The Shepherd's Wage and the Muslim's Jizyah:Analysis of Sa’adi’s Meeting with Abaqa Khan

Despite the title "Meeting of Sheikh with Abaqa" appearing in Sa’adi's prose treatises, there is not much enthusiasm for meeting Abaqa in Sheikh’s words. Clearly, the renewal of devotion and expression of friendship to the Juvayni brothers, nonetheless, is the most momentous reason that brought Saadi to Tabriz after visiting Mecca. This article delves into the whys and wherefores of the meeting and uncovers the reasons for Sa'adi's reluctance to visit him. After Sa’adi's speechlessness and the Juvayni brothers' insistence, the meeting finally took place in a cold and dull atmosphere with Sa’adi’s biting words and admonitions indicating the Sheikh's grievances. Sa’adi portrays the Mongol sultan in the mirror of a shepherd, whose levy of taxation imposition is the wage of a shepherd, and if he disrespects his villeins, it shall be like a morsel, suffocating him in the throat as does Jizyah. The author sought historical and literary sources to find reasons, showing Sa’adi's dissatisfaction with Abaqa. These factors lie in the behavior of Abaqa and his executors. They include the imposition of heavy and various taxes, the misbehavior of the Mongol sheriffs with Persian officials and disrespect to Sa'adi's favorite scholars and Sufis, the spread of idolatry and Buddhism in Iran and the prosperity of Christianity under the Ilkhans’ protection in the Islamic realm, and the extensive efforts Holako and his son, Abaqa, to eradicate Islamic governments including the Caliphate and other local governments. In fact, all these were not far from Sa’adi's sharp and punctilious view.