Ch 08 On Rules For Conduct In Life - Maxim 49 Poem by Saadi Shirazi

An envious man is avaricious with the wealth of God and hates the guiltless as foes.

I saw a crackbrained little man,
Reviling a possessor of dignity,
Who replied: ‘O fellow, if thou art unlucky,
What guilt is there in lucky men?’
Forbear to wish evil to an envious man
Because the ill-starred fellow is an evil to himself.
What needest thou to show enmity to him
Who has such a foe on the nape of his neck?