With poetry which speaks across the ages, Sa’di (1210-1281) is a vital classical poet and a towering figure of the medieval Persian canon. Comparable in skill and stature to other Persian poets such as Ferdowsi, Hafez, Rumi and Omar Khayyam, Sa’di’s verses best known through his ‘Bustan’ and ‘Golestan’ address universal themes of passion, love and the human condition in works which are both psychologically perceptive and beautifully crafted. His mystical writings, contemporaneous with Rumi, reveal a degree of depth, wisdom and insight which have placed Sa’di in the pantheon of world literature.
What is certain about Sa’di’s life is that he flourished in the thirteenth century (seventh century hijra), went to the Nezamiya College of Baghdad, travelled wide and lived long. It is clear from his love poetry that he was an ardent lover, and from many of his works that he was not a Sufi, although he cherished the ideals of Sufism and admired the legendary classical Sufis. He was also a teacher of manners and morals. There is a humanist tendency in his works which is remarkable as it was another two-and-a-half centuries before the emergence of Christian humanism in Europe.
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With poetry which speaks across the ages, Sa’di (1210-1281) is a vital classical poet and a towering figure of the medieval Persian canon. Comparable in skill and stature to other Persian poets such as Ferdowsi, Hafez, Rumi and Omar Khayyam, Sa’di’s verses best known through his ‘Bustan’ and ‘Golestan’ address universal themes of passion, love and the human condition in works which are both psychologically perceptive and beautifully crafted. His mystical writings, contemporaneous with Rumi, reveal a degree of depth, wisdom and insight which have placed Sa’di in the pantheon of world literature.
What is certain about Sa’di’s life is that he flourished in the thirteenth century (seventh century hijra), went to the Nezamiya College of Baghdad, travelled wide and lived long. It is clear from his love poetry that he was an ardent lover, and from many of his works that he was not a Sufi, although he cherished the ideals of Sufism and admired the legendary classical Sufis. He was also a teacher of manners and morals. There is a humanist tendency in his works which is remarkable as it was another two-and-a-half centuries before the emergence of Christian humanism in Europe.