Once a poet was sitting in a garden. He suddenly smelt a beautiful fragrance coming from the piece of soil beside him; he asked the soil why it is smelt so beautiful ! The soil told the poet to look up at what was right above it? It was a beautiful ‘climbing lang-lang tree’  blossoming   with   sweet

smelling flowers for a long time – the flowers from the branches of this tree drop on me every day and so – I smell good too, ‘the soil explained to the poet’.

Saadi of Shiraz was one of the major poets and literary men of the medieval period. He is not only famous in Persian-speaking countries, but has been quoted in western sources as well. He is recognized for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts. Saadi is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets of the classical literary tradition.

Saadi is well known for his aphorisms, the most famous of which, Bani Adam, is part of ‘the Gulistan’. In a delicate way it calls for breaking down all barriers between human beings:

Adam’s sons are body limbs, to say; For they’re created of the same clay. Should one organ be troubled by pain, Others would suffer severe strain. Thou, careless of people’s suffering, Deserve not the name, “human being”. Translation is by H. Vahid Dastjerdi

Wiseland: So, better to be with no one than to be with the wrong one dash as attitude and empathy are contagious.