I heard of a merchant who had one hundred and fifty camels loaded with goods and forty servants.
One night on the island of Kish, he invited me to his room.
He did not sleep all night, talking incessantly about his worries: “This partner of mine is in Turkestan, and that merchandise is in India. This is the deed for such-and-such land, and so-and-so is the guarantor for such-and-such.”
Sometimes he would say: “I long for Alexandria because of its pleasant climate.”
Then he would say: “No, the sea of the West is turbulent. Saadi, I have another journey ahead. If that is completed, I will spend the rest of my life in seclusion.”
I asked: “What journey is that?”
He said: “I want to take Persian sulfur to China, as I have heard it fetches a high price there. From there, I will bring Chinese porcelain to Rome, Roman brocade to India, Indian steel to Aleppo, Aleppo glass to Yemen, and Yemeni cloth to Persia. After that, I will give up trading and sit in a shop.”
In truth, he spoke so much of this madness that I could no longer bear to listen!
He said: “O Saadi! Tell me something of what you have seen and heard.”
I replied:
"Have you heard the story of the caravan leader in the farthest reaches of Ghor,
Who fell from his mount and said:
'The narrow-eyed desire of the worldly man
Is either filled with contentment or the dust of the grave.'"
