have fallen.

In despair there is much hope; the end of the darkest night is white. (≈ The darkest hour is just before dawn)

A drop is an ocean only when joined with the ocean; otherwise a drop is a drop and an ocean is an ocean — unity gives strength.

A good year shows itself in its spring. (≈ Well begun is half done)

One bitten by a snake fears even a black-and-white rope. (≈ Once bitten, twice shy)

Nothing is cheap without a reason — a warning against too-good-to-be-true bargains.

A liar has a poor memory — a liar should have a good memory to keep the story straight.

In the end, justice reaches the one who deserves it.

Smile, and the world will smile back at you. (≈ Laugh and the world laughs with you)

The Shahnameh is pleasant only at its end — judge a matter by how it concludes.

Having done wrong, do not feel safe from harm, for nature makes retribution inevitable. (≈ What goes around comes around)

Year after year, we long for the year before — nostalgia for what has passed.

Do good and cast it into the Tigris, for God will return it to you even in the desert. (≈ Cast your bread upon the waters)

Free stones, free sparrows — nothing to lose by trying.

If he finds a free rope, he'd even hang himself with it — mocking someone who can't resist a bargain, however reckless.

I say it's a bull, he says milk it. (≈ You cannot milk a bull — pointing out someone's stubborn refusal to see reason)

He wants God and the dates too. (≈ You can't have your cake and eat it too)

The neighbor's chicken looks like a goose. (≈ The grass is always greener on the other side)

Lazy one, don't go to the shade — the shade will come to you. (≈ A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy)

Oh peach, slide right down the throat — said of something effortlessly easy. (≈ Piece of cake)

Don't look at how small the pepper is, break it open and see how sharp it is. (≈ A little body often harbors a great soul; don't judge by size)

Don't fear the one who makes noise; fear the one who quietly broods over you.

The flower and the thorn are always together. (≈ No rose without a thorn)

The faithless believe everyone shares their own faith — a guilty person suspects everyone else of the same fault.

A madman delights in meeting another madman. (≈ Birds of a feather flock together)

The mouse couldn't fit in the hole, so it tied a broom to its tail — making a bad situation needlessly worse.

Grand show, empty pocket. (≈ Great boast, small roast)

The monkey can't dance, so it blames the crooked floor — an excuse for one's own shortcomings.

It is not manhood to kick one who has fallen; if you lift up a fallen one's hand, that is manhood.

Be content with what you are given and live justly; do not bind yourself in pretense, live free.

Worship rooted in ignorance is nothing but temptation; you will not become a mystic through logic and geometry.

The true free spirit is one who has no desire for selfhood, and having passed beyond himself, worships himself no more.

If you want the honor of a wise person, do not seek status — let humility remain instead.

In schools we learned the lesson wrong; of all meanings we understood only the words.

The dervish who holds divine character rules like a king in the kingdom of existence.

Even if you strive for perfection, it too will pass; the whole world, from end to end, is nothing but illusion.

As it has ever been, so the world remains; who is ever safe from the accidents of time?

O heart, no longer grieve over the sorrows of the age; hold no habit of greed, and wear no robe of vain honor.

Claim a corner in the alley of poverty; a road lies ahead, so gather provisions.

Those who came before and desired the world have all, in the end, seen it as behind them.

The Maker's unique art cast a mirror upon the dust, so that our true state might at last be shown.

The joy of this world is steeped in the wound of regret; here, drinking wine is like swallowing glass.

Be content with the pale color the world's garden gives you, for the color red only appears through the blood of the heart.

Even if the outer eye has no leave to gaze, no one has closed the great highway of hearts.

The world shows no mercy even to its own; fire grants no safety to the one who worships it.

Every affair waits upon its time — when the moment came, a single dream freed the moon of Canaan from his chains.

Favor and generosity are owed to no one, yet giving thanks for blessings is always owed; if the master did not fail in what was not required of him, how could I fail in what is required of me?

The world is neither our station nor our resting place; the wise are better off lost and intoxicated within it. Douse the fire of grief with wine, before you go to dust with nothing in hand.

Every mirror that passes before the eye reflects the image of His beauty; the image is but a semblance, yet His essence gazes back at us from within that mirrored form.

Do not let yourself easily accept the favors of base and unworthy men, Bidel — for like a bone hidden in a mouthful of food, they will end up tearing at your throat.

To the wise, even with a hundred purses of gold, the ignorant man remains worthless and without honor.

Do not be deceived by the great number of fools in the world, for in the sea there are always far more stones than pearls.

We are those whose very lack of substance is our substance; we are our own child, and our love is our own nurse.

Set no heart at all on seeking this lowly world; place no grief over it, be it little or great, upon your heart. If you wish to reach the court of the King, never set foot outside the path of true seeking.

As every affair passes, whether easy or hard, to the wise it is all the same — a coffin or a throne.

Though he be alone, the whole world is with him; and though the whole world be with him, he is alone.

Enter no door until you find some gain in it; approach no one until you see some worth in them.

How could a gazelle ever strive against a lion? How could a chick ever fly against a hawk?

In a workshop where no one values the work, whoever withdraws his hand from it is the more skillful craftsman.

When Solomon began the building, it was pure like the Kaaba, blessed like Mina.

For paradise is not built from tools and matter, but is built from deeds and intention.

Counsel given through action is more compelling — it reaches the soul of the hearing and the deaf alike.

Teaching knowledge and skill to the ill-natured is like putting a sword in a highwayman's hand.

Knowledge, wealth, rank, and standing become a calamity in the hands of the ill-natured.

When authority falls into the hands of one who is lost, think of that rank as having fallen into a pit.

Fools have become masters, and out of fear, the wise have hidden their heads under blankets.

Hunger itself is the king of all remedies — do not see it in the soul as something so lowly.

All unpleasant things become pleasant through hunger; all pleasant things without hunger are worthless.

The wise one is the one who carries a torch — he is the guide and leader of the caravan.

The one who leads follows his own inner light; the one without self follows only himself in name.

O You who turned dust into gold, and turned another dust into the father of humankind.

Your work is the transformation and giving of essences; my work is only error, forgetting, and fault.

Since the second state is better than the first, seek passing away, and worship the One who transforms.

Take hold of the new and let go of the old, for each of your years now surpasses the three before.

This ebb and flow first came to me from You — otherwise this sea would be still, O Glorious One.

No one has a way into the court of Majesty until they pass away from themselves.

The tailor of pride cuts the silk of your life into pieces with the scissors of the months.

Do not see the stars as counterfeit coiners — see instead your own love for the one who forges hearts, O noble ones.

The luminous teacher makes you aware of the path, and joins light together with his speech.

Strive until you become intoxicated and full of light, so that light becomes the face of your very words.

Whatever you say will itself be full of light — for the sky never rains down anything but what is pure.

Water in a gutter is only borrowed; water in the cloud and the sea is its true nature.

Greed so humbled him that five hundred proofs were still not enough to save him from his own weakness.

See the house of the heart — disheveled by sorrow, yet swept clean by repentance without any sweeper.

In the heart there is a life that is the abode of eternity — what use is it if it will not come onto my tongue?

He took hold of him as a blind man takes hold of his guide, until through him he became seeing, capable, and great.

He had become refined and had come this far by beheading his own pride and his own ego.

Flee, O lord of death, from our disgrace — for you do not know how to become the color that we are.

First you must drink deep of the wine and grow intoxicated with joy; only once you lose yourself will you turn toward us.

Whoever drinks the red wine grows rich in fortune, and the heart's openness carries away the heaviness we bear.

From the lover's fire, O pure one, even hell itself grows weak and reasonable.

These discussions can be spoken only up to this point; whatever comes after this must remain hidden.

Up to the sea, the horse and saddle serve you; beyond this point, your only vessel is a wooden boat.

But the one whose wooden boat is broken and who sinks into the water — he himself becomes a fish.

Every silence that wearies you is, on its other side, love itself crying out.

So He made a being of deep heart to be a mirror unto His own kingship.

The morsel that props up this body is like armor — bread wards off the blade of hunger.

The command of Truth came to every town and village: do not let house and wall cast their shadow over you.

Do not stand as a barrier to rain and sun — it was for this that messengers were sent swiftly to the people.