"Two persons take trouble in vain, and use fruitless endeavors, — he who acquires wealth without enjoying it, and he who is taught wisdom but does not practice it. How much soever you may study science, when you do not act wisely you are ignorant. The beast whom they load with books is not profoundly learned and wise; what knoweth his empty skull whether he carrieth firewood or books?"

"God gives sleep to the bad, in order that the good maybe undisturbed."

"He who learns, and makes no use of his learning, is a beast of burden with a load of books. — Does the ass comprehend whether he carries on his back a library or a bundle of faggots?"

"A wise man in the company of those who are ignorant, has been compared to a beautiful girl in the company of blind men."

"A handsome woman is a jewel; a good woman is a treasure."

"I fear God, and next to God I chiefly fear him who fears him not."

"Nothing is so good for an ignorant man as silence; and if he was sensible of this he would not be ignorant."

"He who is intoxicated with wine will be sober again in the course of the night, but he who is intoxicated by the cup-bearer will not recover his senses until the day of judgment."

"O wise man, wash your hands of that friend who associates with your enemies."

"The telling of a falsehood is like the cut of a sabre; for though the wound may heal, the scar of it will remain."

"The bad fortune of the good turns their faces up to heaven; the good fortune of the bad bows their heads down to the earth."

"Capacity without education is deplorable, and education without capacity is thrown away."

"Let him who neglects to raise the fallen, fear lest, when he falls, no one will stretch out his hand to lift him up."

"The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together."

"That which is not allotted the hand cannot reach; and what is allotted you will find wherever you may be."

"Independence is of more value than any gifts; and to receive gifts is to lose it. — Men most commonly seek to oblige thee only that they may engage thee to serve them."

"Not all the year, the vines their clusters keep: Now fruitful are, now leafy tears do weep. Sunlike, the pure are shadowed by a cloud; As sparks on water are the envious crowd: Those, by degrees, their former radiance shed; These are extinguished in a wat’ry bed. Fear not the dark, my friend, howe’er profound: Perchance therein life’s water may be found. Let not despair, though dark, thy soul dismay, For night is pregnant with the glorious day."

"In Suna’s town, my child’s life passed away; How can I tell the sadness of that day! As fair as Joseph, God creates a slave; Then, Jonah-like, he’s swallow’d by the grave. In this fair world, scarce grown, the cypress form Uprooted is, by death’s relentless storm. It is not strange the rose on earth should grow, So many rose-like bodies sleep below. Madly I longed to see his form once more, So off the tomb the weighty stone I tore. Fear seized me in that place, so dark and strange: It made me shake, and all my color change. Then came a voice (my child’s) from out the bier: "Dost thou feel terror at this darksome sight? Live, then, with care, and let thy works be bright. If thou dost wish thy grave as light as day, Illume life’s lamp with virtue’s shining ray." Saadi, he eats the fruit who plants the tree; Who sows the seed will fruitful harvests see."

"He who is a slave to his belly seldom worships God."

"The beloved of the Almighty are the rich who have the humility of the poor, and the poor who have the magnanimity of the rich."

"Abar gar ab-i-zindagi barad Hargiz az shakh-i-bed bar na khori Bar faromaya rozgar mabar Kaz nai boriya shakar nakhori."

"Take warning by the misfortunes of others, that others may not take example from you."

"Ahanera ki morchana bikhurad Natawan burd azū basaiqal zang; Ba siyah dil che sud guftan w'az? Narawad mekh-i-ahanin dar sang."

"Each is bounded by his nature, And remains the same in stature, In the valley, on the mountain: Scoop from ocean or from fountain With a poor hand or a richer, You can only fill your pitcher."

"Our condition is like the darting lightning, one instant flashing and the next disappearing. Sometimes we are seated above the fourth heaven, and at other times we cannot see the back of our feet."

"He only has drunk the pure wine of unity who has forgotten, by remembering , all else in both worlds."

"The wise man never heard a joke But living wisdom from it broke; The fool no wisdom ever learned But it in him to folly turned."

"Deep in the sea are riches beyond compare. But if you seek safety, it is on the shore."

"A little and a little collected together becomes a great deal; the heap in the barn consists of single grains, and drop and drop form an inundation."

"How hast thou so profound a lore attained?" "To ask another, I was ne’er ashamed."

"To pious minds, each verdant leaf displays A volume teeming with the Almighty’s praise."

"Who despises an insignificant enemy resembles him who is careless about fire."

"Whatever is produced in haste goes easily to waste."

"Whenever you argue with another wiser than yourself, in order that others may admire your wisdom, they will discover your ignorance."

"Science is for the cultivation of religion, not for worldly enjoyments."

"From earth arise bright colors, scent, and food, To please the eye, the brain, and hunger’s mood. Bees honey give, sweet dew the heavens shed, The dates from palms, and trees from seeds are bred. Gnawing his hand, each gardener shows despair: For who but He can make the world so fair? The sun, the moon, the Pleiades on high,— Thy chandeliers; thy palace roof, the sky! The rose from thorns, and musk from bags He brings; Gold from the mines, a leaf from dry wood springs. His own hand drew thine eye and brow so fair; A friend one cannot leave to other’s care. That mighty One, who hath so cherished thee With blessings varied as the colored sea,— In praising him, our lives we ought to spend: Our tongues can’t count his virtues without end. O God! my heart is blood, sore wounds mine eyes: For, lo! I see thy praise beyond me lies. I say not beasts and ants and flies thee praise, But angel hosts, amazed, their hands upraise! Although by all the world thy praise is rung, Ten thousand thousands yet remain unsung. Saadi, depart! thy pen and paper quit; Take not that road which has no end to it!"

"Were the diver to think on the jaws of the shark, he would never lay hands on the precious pearl."

"Whatever makes an impression on the heart seems lovely in the eye."

"Whoever interrupts the conversation of others to make a display of his own fund of knowledge, makes notorious his own stock of ignorance."

"بنی آدم اعضای یک پیکرند که در آفرينش ز یک گوهرند چو عضوى به درد آورد روزگار دگر عضوها را نماند قرار تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی نشاید که نامت نهند آدمیBanī 'ādam a'zā-ye yek peykar-and ke dar 'āfarīn-aš ze yek gowhar-and čo 'ozvī be dard āvarad rūzgār degar 'ozvhā-rā na-mānad qarār to k-az mehnat-ē dīgarān bīqam-ī na-šāyad ke nām-at nahand ādamī"

"If thou covetest riches, ask not but for contentment, which is an immense treasure."

"I never lamented about the vicissitudes of time or complained of the turns of fortune, except on the occasion when I was barefooted and unable to procure slippers. But when I entered the great mosque of Kufah with a sore heart, and beheld a man without feet, I offered thanks to the bounty of God, consoled myself for my want of shoes, and recited: "A roast fowl is to the sight of a satiated man less valuable than a blade of fresh grass on the table, and to him who has no means nor power a burnt turnip is [as good as] a roasted fowl.""

"There is a difference between him who claspeth his mistress in his arms, and him whose eyes are fixed on the door expecting her."

"When the belly is empty, the body becomes spirit; when it is full, the spirit becomes body."

"Every leaf of the tree becomes a page of the sacred scripture once the soul has learnt to read."

"In the faculty of speech man excels the brute; but if thou utterest what is improper, the brute is thy superior."

"Use a sweet tongue, courtesy, and gentleness, and thou mayst manage to guide an elephant with a hair."

"He—in whose nature, is the ugly disposition Sees not the peacock,—only his ugly foot."

"Have patience! All things are difficult before they become easy."

"He who is a slave to his stomach seldom worships God."