Oneness of Mankind: At the United Nations

At the United Nations Headquarters in New York is hung a magnificent large floor to ceiling Persian carpet inscribing (in gold) Saadi’s well-known verse from his seminal poem “Golestan” (The Rose Garden):

بنی‌آدم اعضای یکدیگرند
که در آفرينش ز یک گوهرند

چو عضوى به‌دردآورَد روزگار
دگر عضوها را نمانَد قرار

تو کز محنت دیگران بی‌غمی
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی

Human beings are members of a whole,

In creation of one essence and soul.

If one member is afflicted with pain,

Other members uneasy will remain.

If you have no sympathy for human pain,

The name of human you cannot retain.

I seek your indulgence by adding my own few words:

There is only one language, that of the heart;

There is only one Belief, the belief of Love;

In all the apparent diversity,

we are all bound by our oneness of humanity.

I pay my homage to Saadi on this Iranian National Day of Saadi, celebrating his birthday.

Jay Jethwa, LL.B, MAICD

Member of the Executive Committee of the World Federation of the United Nations Associations, Representing Australia

& Member of the Advisory Board of AUAP