Bani Adam

This article is about the poem by Saadi Shirazi. For other uses, see Bani Adam (disambiguation).
Folio depicting Saadi Shirazi (seated left) and the Salghurid ruler Abu Bakr ibn Sa'd (seated right). Made in Mughal India, dated 1602

Bani Adam (Persian: بنی‌آدم), meaning "Sons of Adam" or "Human Beings", is a 13th-century Persian poem by Iranian poet Saadi Shirazi from his Gulistan. The poem calls humans limbs of one body, all created equal, and when one limb is hurt, the whole body shall be in unease. It therefore concludes that one not touched by the pain of others cannot be called a human.

A translation of the first line of the poem was quoted by former U. S. President Barack Obama in a videotaped message to Iranians to mark Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on 20 March 2009.[1] The poem is also inscribed on a large hand-made carpet installed in 2005[2] on the wall of a meeting room in the United Nations building in New York. A famous Iranian carpet trader had gifted the precious carpet, with Saadi’s poem sewn on it with golden thread, with the condition that it should be displayed somewhere appropriate.[3]

  1. ^ Mackey, Robet (March 20, 2009). "Obama, Peres and Colbert on the Persian New Year". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "United Nations press release on the carpet" (Press release).
  3. ^ "Zarif Narrates Story of Iranian Carpet Hung up on UN's Wall". Iran Front Page online. April 19, 2017.