Sanai's ethical teaching in Section 28 of the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah* asserts that a wise enemy (*khasm-e dana*) is superior to a foolish friend. This concept is later expanded and dramatized by Rumi in Book 2 of the *Masnavi* through the allegorical *Tale of the Bear's Friendship*. While Sanai presents this warning as a direct homiletic counsel on selecting companions, Rumi uses a narrative demonstration to illustrate the fatal consequences of relying on the affection of an ignorant companion, reinforcing Sanai's earlier philosophical position.

Comparison of Foolish Friendship in Sanai's Hadiqat and Rumi's Masnavi

In Section 29 of the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Sanai advocates for complete withdrawal from the ignorant masses (the 'rabble' or *awbash*), asserting that people are full of deceit and traps. He uses the metaphor of the sun, which travels alone and shines brightly, to argue that a wise person should embrace solitude (*tanhayi*). Sanai claims that true mastery over the world and spiritual beauty are achieved only through isolation, warning that associating with superficial people diminishes one's spiritual standing and peace of mind.

Sanai's Praise of Solitude and Rejection of the Rabble in Section 29 of the Hadiqat

In Section 28 of the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Sanai warns learners against associating with bad companions, gambler-rogues (*maqamar o qallash*), and superficial friends who only seek pleasure (*pey-e piyaleh*). He emphasizes that an individual's character is judged by their social circle and cautions that having fewer friends is better than keeping insincere ones. A central ethical teaching in this section is the assertion that a wise enemy (*khasm-e dana*) is far superior to and safer than a foolish or ignorant friend (*dust-e kana*). This theme strongly mirrors later Persian literary works, such as Rumi's Masnavi, which similarly warn against the destructive nature of foolish friendship.

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## Original content
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دوستی با مقامر و قلاش 
یا مکن یا چو کردی آن را باش
دوستی کز پی پیاله کنند 
ندهی پوست پوست کاله کنند
دوست خواهی که تا بماند دوست 
آن طلب زو که طبع و خاطر اوست
بد کسی دان که دوست کم دارد 
زو بتر چون گرفت بگذارد
دوست گرچه دو صد دو یار بود 
دشمن ارچه یکی هزار بود
مر ترا خصم و دشمن دانا 
بهتر از دوستان همه کانا
از تقی دین طلب ز رعنا لاف 
از صدف در طلب ز آهو ناف
آستین ار ز هیچ خواهی پر 
از صدف مشک جو وز آهو در
آنچه از حس چشم و بینی و گوش 
زین ببین زان ببوی و زان بنیوش
ناید از گوشها جهان بینی 
نچشد چشم و نشنود بینی
از حواس ار بجویی این همه ساز 
آن ازین این از آن نیابی باز
که پدیدست در جهان باری 
کار هر مرد و مرد هر کاری
گر نخواهی دل از ندامت پر 
به بدی از رفیق نیک مبر
گرچه صد بار باز گردد یار 
سوی او باز گرد چون طومار
زین بدان رخ همی بگردانی 
باش تا قدر این بدان دانی
دوستان گنج خانهٔ رازند 
رنج بردار و گنج پردازند
با نفایه و سره به خفت و به خیز 
نه درآمیز چست و نه بگریز
نه طلب زین ستوده دان نه هرب 
که چنین آمد از حکیم عرب
صفت دوست از ره تحقیق 
از علی بشنو ار نه ای زندیق
دوست نادان بود نباید سوخت 
باید این حکمت از علی آموخت
خلق دشمن شود چو بگریزی 
بد قرین گردی ار درآمیزی
چون ترا دوستی پدید آید 
عقل باید که زود نستاید
وقت عشرت از او به کم دیدن 
کم شنیدن به از پسندیدن
مطلب گرچه جزم فرمانی 
پیکی از مقعدان زندانی
آن طلب کن که داند و دارد 
تا تو از وی وی از تو نازارد
دوستی با مزاج بی خردی 
دور دور و هم ایدرست خودی
تا نباشی حریف بی خردان 
که نکو کار بد شود ز بدان
باد کز لطف اوست جان بر کار 
زهر گردد همی به صحبت مار
یار بد همچو خاردان بدرست 
که همی دامنت بگیرد چست
زرد رویی زر از قرین بدست 
ورنه سرخست تا قرین خودست
صحبت باغها به فصل بهار 
باد را هر زمان کند عطربار
روغن کنجدی که بودی عام 
شد ز گلها عزیز و نیکو نام
چون به گلها سپرد نفس و نفس 
روغن کنجدش نخواند کس
این برست از سبو و آن از ذل 
گل از او نیکنام و از گل
با بدان کم نشین که بد مانی 
خو پذیر است نفس انسانی
خوش خو از بدخوان سترگ شود 
میش چون گرگ خورد گرگ شود
صحبت نیک را ز دست مده 
که مه و به شوی ز صحبت مه
اسب توسن ز اسب ساکن رگ 
گشت هم خو اگر نشد هم تگ
گر بدی صورتت شود مسته 
بد دانا ز نیک نادان به
هیچ صحبت مباد با عامت 
که چو خود مختصر کند نامت
صحبت عام آتش و پنبه است 
زشت نام و تباه و استنبه است
صحبت عام در بهشت آباد 
مرگ باشد که مرگ عامی باد
با دو عاقل هوا نیامیزد 
یک هوا از دو عقل بگریزد
با بد و نیک جسم داند زیست 
جان شناسد که دوست و دشمن کیست
دوستی را که نیست با تو مجال 
که بگوید حرام نیست حلال
با تو تا لقمه دید جان و دلست 
چون شدت لقمه تیز و تیغ و شلست
شکمش چون دل پیاله ببین 
وز دهانش دل چو لاله ببین
با کله کی بود اخوت پاک 
زانکه گفتند اخوک من و اساک
جامهٔ خون و گوشت پوست بود 
عیبهٔ عیب دوست دوست بود
نیست در هیچ یار صدق و صفا 
نیست با هیچ دوست مهر و وفا
چون به علت کند سلام علیک 
از بد و نیک تو شود بد و نیک
دوست و دشمن برای جان باید 
تن بود کش غذای نان باید
گر کنی چشم جفت بی خوابی 
دوستی به اخلاص کم یابی
مر ترا زو وفا نخواهد خواست 
که تنوریست با ترازو راست
پس تو اکنون مه به مه بد را باش 
دامن خویش گیر و خود را باش
که بود عهد و عشق لقمه زنان 
بی مدد چون چراغ بیوه زنان
صلح دشمن چو جنگ دوست بود 
که از آن مغز آن چو پوست بود
دل در ایشان مبند کز گیهان 
همه آدم دمند و مرجان جان
نیک را از بدان چه جاه بود 
زانکه عقرب هبوط ماه بود

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## English translation
Friendship with a gambler and a scoundrel:
Either do not make it, or if you do, stand by it.

A friendship made for the sake of a cup (of wine):
If you do not give your skin, they will strip you of your goods.

If you wish a friend to remain a friend:
Seek from him only what is in his nature and disposition.

Deem him a bad person who has few friends,
And worse than him is the one who, having found them, abandons them.

Though two hundred friends are but two companions,
An enemy, though only one, is like a thousand.

To you, a wise adversary and enemy
Is better than all ignorant friends.

Seek religion from the pious, and boasting from the vain;
Seek pearls from the oyster, and musk from the deer.

If you wish to fill your sleeve with nothing:
Seek musk from the oyster and pearls from the deer.

That which belongs to the senses of sight, smell, and hearing:
See with the first, smell with the second, and listen with the third.

World-viewing does not come from the ears;
The eye does not taste, and the nose does not hear.

If you seek all this harmony from the senses,
You will not find one performing the function of another.

For indeed, it is manifest in the world:
The work of every man, and the man for every work.

If you do not wish your heart to be filled with regret,
Do not break away from a good companion over an evil turn.

Even if your friend turns away a hundred times,
Return to him like a scroll.

If you turn your face from this one to that one,
Wait until you know the true value of each.

Friends are the treasury of secrets;
They bear the pain and bestow the treasure.

With the worthless and the pure in your social dealings:
Neither mingle too closely, nor flee completely.

Deem neither the seeking of them praised, nor fleeing them,
For thus it came from the Sage of the Arabs (Ali).

Hear the true description of a friend
From Ali, unless you are a heretic.

If a friend is ignorant, one must not burn (destroy oneself);
This wisdom must be learned from Ali.

People become enemies if you flee from them,
And you become a bad companion if you mingle too much.

When a friendship appears to you,
Intellect must not praise it too quickly.

At the time of pleasure, seeing less of him
And hearing less is better than approval.

Do not seek, even if it is a firm command,
A messenger from among those sitting in prison.

Seek one who knows and possesses,
So that you do not hurt him, and he does not hurt you.

Friendship with a foolish temperament:
Keep far, far away, and yet here is your selfhood.

Lest you be a companion of the foolish,
For the good-doer becomes evil from the wicked.

The wind, by whose grace life is sustained,
Becomes poison in the company of a serpent.

An evil companion is like a patch of thorns at the door,
Which catches your skirt quickly.

The pale face of gold is due to a bad companion (alloy);
Otherwise, it is red as long as it is with itself.

The companionship of gardens in the spring season
Makes the wind fragrant at all times.

Sesame oil, which was common,
Became precious and of good repute because of flowers.

When it yielded its soul and breath to the flowers,
No one called it sesame oil anymore.

This was freed from the jar and that from humiliation;
The flower became well-reputed from it, and it from the flower.

Sit little with the wicked, lest you remain wicked;
For the human soul is prone to adopting habits.

The good-natured becomes fierce from the bad companion;
The sheep, when it eats with the wolf, becomes a wolf.

Do not let go of the company of the good,
For you will become great and better through the company of the great.

A wild horse, from a calm-natured horse,
Adopts the same temperament, even if it does not run at the same pace.

Even if your appearance becomes deformed,
A wise bad person is better than an ignorant good one.

May you have no companionship with the common folk,
For they will make your name insignificant like themselves.

The company of the common is fire and cotton;
It is ill-reputed, ruinous, and weak.

The company of the common in populated paradise
Is death—may the death of the commoner be so.

Passion does not mingle with two wise men;
A single passion flees from two intellects.

The body knows how to live with the bad and the good;
It is the soul that recognizes who is friend and who is enemy.

A friend who has no opportunity with you
To say what is forbidden and what is allowed,

As long as he sees a morsel with you, he is your heart and soul;
But when the morsel is gone, he is sharp, a sword, and a spear.

See his belly like the heart of a cup,
And see his heart like a tulip from his mouth.

How can there be pure brotherhood with worldly honors?
For they said: 'Your brother is he who consoles you.'

The garment of blood and flesh is the skin;
The container of a friend's faults is the friend.

There is no sincerity and purity in any companion;
There is no love and loyalty in any friend.

When he greets you for a motive,
His view of your good and bad changes based on his interest.

Friend and enemy are needed for the soul;
It is the body that requires the nourishment of bread.

Even if you pair your eyes with sleeplessness,
You will rarely find sincere friendship.

He will not ask loyalty of you,
For he is like an oven straight with the scales.

So now, be monthly with the bad,
Hold your own skirt, and be yourself.

For the covenant and love of those who seek morsels
Is without support, like the lamp of widows.

The peace of an enemy is like the war of a friend,
For the brain of the former is like the skin of the latter.

Do not bind your heart to them, for in the world
All are breath of Adam, but coral of life.

What rank has the good person among the wicked?
For the Moon falls in the sign of Scorpio.

بخش ۲۸ - فی ذکر رفقاء السّوء / Section 28 - On the Mention of Bad Companions

In Section 25 of the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Sana'i outlines a clear distinction between love/friendship based on intellect (*aql*) and that based on ignorance (*jahl*) or fleeting passion (*hava*). He asserts that love rooted in intellect is stable and enduring, whereas the affection of an ignorant person is volatile, unstable, and unreliable (metaphorically compared to a rolling bead). Sana'i also introduces the metaphor of friends and enemies representing medicine (*dawa*) and disease (*da'*), suggesting that social relationships must be guided by wisdom and discernment rather than emotional whims.

Sana'i's Distinction Between Intellectual Love and Ignorant Friendship in Section 25

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The Preference of a Wise Enemy Over a Foolish Friend in Section 28 of Sanai's Hadiqat

In Section 31 of the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Sanai provides a vivid critique of fools (*ablah*) and warns against associating with them. He uses several key metaphors to describe their nature:

* **The Empty Pot**: He compares the companionship of fools to an empty pot—empty on the inside but blackened by soot on the outside, representing outward vanity devoid of inner worth.
* **Blind Imitation**: Sanai emphasizes that the friendship of fools is built on mere imitation (*taqlid*) rather than intellect (*aql*), religion (*din*), or true spiritual unity (*tawhid*).
* **The Harp and Flute**: He describes the ignorant as being 'tight-hearted and wide-mouthed' (*tangdel o farakh-dahan*), suggesting they lack depth and capacity but are boastful or loud.
* **Conditional Loyalty**: Sanai warns that a fool's affection is entirely conditional on one's fortune and health. The moment one's circumstances change, their loyalty vanishes instantly, turning former friends into adversaries.

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