Shaykh Saadi Shirazi

[NNoor]

Any good biographies in English? Was most of his poetry in Arabic or Farsi? Any good collections of his poetry?

[The Milk Sheikh]

Salam-wa-Rahmatullah NNoor,

Shaykh Sa'di Shirazi is one of the iconic poets of the Persian language. So in answer to your question, yes he wrote his poetry entirely in Farsi.

To be quite honest, I've only read bits and pieces of his Gulistan (The Rose Garden) and alas only in English (as I'm not a Farsi speaker). The version that I refer to is the following: http://www.amazon.com/dp/2909347060

As you're probably aware, the opening couplet of the Gulistan adorns the entrance to the Hall of Nations of the UN building in New York:

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 آدمی

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

A good scholar that I can personally recommend to you for an understanding of the life and works of Sa'di Shirazi, is Dr Iraj Bashiri:

Contribution of Bashiri Working Papers
to an understanding of the works of

Shaykh Muslih al-Din Sa'di Shirazi

Wasalam

[NNoor]

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately, I don't know Farsi either, so I will have to read the English translations.

Do we have any information about his spiritual chain (if he had one?)?