TEHRAN – There has been a recent discovery of a historical rock drawing in Marvdasht, southern Fars province, ILNA reported on Monday.

The petroglyph contains verses from a poem by the Persian poet Sheikh Muslih od-Din Sadi Shirazi, said Iranian archaeologist Abolhassan Atabaki.

This poem was probably carved on this rock centuries after it was written, he explained.

Ancient works and stone inscriptions discovered in Marvdasht over the past few years have always captured the interest of archaeologists, historians and people interested in ancient languages.

In January, Atabaki announced that a Sassanid-era petroglyph, written on the subject of wishing for a holy marriage for an Iranian lady, was discovered in the region.

An ancient rock drawing of a Sassanid-era horseman was also discovered in Marvdasht, he mentioned.

Abu-Muhammad Muslih al-Din bin Abdallah Shirazi, known by his pen-name Sadi, was one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. Sadi is known as a mystic and metaphysician in the history of Persian literature. He is recognized for the quality of his writings and the depth of his social and moral thoughts. The ancient scholar has gained worldwide fame, not only in Persian-speaking countries but in western societies, with his poems being quoted in a multitude of sources.

Sadi’s best-known masterpieces are Bustan (The Orchard) completed in 1257 and Gulistan (The Flower Garden) in 1258. Bustan, his best-known work, was completed in 1257. It includes 4,000 verses in 183 stories about the virtues such as justice, kindness, love, modesty, liberality, generosity, satisfaction, and happiness, and the ecstatic practices of dervishes addressing all people to have a better and happier life.

A year after the completion of Bustan, Sadi composed his masterpiece, Gulistan. Gulistan, composed of eight chapters, is mainly in prose. The book was widely addresses kings’ morality, dervishes’ behavior, benefits of contentment, silence and talking in proper time, love and youthfulness, weakness in old age and education. Sadi attempts to advise people to live freely and to improve the quality of their lives in Gulistan. It is one of the most effective books in prose in Persian literature.

Sadi’s other works include Ghazals (love poems or Lyrics; sonnets), qasidas (longer mono-rhyme poems or Odes), quatrains, and short pieces in prose in both Persian and Arabic. He is known as one of the greatest ghazal-writers of Persian poetry besides Hafiz.

ABU/AM