A Survey on the Attribution of a Saying to Saadi and Wassaf

A famous saying is cited in many classic Persian works of prose and is attributed to Saadi (because of close similarity between it and a couplet by the poet). Yet, another version of it can be found in Tarike-s Wassaf. First of all, the article searches the exact words of the saying in Saadi’s works, then it examines the manuscripts of Wassaf’s work, and finally reviews other ancient works of Persian prose that contain one of these two versions of the saying. For instance, Fereidoon Sepahsalar’s biography of Rumi (before or contemporary with Tarikh-e Wassaf), quotes the version that is found in Wassaf. The article concludes that Saadi and Wassaf have quoted an ancient Arabic maxim which was so popular between the learned Iranian.