The Gulistan (Rose Garden) is as exalted in the Islamic World as its writer. Written in Farsi in the 13th century Iran (Persia), this masterpiece consists of moral and ethical stories that explore the complexities of human behaviour. It brings to life, in a peerless combination of prose and verse, a world of kings, commoners, lovers, and scholars and provides easy guidance to its readers in their quest for a conscientious living.
The Gulistan was an important textbook in elementary education in Hindustan when the British came to rule the subcontinent. It was then that it was translated in English and other European languages by eminent western scholars. This superb translation by John T. Platts has been chosen for the 21st century readers on account of its impeccable language, closeness to the original text and unparalleled notes.
John T. Platts (1830-1904) was an English scholar born in the British India. He was a linguist par-excellence. Not only did he translate The Gulistan and Ikhwanu-s-Safa in English, but also compiled dictionaries and Persian and Hindi grammar books. His magnum opus A Hindustani-English Dictionary (1881) has not been rivalled yet. It is still in common use throughout the subcontinent.
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