The Bustan

Book excerpt: The Bustan Sadi - If among the twenty-two works with which Sadi enriched the literature of his country the Gulistan rank first in popularity, the Bustan (lit. "Garden") may justly claim equal precedence in point of interest and merit. No comprehensive translation of this important classical work has hitherto been placed before the reading public, but it cannot be doubted that the character of its contents is such as to fully justify the attempt now made to familiarize English readers with the entertaining anecdotes and devotional wisdom which the Sage of Shiraz embodied in his Palace of Wealth. This is the name which he applies to the Bustan in an introductory chapter, and it is.one which springs from something more than a poets fancy, for the ten doors, or chapters, with which the edifice is furnished lead into a garden that is indeed rich in the fruits of knowledge gained by a wide experience of life in many lands, and earnest thought.Born in Shiraz, Iran, in 1184, Sdi (pseudonym of Muslih-ud-Din Mushrif ibn Abdullah) is considered one of the major medieval Persian poets. He traveled widely, through regions of what is today Syria, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq. Vignettes of gritty caravan and street scenes give life to his tales. In old age he returned to Shiraz, and composed his two best-known works, the poetic Bustan, or Orchard (in 1257), and the prose Gulistan, the Rose Garden (in 1258). He died in 1283 or possibly 1291.