This page reads the prose of tale 7 from Book I of Saadi's Golestan, composed in the thirteenth century. The checked public-domain text is Golestan, Book I, tale 7 on Ganjoor. The five extracts below reproduce that edition's prose without its added modern paraphrase.
The anecdote depicts an enslaved man being thrown into the sea to stop his panic. That action reflects a violent premodern hierarchy and is not advice to imitate. We can study Saadi's grammar and moral structure without endorsing the characters' treatment of him.
The Complete Prose Selection in Five Parts
پادشاهی با غلامی عجمی در کشتی نشست و غلام، دیگر دریا را ندیده بود و محنت کشتی نیازموده.
pâdshâhi bâ gholâmi ajami dar kashti neshast-o gholâm, digar daryâ râ nadide bud-o mehnat-e kashti nayâzmude.
A king boarded a ship with an Ajam slave; the slave had not previously seen the sea or experienced the hardship of sailing. (Saadi, Golestan I.7; literary, public domain)
گریه و زاری درنهاد و لرزه بر اندامش اوفتاد. چندان که ملاطفت کردند آرام نمیگرفت و عیش ملک از او منغص بود. چاره ندانستند.
gerye-vo zâri dar-nehâd-o larze bar andâm-ash oftâd. chandân ke molâtefat kardand ârâm nemi-gereft-o eysh-e malek az u monaghghas bud. châre nadânestand.
He began to weep and lament, and trembling came over his body. However much they treated him gently, he would not calm down, and the king's pleasure was spoiled by him. They knew no remedy. (Saadi; literary)
حکیمی در آن کشتی بود، ملک را گفت: اگر فرمان دهی، من او را به طریقی خامش گردانم. گفت: غایت لطف و کرم باشد.
hakimi dar ân kashti bud, malek râ goft: agar farmân dahi, man u râ be tariqi khâmush gardânam. goft: ghâyat-e lotf-o karam bâshad.
A wise man was on that ship and said to the king, ‘If you give the order, I shall quiet him by a certain method.’ He said, ‘That would be the utmost kindness and generosity.’ (Saadi; literary)
بفرمود تا غلام به دریا انداختند. باری چند غوطه خورد، مویش گرفتند و پیش کشتی آوردند. به دو دست در سکان کشتی آویخت. چون برآمد به گوشهای بنشست و قرار یافت.
be-farmud tâ gholâm be daryâ andâkhtand. bâri chand ghowte khord, mu-yash gereftand-o pish-e kashti âvardand. be do dast dar sokkân-e kashti âvikht. chun bar-âmad be gushe-i be-neshast-o qarâr yâft.
He ordered them to throw the slave into the sea. He went under several times; they took him by the hair and brought him alongside the ship. He clung to the rudder with both hands. When he came up, he sat in a corner and became calm. (Saadi; literary, account of violence)
ملک را عجب آمد؛ پرسید: در این چه حکمت بود؟ گفت: از اول محنت غرقه شدن ناچشیده بود و قدر سلامت کشتی نمیدانست. همچنین قدر عافیت کسی داند که به مصیبتی گرفتار آید.
malek râ ajab âmad; porsid: dar in che hekmat bud? goft: az avval mehnat-e gharqe shodan na-cheshide bud-o qadr-e salâmat-e kashti nemi-dânest. hamchenin qadr-e âfiyat kasi dânad ke be mosibati gereftâr âyad.
The king was amazed and asked, ‘What wisdom was in this?’ He said, ‘At first he had not tasted the distress of drowning and did not know the value of the ship's safety. Likewise, one who falls into misfortune knows the value of well-being.’ (Saadi's moral conclusion; literary)
Opening: Shared Auxiliary and Historical Vocabulary
In the first extract, عجمی is a historical social label, commonly “non-Arab” and often “Persian” in older literature; it should not be mapped casually onto a modern passport identity. غلام here names an enslaved male servant, not a neutral modern employee.
Context gives older دیگر the value “previously / before,” close to modern تا آن زمان. In دریا را ندیده بود و محنت کشتی نیازموده, the expressed بود after ندیده is understood again with نیازموده: “had not seen ... and [had] not experienced....” Modern prose may repeat the auxiliary for clarity.
Classical Event Verbs and Connectors
گریه و زاری درنهاد is a compact literary way to say “began weeping and lamenting.” Modern Persian prefers شروع به گریه و زاری کرد or simply گریه و زاری کرد. Source اوفتاد is an older written variant of modern افتاد.
خدمتکار شروع به گریه کرد و بدنش لرزید.
khedmatkâr shoru' be gerye kard-o badan-ash larzid.
The servant began to cry, and his body trembled. (original modern paraphrase)
چندان که here has concessive force: no matter how much they soothed him, the result did not change. Modern هرچه ... makes that relationship clearer.
هرچه با او مهربانی کردند، آرام نشد.
harche bâ u mehrabâni kardand, ârâm nashod.
However kindly they treated him, he did not calm down. (original modern equivalent)
ملک را گفت and Command Complements
In ملک را گفت, را marks the recipient with a pattern available in classical prose. Ordinary modern Iranian Persian says به پادشاه گفت. Reading ملک را as an ordinary modern direct object would conceal the historical construction.
یکی از مسافران به پادشاه گفت: «اگر اجازه بدهید، او را آرام میکنم.»
yeki az mosâferân be pâdshâh goft: «agar ejâze bedahid, u râ ârâm mi-konam.»
One of the travelers said to the king, ‘If you permit me, I will calm him.’ (original modern paraphrase)
Source بفرمود تا ... انداختند uses literary prefixed بفرمود and تا to introduce what others were ordered to do. The plural verb has an unexpressed human agent. Modern prose can state that agent or use an impersonal third plural.
پادشاه دستور داد او را به آب بیندازند.
pâdshâh dastur dâd u râ be âb biyandâzand.
The king ordered them to throw him into the water. (original modern paraphrase of the source event)
چون, Experiencer را, and the Moral
Source چون برآمد uses چون as a temporal connector “when/once,” not causal “because.” The prefixed pasts برآمد، بنشست are literary. Modern narrative uses وقتی بیرون آمد، ... نشست.
وقتی او را از آب بیرون آوردند، گوشهای نشست و آرام گرفت.
vaqti u râ az âb birun âvardand, gushe-i neshast-o ârâm gereft.
When they brought him out of the water, he sat in a corner and calmed down. (original modern paraphrase)
ملک را عجب آمد treats the king as experiencer with را: amazement “came to” him. Modern prose normally recasts the person as subject.
پادشاه تعجب کرد و پرسید راز این تغییر چه بود.
pâdshâh ta'ajjab kard-o porsid râz-e in taghyir che bud.
The king was surprised and asked what explained this change. (original modern paraphrase)
The conclusion کسی داند is a generic literary present without می. Modern کسی میداند expresses the same generalization. For that marked paradigm, see Literary Simple Present without می.
کسی که سختی را تجربه کرده باشد، آسایش را بهتر میفهمد.
kasi ke sakhti râ tajrobe karde bâshad, âsâyesh râ behtar mi-fahmad.
Someone who has experienced hardship understands comfort better. (original modern paraphrase of the moral)
This is the tale's generalization, not a scientific universal and not a justification for inflicting harm. همچنین connects the specific shipboard explanation to that broader analogy.
Common Mistakes
1. Silently modernizing inside quotation marks
⚠️ سعدی نوشته است: «لرزه بر اندامش افتاد و او را خاموش گردانم.»
Sa'di neveshte ast: «larze bar andâm-ash oftâd-o u râ khâmush gardânam.»
Saadi wrote, ‘Trembling came over his body, and I shall silence him.’ Naturalized spelling, but not the exact wording of the checked edition, which has اوفتاد and خامش.
✅ در نسخهی بررسیشده، صورتهای «اوفتاد» و «خامش» آمده است.
dar noskhe-ye barrasi-shode, surat-hâ-ye «oftâd» va «khâmush» âmade ast.
The checked edition contains the forms اوفتاد and خامش. (accurate editorial statement)
2. Copying classical recipient را into neutral speech
⚠️ مدیر را گفتم که فردا نمیآیم.
modir râ goftam ke fardâ nemi-âyam.
I told the manager that I am not coming tomorrow. Interpretable as marked literary syntax, not neutral contemporary conversation.
✅ به مدیر گفتم که فردا مرخصی میگیرم.
be modir goftam ke fardâ morakhkhasi mi-giram.
I told the manager that I'll take leave tomorrow. (neutral modern Persian)
3. Reading literary داند as a past tense
⚠️ قدر عافیت کسی داند.
qadr-e âfiyat kasi dânad.
Someone knew the value of well-being. Incorrect interpretation: داند is a literary present, not a simple past.
✅ در فارسی امروز میگوییم کسی قدر آسایش را میداند.
dar Fârsi-ye emruz mi-guyim kasi qadr-e âsâyesh râ mi-dânad.
In today's Persian we say that someone appreciates well-being. (modern generic present)
4. Treating the anecdote as practical advice
⚠️ برای آرام کردن آدم ترسیده باید او را در خطر انداخت.
barâ-ye ârâm kardan-e âdam-e tarside bâyad u râ dar khatar andâkht.
To calm a frightened person, one must put them in danger. Grammatically valid, but an unethical literal prescription that the page does not endorse.
✅ این حکایت را باید در زمینهی تاریخی و ادبی خودش خواند.
in hekâyat râ bâyad dar zamine-ye târikhi-vo adabi-ye khod-ash khând.
This anecdote should be read in its own historical and literary context. (responsible framing)
Key Takeaways
- Preserve verified source forms when quoting; label every modernization as a paraphrase.
- Older دیگر, shared بود, temporal چون, command-complement تا, and generic داند require contextual reading.
- Classical ملک را گفت and ملک را عجب آمد do not map onto one single modern use of را.
- Modernization often changes syntax: به پادشاه گفت، پادشاه تعجب کرد، وقتی بیرون آمد.
- Historical grammar can be studied critically without treating the tale's violence as a recommendation.
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