A poem by Sa’adi. Here is a translation of the poem:
- Human beings are members of a whole,
- In creation of one essence and soul.
- If one member is afflicted with pain,
- Other members uneasy will remain.
- If you have no sympathy for human pain,
- The name of human you cannot retain.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not content with the ranslation
I have translated many Persian,Hindi,Turkish etc to English.I am very delighted the way you have translated Saadi’s THE MOST important poem.I am proud of your talent.I wish every body read this poem before leaving home just to remind us that We all ARE one body of humans and elements.We got to cooperate one another in every aspects of daily life without greed and selfishness.
Very nice translation. I will use it on a community website I’m making with your permission. Thanks.
This is how I read it:
Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation: of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
The other members uneasy remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The title ‘human’ you cannot claim.
The first line of the translation is wrong.
banie adam azaye yekdegarand.
”The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence and soul”
Adam is not in the meaning af human but the first human ADAM.
Having the same rhyme for the last two verses weakens the structure. Still, it’s the best translation of this poem that I have read so far, and I don’t have a better one to show! Thanks!
Nice to see this poem everywhere specially in the famous hall of United Nation as a reminder to all people, specially politician who many are irresponsible.
Thank you for the nice translation. I am think if it is possible to use the words with the same rythme at the end of each part(Mesrah for each Bayt for Ghafiya)). I also like one of the comment about first line,Bayet.
banie adam azaye yekdegarand.
”The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence and soul”
Adam is not in the meaning af human but the first human ADAM.
lol all your translations (or perhaps Nimas) are just a copy of what is already translated and placed above the hall of Human Rights otherwise non of you would have used the same words especially when it came to ‘essence & soal’!! taze ba ham bahs ham mionin lol soo funny!!
I agree with M. Both translations are rather cheesy and don’t communicate the intended double meaning (humankind, and children of Adam). The english language is not well suited for the translation of persian poetry.