wisdom

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.

Every person's dignity rests in their own hands.

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

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

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

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

Not everything round is a walnut — appearances can deceive.

Careful, thorough work never suffers for it.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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)

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)

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.

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.

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)

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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