Buy Hyacinths to Feed Thy Soul: Saadi’s Timeless Wisdom on Beauty and Loss
by Saadi
If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And of thy meager store,
Two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.
— Saadi, Persian Sufi poet, in Gulistan (The Rose Garden), 1258
Notes:
If you plant spring bulbs, I hope you remember to include hyacinths. The hyacinth is in the asparagus (Asparagaceae) family.
Native to the Eastern Mediterranean, they grow throughout Asia Minor, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Nowadays, the hyacinth is mainly grown in Holland.
Today's Garden words were featured on the podcast:
Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all.
A cluster of vibrant purple grape hyacinth flowers (Muscari) with tightly packed, bell-shaped blooms and green foliage in the background.