Maslahu 'd-Din Shaykh Saadi was born, towards the close of the twelfth
century, at Shiraz, the famous capital of Fars, concerning which city
the Persians have the saying that "if Muhammed had tasted the pleasures
of Shiraz, he would have begged Allah to make him immortal there." In
accordance with the usual practice in Persia, he assumed as his
_takhallus_, or poetical name,[1] Saadi, from his patron Atabag Saad bin
Zingi, sovereign of Fars, who encouraged men of learning in his
principality. Saadi is said to have lived upwards of a hundred years,
thirty of which were passed in the acquisition of knowledge, thirty more
in travelling through different countries, and the rest of his life he
spent in retirement and acts of devotion. He died, in his native city,
about the year 1291.
[1] One reason, doubtless, for Persian and Turkish poets
adopting a _takhallus_ is the custom of the poet
introducing his name into every ghazal he composes,
generally towards the end; and as his proper name would
seldom or never accommodate itself to purposes of verse
he selects a more suitable one.
At one period of his life Saadi took part in the wars of the Saracens
against the Crusaders in Palestine, and also in the wars for the faith
in India.
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