Original Arabic Text

Metre: vāfir (mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün fe‘ûlün). The edition's footnotes point to metrical licence in the words "nüḳāl" and "nāṣıḥīnā"; it is we who call the metre vāfir; Ünlüsoy and Asım call it serî‘.

القَولُ فِي إرْسالِ الرُّسُلِ
el-Ḳavlu fī irsāli’r-rusul (on the sending of messengers)

يُضَمِّنُ حِكْمَةَ إرسالِ رُسُلٍ
وَيَشْهَدُهُ ذَهِينٌ ذُو انْتِقالِ

Yüżemminu ḥikmete irsāli rusulin
Ve yeşheduhū ẕehīnun ẕü’ntiḳālī

وَأرْسَلَ رَبُّنا رُسُلاً كِرامًا
إلَى المَخْلُوقِ أمرًا بِامتِثالِ

Ve ersele rabbunā rusulen kirāmen
İle’l-maḫlūḳı emran bi’mtis̱ālī

يُبَشِّرُ أهْلَ طاعاتٍ بِبُشْرَى
وَيُنْذِرُ أهلَ سُوءِ الافْتِعالِ

Yübeşşiru ehle ṭā‘ātin bi-buşrā
Ve yünẕiru ehle sū’i’l-ifti‘ālī

يُبَيِّنُ لِلْأناسِ أمُورَ دِينٍ
وَأسْبابَ المَعايِشِ مِن حَلالِ

Yübeyyinu li’l-unāsi umūra dīnin
Ve esbābe’l-me‘āyişi min ḥalālī

وَأيَّدَهُمْ بِأقْوَى مُعْجِزاتٍ
خَوارِقِ عادَةٍ يا ذا الخِصالِ

Ve eyyedehüm bi-aḳvā mu‘cizātin
Ḫavāriḳı ‘ādetin yā ẕe’l-ḫiṣālī

وَاوَّلُ أنبِياءِ اللهِ طُرًّا
صَفِيُّ اللهِ آدَمُ ذُو شِمالِ

Ve evvelu enbiyā’i’llāhi ṭurran
Ṣafiyyu’llāhi Ādemu ẕū şimālī

وَآخِرُهُمْ نَبِيٌّ هاشِمِيٌّ
قُرَيشِيٌّ مُحَمَّدُ ذُو خِلالِ

Ve āḫiruhüm nebiyyun Hāşimiyyun
Ḳurayşiyyun Muḥammedu ẕū ḫilālī

وَيُرْوَى فِي الحَدِيثِ لَهُمْ عِدادٌ
هُوَ المَشْهُورُ ما بَينَ النُّقالِ

Ve yürvā fi’l-ḥadīs̱i lehüm ‘idādun
Hüve’l-meşhūru mā beyne’n-nüḳālī

فَأولَى تَرْكُ قَصْرٍ فِي عِدادٍ
وَكَونٌ عِندَ ذِكْرٍ بِاحْتِمالِ

Fe-evlā terku ḳaṣrin fī ‘idādin
Ve kevnun ‘inde ẕikrin bi’ḥtimālī

لِأنَّ اللهَ لَمْ يَقْصُصْ رَسُولًا
جَمِيعَ الأنْبِياءِ ذَوِي المَعالِي

Li-enna’llāhe lem yaḳṣuṣ resūlen
Cemī‘a’l-enbiyā’i ẕevi’l-me‘ālī

فَإنْ قَصَرُوا فَمُحْتَمَلٌ لِعَقْلٍ
دُخُولُ الغَيرِ فِيهِمْ يا أهْلَ خالِ

Fe-in ḳaṣarū fe-muḥtemelun li-‘aḳlin
Duḫūlu’l-ġayri fīhim yā ehle ḫālī

وَمُحْتَمَلٌ خُرُوجُ البَعْضِ أيضًا
وَهذا لَيسَ شَأنَ الاعْتِدالِ

Ve muḥtemelun ḫurūcu’l-ba‘żi eyżan
Ve hāẕā leyse şe’ne’l-i‘tidālī

وَكُلُّهُمْ يُبَلِّغُ لِلْبَرايا
مِنَ الرَّحْمنِ أحكامًا عَوالِي

Ve küllühüm yübelliġu li’l-berāyā
Mine’r-raḥmāni aḥkāmen ‘avālī

وَكانُوا صادِقِينَ وَناصِحِينا
بِخَيرٍ لِلْأدانِي وَالأعالِي

Ve kānū ṣādıḳīne ve nāṣıḥīnā
Bi-ḫayrin li’l-edānī ve’l-e‘ālī

وَأفْضَلُهُمْ رَسُولُ اللهِ حَقًّا
مُحَمَّدٌ ذُو المَحامِدِ وَالثِّمالِ

Ve efżaluhüm resūlu’llāhi ḥaḳḳan
Muḥammedun ẕü’l-meḥāmidi ve’s̱-s̱imālī

سِراجُ الأصْفِياءِ بِلا نَظِيرٍ
وَخَتْمُ الأنْبِياءِ بِلا مِثالِ

Sirācu’l-aṣfiyā’i bi-lā naẓīrin
Ve ḫatmu’l-enbiyā’i bi-lā mis̱ālī

مَلائِكُ مِنْ عِبادِ اللهِ طُرًّا
وَلَيسُوا مِنْ أناثٍ أو رِجالِ

Melā’iku min ‘ibādi’llāhi ṭurran
Ve leysū min enās̱in ev ricālī

لِرَبِّي كُتُبٌ أرْسَلَها بِرُسُلٍ
لِتَبْيِينِ المَضَرَّةِ وَالمَنالِ

Li-rabbī kütubun erselehā bi-rusulin
Li-tebyīni’l-meżarrati ve’l-menālī

فَأرْسَلَنا بِهِمْ أمْراً وَنَهْيًا
وَوَعْدًا أو وَعِيدًا الاهْتِيالِ

Fe-erselenā bihim emran ve nehyen
Ve va‘den ev va‘īden el-ihtiyālī

وَمِعْراجُ الرَّسُولِ إلَى سَماءٍ
بِشَخْصِهِ لا بِحُلْمٍ أو خَيالِ

Ve mi‘rācu’r-resūli ilā semā’in
Bi-şaḫṣihī lā bi-ḥulmin ev ḫayālī

فَثُمَّ مِنَ العُلَى قَدْ نالَ لَيلًا
إلَى ما شاءَ رَبِّي ذُو التَّعالِي

Fe-s̱emme mine’l-‘ulā ḳad nāle leylen
İlā mā şā’e rabbī ẕü’t-te‘ālī

القَولُ فِي كَراماتِ الأولِياءِ
el-Ḳavlu fī kerāmāti’l-evliyā’ (on the marvels of the saints)

كَرامَةُ أولِياءِ اللهِ حَقٌّ
وَلا يَنْفِيهِ إلّا ذُو خَبالِ

Kerāmetu evliyā’i’llāhi ḥaḳḳun
Ve lā yenfīhi illā ẕū ḫabālī

فَتَظْهَرُ بَينَ أيدِيهِمْ أمُورٌ
خَوارِقُ عادَةٍ يا ذا الفَعالِ

Fe-teẓharu beyne eydīhim umūrun
Ḫavāriḳu ‘ādetin yā ẕe’l-fe‘ālī

كَقَطْعِ مَنازِلٍ فِي مِثْلِ آنٍ
أو أكْثَرَ مِنْهُ يا ذا الانْتِخالِ

Ke-ḳaṭ‘ı menāzilin fī mis̱li ānin
Ev eks̱era minhü yā ẕe’l-intiḫālī

وَإظْهارٍ لِأطْعِمَةٍ وَشُرْبٍ
لَدَى غَلَيانِ جُوعٍ وَاغْتِلالِ

Ve iẓhārin li-eṭ‘imetin ve şurbin
Ledā ġalayāni cū‘in ve’ġtilālī

وَمَشْيٍ فَوقَ ماءٍ بِلا انْغِماسٍ
وَسَيرٍ فِي الهَواءِ بِلا اعْتِمالِ

Ve meşyin fevḳa mā’in bi-lā’nġımāsin
Ve seyrin fi’l-hevā’i bi-lā’‘timālī

كَذلكَ نُطْقُ عُجْمٍ أو جَمادٍ
وَما يَحْكِيهِ فَاسْمَعْ بِاجْتِذالِ

Keẕālike nuṭḳu ‘ucmin ev cemādin
Ve mā yaḥkīhi fe’sma‘ bi’ctiẕālī

وَكُلٌّ مُعْجِزٌ لِنَبِيِّ عَصْرٍ
عَلَيهِ صَرَّحُوا كُلَّ المَوالِي

Ve küllun mu‘cizun li-nebiyyi ‘aṣrin
‘Aleyhi ṣarraḥū külle’l-mevālī

In English

143. The sending of messengers contains wisdom, and the quick, perceptive mind bears witness to it.

144. Our Lord sent noble messengers to His creatures, commanding them to obey.

145. They bring good news to the people of obedience and warn the doers of evil.

146. They make plain to people the matters of religion and the lawful means of livelihood.

147. God supported them with the mightiest miracles, things that break the usual course of nature, O man of good qualities.

148. The first of all God's prophets is Adam, the Chosen of God, of fine character. (Footnote: "şimāl", good character.)

149. And the last of them is a Prophet of Hāshim's house, of Quraysh, Muhammad, possessed of fine qualities.

150. A number for them is related in hadith; it is the one well known among the transmitters. (Footnote: "nüḳḳāl" is read without doubling for the sake of the metre.)

151. Even so, it is better not to confine them to a number and to leave room for possibility when naming them,

152. because God did not relate to the Messenger all the exalted prophets. (Footnote: "did not relate to a messenger".)

153. If they fix the number, it is possible to reason that some who are not prophets may be counted among them, O men of eminence,

154. and possible too that some may be left out; and that is not the way of moderation.

155. All of them convey to creatures the lofty rulings of the Merciful.

156. They were truthful, counselling good to the lowly and the high alike. (Footnote: the final alif of "nāṣıḥīnā" is for lengthening.)

157. Truly the most excellent of them is the Messenger of God, Muhammad, worthy of praise and a refuge to all. (Footnote: "s̱imāl", succour.)

158. He is the lamp of the chosen, without peer, and the seal of the prophets, without like.

159. The angels, all of them, are among God's servants; they are neither female nor male.

160. My Lord has books which He sent with His messengers to make clear what harms and what profits.

161. Through them He sent us command and prohibition, promise, and threat to strike fear. (The print reads "el-ihtiyāl"; the sense requires "li’htiyāl", "to frighten", as the footnote also says.)

162. The Messenger's ascension to heaven was in his own person, not in a dream or in imagination.

163. There, that night, he attained the heights, as far as my exalted Lord willed.

164. The marvels of God's friends are true; only one whose mind is corrupt denies them.

165. At their hands things appear that break the usual course of nature, O man of generosity. (Footnote: "fe‘āl", generosity.)

166. Such as crossing many stages of a journey in an instant or a little longer, O discerning man;

167. bringing forth food and drink when hunger and thirst are at their height;

168. walking on water without sinking and moving through the air without effort;

169. likewise the speech of a dumb beast or a lifeless thing and what it relates; listen to this gladly.

170. Each of these is a miracle of the prophet of that age; all the masters have stated this plainly.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Piece of Reasoning on the Number of Prophets

In this section there is a place where the poem stops listing rulings and carries out a small piece of reasoning. The number of the prophets is related in hadith, and that number is well known among the transmitters. Sa‘dī Çelebi nevertheless thinks it better not to confine them to a number and to leave room for possibility when naming them, and he gives his reason in four couplets. God did not relate all the prophets to His Messenger; if the number is fixed with certainty, it is rationally possible both that some who are not prophets are counted among them and that some prophets are left out; and that is not a moderate position. The reason rests on a two-sided risk of error: counting too many or counting too few. In the translation these couplets read "rationally possible, O great ones".

In the same part one of the edition's footnotes shows the poem's relation to the metre. The word "en-nüḳāl" in the hundred and fiftieth couplet is really the doubled "nüḳḳāl", the transmitters; the footnote says that the doubling was dropped because of the metre, as happens in some poems. Of the alif at the end of "nāṣıḥīnā" in the hundred and fifty-sixth couplet it says that it is "for lengthening". These notes show where, within the poem, the apology Sa‘dī made in the introduction for the narrowness of the metre finds its counterpart.

Prophets, Angels and Books

The first word of the section is that there is wisdom in the sending of prophets; their tasks are listed straight after: they bring good news to the obedient, warn evildoers, and make clear the matters of religion and the lawful means of livelihood; God has supported them with miracles that break the usual course of nature. The first prophet is Adam, the last Muhammad of Quraysh, of the house of Hāshim, and he is the most excellent of them. Sa‘dī calls him "the lamp of the chosen" and "the seal of the prophets", balancing the two titles in one couplet with the qualifications "bi-lā naẓīr" (without peer) and "bi-lā mis̱āl" (without like).

The angels appear in a single couplet: all of them are God's servants, neither female nor male. The books too are mentioned in one couplet; they were sent with the messengers to make clear what harms and what profits. The ascension (mi‘rāc) takes two couplets, and its bodily character is stressed: it happened in no dream or imagination, but in the Prophet's own person. Ünlüsoy and Asım keep this emphasis both in their translation ("it took place with his body, not in a dream or in imagination") and in their study; for them too Sa‘dī holds the ascension to have been bodily.

Examples of Saintly Marvels

The marvels (kerāmet) of the saints are true, and only one whose mind is corrupt denies them. Sa‘dī opens this ruling with examples: crossing distant stages in an instant or a little longer, bringing forth food and drink when hunger and thirst are at their height, walking on water without sinking, travelling through the air, the speech of an animal or a lifeless thing. In the article's phrase, the poet here "tries to explain" the marvels "with examples". The last couplet of the section ties these events to prophethood: every saintly marvel is a miracle of the prophet of that age. The sense that emerges from the text is this: the extraordinary event seen at a saint's hands bears witness to the truth of the prophet to whose community he belongs. This qualification also prepares the ground for the ruling, a few sections later, that a saint cannot reach the rank of prophethood.

Bibliography

Online sources