Two Blessings in Every Breath: The Spiritual Prelude of the Golestān

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

 سعدی
  گلستان » دیباچه

Saʿdī — Gulistān — Preface (Dībācheh)

  مِنت خُدای را عَزَّ وَ جَلّ کِه طاعَتَش مُوجِبِ قُربَت است وَ به شُکر اَندَرَش مَزیدِ نِعمَت

Thanks be to God, Mighty and Majestic— whose obedience brings nearness, and whose gratitude increases blessing.

Explanation:
Saʿdī opens with minnat (gratitude/acknowledgment), placing God as the source of both qurbat (nearness) through obedience and mazīd-i niʿmat (increase of blessing) through thanksgiving. This immediately frames the spiritual economy of worship: obedience draws closer, gratitude multiplies grace.

 
هَر نَفَسی کِه فُرو می‌رَوَد، مُمدِّ حَیات است وَ چُون بَرمی‌آیَد، مُفَرِّحِ ذات

Every breath inhaled sustains life, and when it is exhaled, it gladdens the soul.

Explanation:
Life itself is sustained by breath, and joy is refreshed in its release. Saʿdī makes breathing itself a metaphor for divine favor—both ḥayāt (existence) and farraḥ (delight). This resonates deeply with Sufi practice of dhikr nafasī (remembrance with each breath).

پَس دَر هَر نَفَسی دو نِعمَت مَوجُود است وَ بَر هَر نِعمَتی شُکری واجِب

Thus, in every breath two blessings are present, and for every blessing, a thanks is due.

Explanation:
Gratitude is shown to be inexhaustible: each blessing requires thanks, and each act of thanks itself becomes another blessing. The cycle is infinite, reminding humans of their perpetual indebtedness before God.

اَز دَست و زَبان کِه بَرآیَد
کَز عُهدَهٔ شُکرَش به‌دَر آید؟

What hand or tongue could ever suffice
to discharge the debt of His thanks?

Explanation:
Human faculties—speech and action—are inadequate to meet the infinite demand of thanksgiving. Saʿdī dramatizes human limitation against divine abundance.

اِعمَلوا آلَ داوُدَ شُكراً وَ قَلیلٌ مِن عِبادیَ الشَّكور

“Work, O House of David, in gratitude; yet few of My servants are truly thankful.” [Qurʾān 34:13]
 

Explanation
The Qurʾānic citation underscores that gratitude (shukr) is not merely verbal but active (ʿamal). The reminder of scarcity—qalīl (few)—humbles the reader: even prophets were warned of how rare true thankfulness is.

بَنده هَمان بِه کِه زِ تَقصیرِ خُویش
عُذر به دَربارِ خُدا ی آوَرَد
وَر نَه سِزاوارِ خُداوَندیش
کَس نَتَوانَد کِه به‌جای آوَرَد

It is best for a servant, for his own shortcomings,
to bring excuse before the court of God—
for otherwise, none is worthy of His majesty,
nor able to fulfill what is due to Him.


Explanation: 

Here Saʿdī shifts to humility: the best offering of the servant is an acknowledgment of failure. Divine majesty (khudāvandī) cannot be matched by human effort; all worship is ultimately inadequate, so excuse and repentance are the highest stance.