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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HUMILITY, FR. GARDEN OF PERFUME, by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI Poet's Biography First Line: A youth, intelligent and of good disposition, arrived by sea at Last Line: Abasement; to reach the lofty roof there is no ladder save this. Alternate Author Name(s): Saadi | |||
A YOUTH, intelligent and of good disposition, arrived by sea at a Grecian port. They perceived that he was endowed with excellence, and judgment, and an inclination. to asceticism, and placed him accordingly in a sacred building. The Head of the devotees said to him one day: -- "Go and cast out the dirt and the rubbish from the mosque." As soon as the young traveler heard the words he went forth, but no one discovered any sign of his return. The Superior and the brethren laid a charge against him, saying: -- "This young devotee hath no aptness for his vocation." The following day one of the society met him in the road.and said to him: -- "Thou hast showed an unseemly and perverse disposition, Didst thou not know, O self-opinionated boy, that it is through obedience men attain to honor?" He began to weep, and replied: "O friend of my soul and enlightener of my heart, it is in earnestness and in sincerity that I have acted thus. "I found in that sacred building neither dust nor defilement: only myself was polluted in that holy place. "Therefore, immediately I drew back my foot, feeling that to withdraw myself was to cleanse the mosque from dirt and rubbish." For the devotee there is only one path, -- to submit his body to humiliation. Thine exhalation must come from choosing self- abasement; to reach the lofty roof there is no ladder save this. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BRINGING UP A SON, FROM THE GARDEN OF PERFUME by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI HUMANITY, FR. THE GARDEN OF PERFUME by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI HYACINTHS TO FEED THY SOUL by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI KEEP YOUR OWN SECRET by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI MORAL EDUCATION AND SELF-CONTROL, FR. GARDEN OF PERFUM by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI SALVE SENESCENTEM by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI THE BUSTAN: THE DANCER by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI THE CHOICE OF FRIENDS by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI THE GULISTAN, SELECTION by MOSHARREF OD-DIN IBN MOSLEH OD-DIN SADI |
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