Book Review: Bustan Sadi
Sheikh Saadi Shirazi
Translated from the Persian with an Introduction by A Hart Edwards
Publisher: Jay Kay Books, Srinagar, Kashmir
Pages: 112 Price: Rs 495
Sometimes slim books are a treasure trove of knowledge. While attending to our mundane affairs of life we forget to take out time and ponder about life and its various contours. Humans are born and stay on this planet for a small period of time. The one who is born has to witness death. Death is the ultimate reality of life. What we make of the time between birth and death comprises of life. For most of us, life is brutish, nasty, and short to quote Thomas Hobbes. We reinforce this description of life by remaining angry, hating others, and resorting to envy. Most of us fail to rein in our negative bias, animal instincts, and vices that are prevalent among ourselves. We always complain about our surroundings, other people, and the political system, without ever thinking of changing ourselves.
Born in Shiraz, writing under the pen name of Saadi, Sheikh Saadi Shirazi is considered one of the major medieval Persian poets. He composed Bustan (Orchard) in 1257 that contains a lot of wisdom about life and how small events can be turned into great learning lessons. Saadi was very poor but a gifted person and his teacher helped him to polish his intellectual capabilities. The book documents these biographical details of Saadi. Bustan comprises of ten chapters or doors as Saadi names them. Small events are related in such a manner that one can derive great lessons from them. A Hart Edwards, the English translator of the text, very well mentions that Saadi’s philosophy is a practical one, “To fulfill one’s duties towards one’s fellowmen is to fulfill one’s duty towards the Deity. That is the root idea of his teachings. “Religion,” he observes, “consists only in the service of the people: it does not lie in the rosary, or prayer-rug, or mendicant’s habit.” P-16
There are lessons or incidents that relate to how a king should rule. Kings in today’s parlance when democracy has been accepted as a value are being despised, but all kings were not megalomaniac or autocratic. There were kings who were just and benevolent on their subjects. Some were cruel but were reformed due to the advice of Ulama, scholars, or even their own courtiers. Also, some kings were quite naïve about the matters of ruling so books like Bustan could help them understand the intricacies of governance.
Also, there was a class among religious people who abhorred participation in worldly affairs. Instead, they chose to stay away from the mundane affairs of the day to day life, but Saadi criticizes such behavior and wants these people to serve others and be beneficial for them instead of resorting to escapism. Opposite to this escapism is the exaggerated indulgence in extravagance and materialism, that is to be lamented also. People of every hue should be aware of this fact that death is the eraser of all distinction between men. This brutal fact of death changes the relationship between rulers and ruled, oppressor and oppressed, king and subjects. Also, money and materialism is something that changes many hands so one should be grateful to divinity for its fruits instead of turning arrogant.
Themes like Love are discussed. Love that is one of the greatest motivators for any person is a value that needs to be cherished. Similarly, Education is the process of training mind and soul, hence a great emphasis is laid on attaining education not literacy. Education for Saadi comprises of the holistic development of the personality, that renders a person consciousness, beneficial, and productive towards the whole society. Contentment is a feeling that is missing in today’s life so is the gratitude towards Allah and people for the bounties that he has bestowed on people. Very few among us are content with their status and quite rarely do we express gratitude. So these missing values make most of us agitated, angry, and resentful about everything. We cannot even enjoy the present and the bounties that Allah has favored us with. So due to this behavior, the mercy of Allah is shooed away.
Hypocrisy and backbiting are two vices that retrograde most of our good deeds. Most of the people who cannot be truthful resort to hypocrisy. Hypocrisy as a vice has been vehemently condemned by the Quran. A person should have the honesty to stand for his ideology and belief system howsoever wrong it is. Instead, most of the people resort to utter lies and deception to please people or achieve their ends. So hypocrisy gets inculcated in their personalities. Backbiting and gossip is resorted by those who are full of hate and anger against someone whom they perceive as a threat or opponent, but they cannot openly confront hence opt for it.
These vices can be overcome through a sincere acknowledgment of one’s sins and bad behavior and then opting for genuine repentance. The repentance washes off all the vices and sins of a person and then he can live a truthful and good life free from all negativities. The power of repentance offers people a path towards salvation.
This celebrated book is a marvelous addition to the English literature and a gift of Persian literature to the whole of humanity. It still contains the freshness of ideas despite the elapse of many centuries. It should be genuinely read by all sections of society and its versatility does not confine its scope to a single genre. It has the scope of being counted as a Sufi interpretation of various abstract ideas and values.
