Domenico Ingenito: 'Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry'

Domenico Ingenito speaks about the ecstatic poetry of Saʿdi, a 13th-century Persian literary master overlooked for far too long. Called a king of poets in his own time, his unstudied lyrical connections between eroticism, spirituality, and politics have never been given the attention they deserve, but now is a time to understand his concept of openness to beauty and gender fluidity. Ingenito discusses being a spectator of the world and pushing the boundaries of perception.

Excerpt from “Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry” by Domenico Ingenito

O smiling doll, who has tasted your ruby lips?

O garden of tenderness, who took a bite from the quince of your face?

No watermelon sweeter than this must he have ever tasted!

So that you may understand how painful was Alexander’s quest.

Or maybe it is black mulberry that is dripping on your clothes?

You mingle with everyone, and yet you avoid us:

The fault is not yours: it is our fortune that abandoned us.

It is better for the wall to collapse all at once

So that you may not say that no one has ever seen your garden!

When the crowds realize that it is ripe and sweet

Not for long can the juicy fruit dwell on the branch.

Last week the rose bud could not even disclose its lips

But now the morning breeze is tearing apart its veils.

The fearful ducks would never approach the Tigris’s shores

But now that the Mongols have cut off the bridge, even the boats can

pass through.

Farewell to the old times when we used to share with you the wine:

Enough with this jar from which all the strangers have been drinking.

Saʿdi you need fresh air: knock at the door of a different garden

Abandon this field, for the cattle has already grazed in it.

Sa'di of Shiraz

Excerpted from Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetryby Domenico Ingenito. Copyright © 2021 by Domenico Ingenito. Excerpted by permission of Brill. All rights reserved.