Sa'di at the Shrine of Siva at Somnath in India, in 1230 (litho)

Sa'di at the Shrine of Siva at Somnath in India, in 1230. Sa'di of Shiraz (1184-1275, some say 1292), the greatest of the Persian didactic poets and the loftiest teacher of his country, took his name from his patron Sa'd, the Salghari Regent (Atabeg) of Fars for the Abbasid Caliphs (1194-1226). He was for thirty years by far the greatest traveller of his time, visiting India and then Abyssinia, Arabia, Syria, North Africa and Asia Minor. He returned to Shiraz under Abu Bakr (Kutlugh Beg), the successor of Sa'd (1226-1260), and there he died in Mongol times. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson, c.1920). Note: Image has been digitally enhanced to facilitate repro.