Ch 01 Manner Of Kings Story 05 Poem by Saadi Shirazi

Ch 01 Manner Of Kings Story 05

Rating: 3.0


I saw at the palace-gate of Oglimish the son of a military officer
who was endued with marvellous intellect, sagacity, perception and
shrewdness; also the signs of future greatness manifested themselves
on his forehead whilst yet a small boy.

From his head intelligence caused
The star of greatness to shine.

In short, he pleased the sultan because he had a beautiful
countenance and a perfect understanding; and philosophers have said:
'Power consists in accomplishments, not in wealth and greatness in
intellect, not in years.' His companions, being envious, made an
attempt upon his life and desired to kill him but their endeavours
remained fruitless.

What can a foe do when the friend is kind?

The king asked: 'What is the cause of their enmity to thee?' He
replied: 'Under the shadow of the monarchy of my lord I have satisfied
my contemporaries except the envious, who will not be contented but by
the decline of my prosperity, and may the monarchy and good fortune of
my lord be perpetual.'

I may so act as not to hurt the feelings of anyone
But what can I do to an envious man dissatisfied with himself?
Die, O envious man, for this is a malady,
Deliverance from which can be obtained only by death.
Unfortunate men sometimes ardently desire
The decline of prosperous men in wealth and dignity.
If in daytime, bat-eyed persons do not see
Is it the fault of the fountain of light, the sun?
Thou justly wishest that a thousand such eyes
Should be blind rather than the sun dark.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Fabrizio Frosini 10 July 2015

hmmm... a lot of wisdom in this poem..

3 1 Reply
Subhas Chandra Chakra 02 December 2017

A beautiful write, nicely presented. 10

3 0 Reply
Bernard F. Asuncion 02 December 2017

Such an interesting write by Saadi Shirazi👍👍👍

2 0 Reply
Deepak Kumar Pattanayak 02 December 2017

It's like to quote The mountain shall not wed the sea, muttered the envious air, so being free from the enviousness that characterizes so many, then one can be a a beauty-lover........this is so beautifully crafted with touching words and sentences especially in the last paragraph........thanks for sharing

1 0 Reply
T.Rajesh 02 December 2017

A nice poem on envy. As the poet has rightly noted, envy is a disease caused by the prosperity of others, especially those whom he knows.

1 0 Reply
Lungelo S Mbuyazi 02 December 2017

Beautiful eny storyline here... I felt like I was there at the palace when the king ask the song

0 0 Reply
Theresa Dunn 02 December 2017

Very good read enjoyed reading it

0 0 Reply
Victoria Udnæs 02 December 2017

I really love this poem Such a wonderful piece of art

0 0 Reply
Kumarmani Mahakul 02 December 2017

A poem on envy touchingly depicted. Beautiful poem.

1 0 Reply
Jesking Amu 02 December 2017

this is epic, well written and full of lessons.

0 0 Reply
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