Būstān, or Saʿdī'nāmah, is an ethical, philosophical, and mystical masnavi in Persian literature. As mentioned in the preface to Būstān, Saʿdī versified this poem in 655 AH, between the two eids of Fiṭr and Qurbān, in honour of Abū Bikr ibn Saʿd ibn Zangī, the Salghurid ruler during 623-658 AH. Saʿdī did not give it a title, but refers to it within the text as 'Nām'burdār-i ganj'. Old editions of this masnavi had a title of 'Saʿdī'nāmah', but recent and new copiers have called it Būstān to correspond with his other work in prose, Gulistān. The poem is versified in the poetry measure known as 'mutaqārib mus̱amman maḥẕūf'. It includes short narratives in a preface and ten chapters, as follows: Chapter 1: عدل و تدبیر رأی Chapter 2: احسان Chapter 3: عشق و مستی و شور Chapter 4: تواضع Chapter 5: رضا Chapter 6: قناعت Chapter 7: عالم تربیت Chapter 8: شکر بر عافیت Chapter 9: توبه و راه صواب Chapter 10: مناجات و ختم کتاب. Many commentaries have been written on this work over time in Persian, Turkish, and Western languages such as Latin, French, German, Dutch, and English. According to the edition presented by Ghulām'Ḥusayn Yūsifī based on the genuine copy of Bodmer Library, Cologny (Geneva), the number of verses is 4011. However, others have noted it to contain even up to approximately 5000 verses. — Multiple dates; Unknown place of origin

Title

Būstān, or Saʿdī'nāmah, is an ethical, philosophical, and mystical masnavi in Persian literature. As mentioned in the preface to Būstān, Saʿdī versified this poem in 655 AH, between the two eids of Fiṭr and Qurbān, in honour of Abū Bikr ibn Saʿd ibn Zangī, the Salghurid ruler during 623-658 AH. Saʿdī did not give it a title, but refers to it within the text as 'Nām'burdār-i ganj'. Old editions of this masnavi had a title of 'Saʿdī'nāmah', but recent and new copiers have called it Būstān to correspond with his other work in prose, Gulistān. The poem is versified in the poetry measure known as 'mutaqārib mus̱amman maḥẕūf'. It includes short narratives in a preface and ten chapters, as follows: Chapter 1: عدل و تدبیر رأی Chapter 2: احسان Chapter 3: عشق و مستی و شور Chapter 4: تواضع Chapter 5: رضا Chapter 6: قناعت Chapter 7: عالم تربیت Chapter 8: شکر بر عافیت Chapter 9: توبه و راه صواب Chapter 10: مناجات و ختم کتاب. Many commentaries have been written on this work over time in Persian, Turkish, and Western languages such as Latin, French, German, Dutch, and English. According to the edition presented by Ghulām'Ḥusayn Yūsifī based on the genuine copy of Bodmer Library, Cologny (Geneva), the number of verses is 4011. However, others have noted it to contain even up to approximately 5000 verses. — Multiple dates; Unknown place of origin

Shelfmark

Wadh.Minasian 356

Place of origin

Unknown place of origin

Date

13th century

Language

Persian

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Western paper (plain), natural buff, varying thickness (regular, thick), one size; single-line decorative frame.

Physical extent

156 ff.

Hands

Cursive Nastʿalīq, one hand, regular. Anonymous

Acquisition

Donated to The Ferdowsi Library by Dr Caro Minasian in 1972.

Subject

Persian poetry--747-1500