Open Call | In the Rose Garden: Poetic Reponses to Sa’di

The Art of the Islamic Worlds invites poets and writers to respond to the works of 13th-century Persian poet Sa‘di. Taking inspiration from the poet’s seminal piece, the Gulistan (or Rose Garden), participants follow in the footsteps of Sa‘di’s historical admirers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. A jury will invite select writers to present their works during a public program at the MFAH on March 26, 2026.

 

Shaykh Sa‘di, the 13th-century Persian poet, is a preeminent classical writer in the Persianate world: his works were the foundation of educational curricula, part of courtly and Sufi conversation, and have been beloved since the 1200s. 

 

This program focuses on Sa‘di’s major work, the Gulistan (1258), a series of amusing, witty, and wise tales interweaving prose and poetry while offering reflections on topics such as ‘Love and Youth,’ ‘The Customs of Kings,’ and ‘The Advantages of Silence.’

 

Henry David Thoreau wrote: “I read in the Gulistan, or Flower Garden, of Shaykh Sa‘di of Shiraz… Fix not thy heart on that which is transitory; be an azad, or free man, like the cypress.” Ralph Waldo Emerson penned an ode to Saʿdi in which he placed the poet in the pantheon of the greats, claiming him as a kindred spirit.

 

A 19th-century illustrated copy of the Gulistan from the Indian kingdom of Alwar is on view in the Hossein Afshar Galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds. Replete with lively paintings, this manuscript speaks to the wide-ranging authority of the text over the centuries across the Persianate and Islamic worlds and beyond.