Sadi's Scroll of Wisdom: On the Vicissitudes of Fortune a...
Sadi's Scroll of Wisdom, by Arthur N. Wollaston, [1906]
Regard this globe, resplendent like gold,
The roof of which is firm without pillars!
Regard the curtain of the revolving sphere!
Regard its glittering lamps! 1
One is a shepherd, and another a sovereign;
One is a suppliant for justice, another covets a throne;
One is happy, and another miserable;
One is prosperous, and another unfortunate;
One is a payer of taxes, and another sits on a throne;
One is exalted, and another debased;
One sitteth on a mat, and another upon a throne;
One is in rags, and another is clad in silk;
One hath no bread, and another revels in wealth; p. 58
One is disappointed, and another prosperous;
One is afflicted, and another rolleth in riches;
One hath a transient fate, and another is established throughout eternity;
One is full of health, and another is sickly;
One is full of years, and another is a mere stripling;
One is filled with righteousness, and another lives in sin;
One is given to prayer, and another is addicted to deceit;
One is upright and religious,
Another is immersed in an ocean of crime and wickedness;
One is of good disposition, and another is of hasty temper;
One is patient, and another is quarrelsome;
One is at ease, another in pain;
One is in difficulties, another is prosperous;
One is a chieftain in the world of luxury, p. 59
Another is a captive in the snares of adversity;
One is established in the rose garden of comfort,
Another is associated with anguish, pain, and distress;
One is like a rose resplendent with joy,
Another is distressed at heart, and pained in soul;
One girdeth his loins with obedience,
Another bringeth his life to an end in sin;
One passeth day and night with the Koran in his hands,
Another sleepeth intoxicated in the corner of a wine shop;
One is fixed firm as a peg at the door of religion,
Another is a sinner in the way of infidelity;
One is prosperous, learned, and intelligent,
Another is unfortunate, ignorant, and abashed; p. 60
One is a champion, agile, and a warrior,
Another is faint-hearted, indolent, and without courage;
One exceedeth all limits in the possession of wealth,
Another is in want of bread and means for his family;
One hath the taper of joy resplendent,
To another bright daylight is as night.
57:1 The stars.