Sa‘di and the Others: The Semi-Rhymed Prose, and ‘Inimitable Facility’ Art Forms

Sa‘di is too great to need an introduction for even those with a meagre knowledge of Persian literature. He is particularly known for his books of Bustan and Golestan, although he wrote in various genres, notably many excellent love-lyrics. It could be argued that half of the value of Sa‘di’s books, Golestan and Bustan is due to their form. The former is a book of prose, and the latter, a narrative poem, a masnavi in the ‘moteqareb rhyme’مثنوی در بحر متقارب). Golestan’s ‘rhymed prose’ (نثر مسجع) is made up of semi-rhymed-and metred sentences. The other distinctive art of the two books, once again in both poetry and prose, is what is usually described as the art of ‘inimitable facility’ (سهل و ممتنع). Considering both arts, there have been a few authors before and after Sa‘di who have applied them in their works: before him Qazi Hamid al-Din Balkhi, Khvājeh ‘Abdollāh Ansāri Heravi, and to a limited extent Farid al-Din Attār; after Sa‘di Qāem-Maqām Farāhāni, Qā’āni Shirāzi and Iraj Mirzā.