The world-acclaimed Persian poet of Iran, Shaikh Moslehoddin Sa’di

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 27th of the Islamic month of Zil-Hijjah in 691 AH, the world-acclaimed Persian poet of Iran, Shaikh Moslehoddin Sa’di, passed away in his hometown Shiraz. He left at a young age for Baghdad where he studied at the famous Nizamiyyah Academy, excelling in Islamic Sciences, law, governance, history, Arabic literature and theology.
The unsettled conditions following the Mongol invasion of Iran led him to wander for 30 years through Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and Anatolia or what is now Turkey. He also refers in his works about his travels in Sindh or present day Pakistan, as well as India and Central Asia.
Sa'di performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. Even during his travels he composed beautiful Persian and Arabic poems. On return to his hometown, Shiraz, he composed his two famous masterpieces, the Bustan or the Orchard and the Golestan of the Rose Garden.
The poems in Bustan speak of such topics as justice, love, kindness, modesty, contentment, education, repentance, and prayers. The next year he completed the Golestan, which is in prose, and also contains his Arabic and Persian poems, in addition to moral and social anecdotes in 8 chapters. His collection of poems also includes odes and quatrains. The tomb of Sa’di in Shiraz is a frequently visited site.