Persian poet Sa’di’s major literary work ‘Gulistan,’ has been translated into Bulgarian and published by the National Library of Bulgaria in Sofia, the capital city.
Gulistan (the Rose Garden) is a landmark in Persian literature and perhaps its single most influential work of prose. Written in 1258 AD, it is one of two major works by Sa’di, who is considered one of the greatest medieval Persian poets. It is also one of his most popular books in both the West and East. Gulistan is a collection of poems and stories and is widely quoted as a source of wisdom.
The book translated by Khadijeh Barbar, a Muslim scholar, was unveiled at a ceremony at NLB, which was attended by Iranian Ambassador to Sofia Abdollah Norouzi and cultural advisor Mohammad Ali Kiani, besides head of NLB, Boriana Hristova, and director of the Oriental Department of the library, Stoyanka Kenderova, Mehr News Agency reported.
The book is in eight chapters, each comprising a number of stories and poetry, including ‘The Manners of Kings’, ‘On the Morals of Dervishes’, ‘On the Excellence of Contentment’, ‘On the Advantages of Silence’ and ‘On Love and Youth’.
“The idea of translating the book came up when I had to study some parts of Gulistan,” said Barbar, adding that ‘Correction and Annotation of Gulistan’ by Gholam Hossein Yousefi, Iranian author and literary scholar, contributed greatly to the translation process.
“I learned patience, tolerance, understanding of strangers and respecting different ideas, from Sa’adi’s work,” she noted.
Sa’adi 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. He is also widely recognized as one of the greatest poets of classical literary tradition.
