Two passages from two different poems in Saadi’s Bustan that seem apt, given what’s going on right now in Iran. The versions are mine:
“Be vigilant! Protect the poor and needy;
the crown you wear you wear because of them.
The people are like roots, my son; the king,
the tree that needs the roots to give it strength.
As much as you are able, do not hurt them;
to do so is to dig up your own roots.”
***
“Perched high in a tree, a man chopped hard
at the base of the branch where he was sitting.
Looking up, the garden’s owner said,
‘He commits a crime against himself, not me.’
There’s wisdom in those words, if you will hear it:
Don’t use force to overthrow the weak.
If Heaven decides, a prince will be tomorrow
the beggar on whom you wouldn’t waste a barleycorn.”