The Bostan of Shaikh Sadi

Translated into English by Ziauddin Gulam Moheiddin Munshi, Second English Teacher Military Norman School, Poona. Revised by Rochfort Davies, Esquire. Bombay : Messrs. Home, Sorab & Co., 1889. Tall octavo, purple cloth (edges a little sunned and rubbed), pp. [iv]; 282; (2 – adverts), preliminaries lightly foxed, a fine copy.

The Bostan (Bustan, or orchard) is a book of poetry by the Persian poet Saadi of Shiraz (Abu Mohammad Moshrefoldin Mosleh ebn Abdollah ebn Mosharraf, circa 1209 – 1291 CE), completed in 1257 CE. Considered one of the great writers of the Islamic Golden Age, Saadi is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets of the classical literary tradition.

The translator explains that previous translations of the Bostan have had limitations, and that ‘the present translation is prepared from the Cawnpore edition of the text which is that most used in India, and my endeavour has been to supply the student at a moderate price, with an accurate and literal translation to aid him in understanding the Persian text’.

A very scarce Bombay edition.