Gulistan of Saadi

On the Excellence of Contentment

 Story 18

An Arab suffering in the desert from extreme thirst recited:

‘Would that before my death
I could one day enjoy my wish
That a river’s waves might strike my knee
And I might fill my water-bag.’

In the same manner another traveller lost himself in an extensive region having neither any strength
nor food left but he possessed some money and roamed about and the road leading him nowhere he
perished from exhaustion. Some people afterwards discovered his corpse with the money in front of it
and the following written on the ground:

If possessed of all the Ja’feri gold,
It will avail nothing to a hungry man.
To a poor man burnt in the desert
Boiled turnips are more valuable than pure silver.

READ MORE:

Gulistan of Saadi | On the Excellence of Contentment | Story 17

Gulistan of Saadi | On the Excellence of Contentment | Story 16

Gulistan of Saadi | On the Excellence of Contentment | Story 15