The Bustan of Sadi

The Bustan of Sadi - Translated from the Persian with an introduction

If among the twenty-two works with which Sadi enriched the literature of his country the Gulistn rank first in popularity, the Bustn (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 Bustn 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. The Bustn is written in versea fact which adds considerably to the difficulties of translation, since the invariable rule of Sadi, like that of every other Persian poet we have read, is to sacrifice sense to the exigencies of rhyme and[10] metre. In not a few cases the meaning is so confused on this account that even the native commentators, who possess a fund of ingenuity in explaining what they do not properly understand, have been compelled to pass over numerous couplets through sheer inability to unravel their intricacies and the abstruse ideas of the poet. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 60471
Author: Sadi
Release Date: Oct 11, 2019
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Edwards, A. Hart