THIRD PERIOD.
GENGHIS KHĀN—JALAL-UDDIN RŪMI—SĀ’DĪ—WORKS OF SĀ’DĪ—THE BŪSTĀN—THE PEARL—
KINDNESS TO THE UNWORTHY—SILENCE THE SAFETY OF IGNORANCE—DARIUS AND
HIS HORSE-KEEPER—STORIES FROM THE GŪLISTĀN—THE WISE WRESTLER—DANGERS
OF PROSPERITY—BORES.
The third period of Persian poetry, which may be called the mystic and
moral age, is assigned to the thirteenth century.
It was at this time that Genghis Khān, the Tartar chief, swept like a
mountain torrent over the East. His first attack was upon the countries
beyond the Oxus, where the devotees of science had taken refuge during
the invasion of Persia by the Arabs. Bokhāra and Samarcānd were then the
homes of scholars and the centres of civilization. Their colleges and
libraries were celebrated throughout the Orient, but during the great
Tartar invasion these cities were both destroyed, being stormed and
burned by the Tartar horde, while more than two hundred thousand lives
were sacrificed to the cruelty of the invading host. Bagdad was also
devastated, the colleges destroyed and the most valuable books in the
libraries were thrown into the Tigris.
During these stormy times the courts of the descendants of the Selucidæ
were sought by scholars as places of refuge, some of their princes being
literary men. A prince of this dynasty, by the name of Alladin Kaikūbad,
became somewhat celebrated in the world of letters, and during his reign
Iconium became the refuge of scholars from the Asiatic nations, who felt
that on the western frontiers of the continent they were more secure
from the attacks of the barbarians. The brightest ornament of this court
was the mystic poet and philosopher,
JALAL-UDDIN RŪMI.[266]
His father was the founder of a college at Iconium in Syria, but after
his father’s death Jalal-uddin went to Aleppo and Damascus to continue
his studies, and finally succeeded to the direction of the college. His
literary fame rests upon his Mesnevi, a work in six volumes, which is a
series of stories with moral maxims. Some portions of this work may be
compared to the Hitapodeśa, while other parts appear to be an imitation
of the Book of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes. He was, however, the author of
several lyrics that are worthy of preservation; of these the following
is, perhaps, the best:
THE FAIREST LAND.
“Tell me, gentle traveler, thou
Who hast wandered far and wide—
Seen the sweetest roses blow,
And the brightest rivers glide;
Say, of all thine eyes have seen,
Which the fairest land has been?”
“Lady, shall I tell thee where
Nature seems most blest and fair,
Far above all climes beside?
’Tis where those we love abide,
And that little spot is best
Which the loved one’s foot hath pressed.
Though it be a fairy space,
Wide and spreading is the place;
Though ’twere but a barren mound,
’Twould become enchanted ground;
With thee, yon sandy waste would seem
The margin of Al-Cawthar’s stream;
And thou canst make a dungeon’s gloom
A bower where new-born roses bloom.”
The most important bard of this period was
SĀ’DĪ.
Shaikh Sā’dī, as he is called, was born at Shīrāz,[267] while his
country was under Turkish rule. He was educated at a college in Bagdad,
where he lived until he was sixty-four years of age, when he had
obtained an enviable reputation as a poet and orator. In later years,
when the Tartar Chief Halāku Khān had overrun the adjacent territory and
captured Bagdad, Sā’dī, with many others, was obliged to flee. He
visited different parts of Europe, Africa, and even Asia as far as
India.
The poet was twice married, but his caustic criticisms upon womankind
would indicate that both of these ventures were unfortunate; the last
was especially so. He had been living at Damascus, but becoming tired of
the society that he found there, he wandered into the desert of
Palestine. Here he was captured by the Crusaders, and forced to work in
the mud with the Jewish captives, upon the fortifications at Tripoli. A
chief belonging to Aleppo found him there, and recognizing him, he paid
ten pieces of silver as the poet’s ransom, and carried him to his own
home in Aleppo. It appears that the chief had a beautiful daughter, with
a temper like a vixen; she had a dower, however, of an hundred pieces of
silver, and by a little careful management of her temper and an artful
exhibition of her beauty she finally succeeded in marrying Sā’dī. Of
course his home was far from being a paradise, and her beauty soon lost
its charms for her husband. Upon one occasion she tauntingly asked him,
“Are you not the fellow that my father bought for ten pieces of silver?”
“Yes,” retorted the poet, “and he sold me to you for an hundred pieces.”
Sā’dī had a son and a daughter, who were the children of his first wife;
the son, to whom he was devotedly attached, died in infancy, but the
daughter lived to become the wife of the celebrated poet Hāfiz. Sā’dī
closed his long life at Shīrāz, where it began, having lived more than a
hundred years.[268] He is honored as a saint by the Mohammedans, and his
tomb called Sādiya, near Shīrāz, is visited by many pilgrims, and is
also a resort for European travelers.
THE WORKS OF SĀ’DĪ.
This author was an accomplished linguist, and M. De Tassy[269] claims
that he was the first poet who wrote verse in the Hindūstānī dialect. He
also wrote freely in Arabic as well as Persian. His style is vigorous
and unusually simple for a Persian poet, but like all the others, he
sometimes indulges in fulsome flattery, and florid description. His
largest work is the Diwān, which is a collection of lyric poetry, but it
is not so much admired as some of his smaller works. Indeed his lyric
poems do not possess the graceful ease of Hāfiz’s songs, but they are
full of pathos, and like his other works, they show a fearless love of
truth, and a tone of pure morality. Although he was the author of many
works, the most popular among European scholars are the Būstān, or Fruit
Garden, and the Gūlistān, or Rose Garden, both of which are dedicated to
the reigning king.
THE BŪSTĀN.
This is a work consisting of ten chapters of didactic verse, and it
teaches lessons of morality and prudence in the form of poetic fable. It
has been published in Calcutta, Lahore and Cawnpore, as well as in the
capitals of Europe. It has been translated into German, French, English
and other tongues, always retaining more or less of the popularity which
it still enjoys in its native idiom.
The following[270] are the best specimens of this peculiar verse:
THE PEARL.
“From the cloud there descended a droplet of rain;
’Twas ashamed when it saw the expanse of the main,
Saying, ‘Who may I be, where the sea has its run?
If the sea has existence, I, truly, have none!’
Since in its own eyes the drop humble appeared,
In its bosom, a shell with its life the drop reared;
The sky brought the work with success to a close,
And a famed royal pearl from the rain-drop arose.
Because it was humble it excellence gained;
Patiently waiting till success was obtained.”
KINDNESS TO THE UNWORTHY.
“I have heard that a man some home sorrow endured,
For bees in his roof had their dwelling secured
He asked for a big butcher’s knife from his dame—
To demolish the nest of the bees was his aim.
His wife said, ‘Oh, do not effect your design!
For the poor bees, dispersed from their dwelling, will pine.’
The foolish man yielded and went his own way;
His wife, with their stings was assaulted one day.
The man from his shop to his dwelling returned,
At his wife’s stupid folly, with anger he burned.
The ignorant woman, from door, street and roof,
Was shouting complaints, while the man gave reproof!
‘Do not make your face sour in men’s presence, oh wife!
Deprive not, you said, the poor bees of their life!
On behalf of the bad, why beneficence show?
Forbear with the bad, and you make their sins grow.’
When the ruin of men, by flattery you note
With a two-edged sword, cut the flatterer’s throat.”
SILENCE THE SAFETY OF IGNORANCE.
“A good natured man who in tatters was dressed,
For a season in Egypt, strict silence professed.
Men of wisdom, from near and from far, at the sight,
Gathered round him like moths, seeking after the light.
One night he communed with himself in this way;
‘Beneath the tongue’s surface the man hidden lay;
If I carry my head for myself in this plan,
How can people discover in me a wise man?’
He spoke, and his friends, and his foes all could see,
That the greatest of blockheads in Egypt was he!
His admirers dispersed and his trade lost its note;
He journeyed and over a mosque’s arch he wrote:
‘Could I have myself in a looking-glass seen,
Not in ignorance would I have riven my screen.
So ugly, the veil from my features I drew,
For I thought that my face was most charming to view.’
Oh, sensible person! In silence serene
You have honor, and people unworthy, a screen.
If you’ve learning, you should not your dignity lose!
If you’re ignorant, tear not the curtain you use!
The beasts are all dumb, and man’s tongue is released;
A nonsensical talker is worse than a beast!
A speaker should talk in a sensible strain;
If he can’t; like the brutes, he should silence maintain.”
DARIUS AND HIS HORSE-KEEPER.
I have heard that Darius of fortunate race
Got detached from his suite, on the day of the chase.
Before him came running a horse-tending lout;
The king from his quiver an arrow pulled out,—
In the desert ’tis well to show terror of foes,
For at home not a thorn will appear on the rose;
The terrified horse-keeper uttered a cry,
Saying:—“Do not destroy me! no foeman am I.
I am he who takes care of the steeds of the king;
In this meadow, with zeal to my duty I cling.”
The king’s startled heart found composure again;
He smiled and exclaimed:—“Oh most foolish of men!
Some fortunate angel has succored you here;
Else the string of my bow, I’d have brought to my ear.”
The guard of the pasturage smiled and replied:—
“Admonition from friends it becomes not to hide,
The arrangements are bad and the counsels unwise,
When the king can’t a friend from a foe recognize.
The condition of living in greatness is so,
That every dependant you have you should know.
You often have seen me when present at court,
And inquired about horses and pastures and sport,
And now that in love I have met you again,
Me you cannot distinguish from rancorous men.
As for me, I am able, oh name-bearing king!
Any horse out of one hundred thousand to bring.
With wisdom and judgment as herdsman I serve;
Do you in like manner your own flock preserve!”
In that capital anarchy causes distress,
Where the plans of the king than the herdsman’s are less.
STORIES FROM THE GŪLISTĀN.
The Gūlistān is the best of Sā’dī’s works, and one of the most popular
of the Persian classics. It has been translated into the dialects of
India, as well as the languages of Europe, and the Latin version of
Gentius has long been popular with European scholars.
It has acquired a greater popularity, both in the East and the West,
than any other work by the same author, on account of the graceful style
of its composition, and the varied character of its contents. It is a
collection of short stories, each of which is intended to illustrate
some cardinal principle. There are one hundred and eighty-eight of these
sketches, while the final chapter is devoted to “Rules for the Conduct
of Life.” Many of these rules, like the Dhammapada of Būddha, appear to
have been founded upon the proverbs of Solomon. Of the sketches, the
following[271] are the best.
THE WISE WRESTLER.
A celebrated athlete taught the art of wrestling to Persian youths, and
so great was his dexterity that his pupils learned hundreds of different
methods whereby an antagonist could be thrown. Indeed, it was said that
the teacher understood three hundred and sixty capital sleights in this
art, and every day exhibited some new feat to his pupils. He had one
favorite pupil, whose fine proportions and manly bearing were the
admiration of the master, and he taught him three hundred and fifty-nine
of these sleights. The young man became very proficient, and at length
very boastful. He gloried in his youth and fine physical development, as
well as his proficiency in the art, and after a time he boasted, even in
the presence of the Sultan, that no one was able to cope with him—that
he merely allowed his master to maintain a superiority over him in
deference to his years, and also in consideration of the fact, that he
had been his tutor.
The Sultan was disgusted with the conceit of the young wrestler, and
commanded him to make a trial of his skill in the royal presence,
choosing his former tutor as his opponent. The ministers of state and
many officials of the court were in attendance, and the young champion
entered the field with all the confidence and insolence of his nature—
indeed it is said that “he entered with a percussion that would have
removed a mountain of iron.” The old master stood calmly awaiting the
fiery youth, whose strength he well knew far excelled his own, but when
he came up to him, the tutor made the attack with the sleight the
knowledge of which he had kept to himself.
The young boaster was taken at a disadvantage, and was helpless in the
hands of the master, who took him up from the ground, and threw him over
his head, leaving him prostrate upon the earth.
The wildest cheers of delight rang through the assembled multitudes, and
the Sultan commanded that a rich reward be given to the tutor. The
discomfited youth complained to the royal donor that his master had not
gained the victory over him through strength or skill, but had kept from
him one little feint in the art of wrestling, and by this means had
taken the advantage of him.
The master then observed, “I reserved it for an occasion like this; the
sages have taught us not to put oneself so much in the power of a
supposed friend that, should he become an enemy, he may be able to
injure you.”
DANGERS OF PROSPERITY.
A certain king, who was dying without an heir to the throne, directed in
the royal will that, on the morning after his death, the first person
who came in through the gates of the city should receive the crown of
royalty and the care of the kingdom. It happened that the first man who
came in, was in the depths of poverty, and his life was a struggle with
hardship and suffering. The ministers of state, however, placed the
crown of royalty upon the head of the astonished man, and he was
delighted with the wonderful change in his fortune. After a time,
however, the nobles of his court rebelled against his rule, the
surrounding kings formed hostile combinations against him, and he
learned that no position in life is exempt from trials. His troops were
thrown into confusion, the peasantry sympathized with the leaders of the
revolt and he soon lost possession of the disputed territories.
In the midst of these political misfortunes and military defeats, an old
friend, who had been the companion of the king in the days of his
poverty, returned from a long trip, and called to congratulate him upon
the radical change in his fortunes.
But the unfortunate monarch replied, “Oh, my brother! this is not a time
for congratulations, but for condolence; when you last saw me I was
anxious only to obtain my bread, but now I have all the cares of the
world to encounter. There is, indeed, no calamity greater than worldly
prosperity; if therefore you want riches, seek only for contentment,
which is inestimable wealth. If a rich man should throw money into your
lap, consider yourself under no obligations to him, for the kindness of
a humble and genuine friend is better than the alms of the rich.”
BORES.
A busy student complained to his teacher that his time was constantly
taken up by visitors. People, whose time is of no value to them, do not
consider that any one else may value theirs; they therefore present
themselves continually and gossip of people or things, merely to pass
away the time and waste the golden hours. “How can I be relieved of
them?” pleaded the pupil. His tutor replied, “To such of them as are
poor, lend money, and from those that are rich, ask favors; then you may
rest assured that they will cease to trouble you. If a beggar were the
leader of the Mohammedan army, the infidels would flee to China, through
fear of his importunity.”