Sa'di

Homa Katouzian (University of Oxford)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Tweet Report an Error

Sheykh Moshrefeddin (son of) Mosleheddin Sa’di of Shirz (circa 1206- 1291) is one of the stars of Classical Persian literature. What is certain about Sa’di’s life is that he flourished in the thirteenth century, went to the Nezamiyeh College of Baghdad, travelled wide and lived long. It is clear from his love poetry that he was an ardent lover, and from much of his works that he was not a Sufi, although he cherished the ideals of Sufism and admired the legendary classical Sufis. Not much else can be said about his life with the same degree of certainty.

In the introduction to his long poem Bustan (Orchard), Sa’di writes that he had travelled far and wide and spent time with all manner of people, but none such as …

2133 words

Citation: Katouzian, Homa. "Sa'di". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 June 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12967, accessed 24 November 2024.]

12967 Sa'di 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.