Our happiness is given by God alone,
And by strong arms and fingers is not won;
When heaven refuses thee fair fortune’s smile
Thy bravest efforts cannot her beguile;
The ant, so weakly, fears not hunger’s pangs;
Lions would starve dependent on their fangs;
We cannot reach the heavens with our hands,
Then must remain content with its commands;
If God hath granted thee a good old age
Fear not the snake, the sword, the lion’s rage;
And if thy brief existence is His will.
Poison or antidote alike will kill;
The mighty Hustam was by Shagad killed
When his allotted time he had fulfilled.
Saadi Shirazi [Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī] (1210 - 1292) Iran
Translated by W.C. Mackinnon
Source: A Few Flowers from the Garden of Sheikh Saadi Shirazi, Translated by W.C. Mackinnon, Thacker, Spink & Co., 1877
And by strong arms and fingers is not won;
When heaven refuses thee fair fortune’s smile
Thy bravest efforts cannot her beguile;
The ant, so weakly, fears not hunger’s pangs;
Lions would starve dependent on their fangs;
We cannot reach the heavens with our hands,
Then must remain content with its commands;
If God hath granted thee a good old age
Fear not the snake, the sword, the lion’s rage;
And if thy brief existence is His will.
Poison or antidote alike will kill;
The mighty Hustam was by Shagad killed
When his allotted time he had fulfilled.
Saadi Shirazi [Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī] (1210 - 1292) Iran
Translated by W.C. Mackinnon
Source: A Few Flowers from the Garden of Sheikh Saadi Shirazi, Translated by W.C. Mackinnon, Thacker, Spink & Co., 1877
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please keep your comments relevant and free from abusive language. Thank you. Note that comments are moderated so it may be a day or two before your comment is posted - irrelevant or abusive comments will not be published.