Investigating the Common Topics of the Western-Eastern Divan and Saadi's Clergy

A form of comparative literature is to compare a work or some works of two eloquent poets in order to find their mutual influence. The content of West–Eastern Diwan (the Collection of poems) of Goethe, the famous German man of letter, shows that he was greatly influenced by Hafiz as well as S'adi, the great Persian poet and author, because some works of Persian literature, particularly those of S'adi, has been translated into western languages since some centuries ago, which has made western scholars and men of letters familiar with them. This article, after examining Goethe's familiarity with Saadi's works and the reasons for Goethe's influence, examines the considerable evidence of the common themes between Saadi and Goethe and illustrates Goethe's influence on Saadi or the affinities of their ideas from the poetry offices of the Western-Eastern Divan. These are commonalities and influences on the content, thought, and type of thought of many phenomena, including: Praise God and point to His justice and dominance over the East and the West, Freedom of Thought, Arrest of the Poor, Inability to Love, Short and Lifetime, Trespassing on Short Life, Eating the Sadness of the World, and Spending the World With Jealousy and Disdain Others, language silence, ignorance of the ignorant.