A virtuous, obedient, and pious wife

Can turn a pauper into a king in life

Knock five times daily on your door with grace

When a worthy companion stands in your place

If sorrow fills your day, do not despair

For at night, a consoler will be there

For whom a home is blessed and a mate is kind

God looks upon them with mercy in mind

If a woman is modest and fair in face

Her husband sees heaven in her embrace

Whoever gains the heart’s content from the earth

Had a peaceful heart in unity from birth

If she’s pious and speaks with a graceful tone

Do not dwell on beauty or flaws alone

A kind-hearted woman is better than fair

For her grace can conceal flaws beyond compare

An ugly nature mars the beauty of a face

But a kind devil-faced woman wins the race

If sweet halva comes from a vinegar-stained hand

None enjoy halva from a sour-faced strand

A good-willed wife brings comfort and calm

But a wicked wife? God, grant Your balm!

If a parrot must share a crow’s breath and song

Freedom from the cage is where it belongs

Do not roam the world without a goal in sight

Or else resign your heart to hopeless plight

Walking barefoot is better than shoes too tight

The woes of travel surpass a household fight

Better jailed by the judge and held confined

Than to see a frown at home, unkind

Travel is joy for a man whose life is bound

To an ugly wife who keeps him around

Close your doors to a house of despair and sound

Where a woman’s shouts echo all around

If a woman sets off for the bazaar, restrain her

Otherwise, stay home yourself like a woman

If a woman pays no heed to her husband

Put her dark trousers on a man instead

A woman filled with ignorance and dishonesty

Is but a calamity, not a desired wife

When a grain's trust in the scale is breached

From the storehouse of wheat, wash your hands

Blessed is the servant whom God favors

When his wife's heart and hand are sincere

When a woman smiles at a stranger

The husband should boast of manliness no more

When a bold woman meddles in the stew

Say to her, 'Place your claws on a man’s face!'

May a woman’s eyes to strangers be blind

When she leaves the home, may she head to her grave

When you see that a woman is unsteady

There is no wisdom or resolve in her stability

Flee from her as though into the jaws of a whale

For death is better than a life of disgrace

Hide her face from the eyes of strangers

If she won’t obey, is she a wife or merely trouble?

A good-natured woman is still a burden and toil

So abandon an ugly, discordant woman

How witty was this one remark by those two men

Who were both confounded by women

One said, 'May no one have a bad wife!'

The other said, 'May there be no women in the world at all!'

Renew your wife, my friend, every spring

For last year’s calendar is of no use

If you see someone trapped by a woman

O Saadi, do not taunt or mock him

You too would bear her burden and injustice

If you spent even one dawn in her embrace