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art and photography

Saadi on Impatient Love (Poem of the Day)

Juan Cole 04/17/2016

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By Muslih al-Din “Saadi” Mushrif ibn Abdullah Shirazi | Trans. Reynold A. Nicholson | – –

The heart that loves with patience — a stone ’tis, not a heart;
Nay, love and patience dwell of old a thousand leagues apart.
O brethren of the mystic path, leave blame and me alone!
Repentance in the way of Love is glass against a stone.
No more in secret need I drink, in secret dance and sing:
For us that love religiously, good name’s a shameful thing.
What right and justice should I see or what instruction hear?
Mine eye is to the Saki(1) turned, and to the lute mine ear.

– Translations of Eastern Poetry and Prose

—-
1 Wine server


Saadi in a Rose garden, from a Mughal manuscript of his work Gulistan, c. 1645 h/t Wikipedia

Saadi of Shiraz died in 1291/2

Filed Under: art and photography, Books, Omar Khayyam, poetry

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

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