I noticed the son of a rich man, sitting on the grave of his father and quarreling with a dervish-boy, saying: ‘The sarcophagus of my father’s tomb is of stone and its epitaph is elegant. The pavement is of marble, tesselated with turquois-like bricks. But what resembles thy father’s grave? It consists of two contiguous bricks with two handfuls of mud thrown over it.’ The dervish-boy listened to all this and then observed: ‘By the time thy father is able to shake off those heavy stones which cover him, mine will have reached paradise.’ <br /> <br /> An ass with a light burden <br /> No doubt walks easily. <br /> A dervish who carries only the load of poverty <br /> Will also arrive lightly burdened at the gate of death <br /> Whilst he who lived in happiness, wealth and ease <br /> Will undoubtedly on all these accounts die hard. <br /> At all events, a prisoner who escapes from all his bonds <br /> Is to be considered more happy than an amir taken prisoner.<br /><br />Saadi Shirazi<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ch-07-on-the-effects-of-education-story-18/
