literary men, and so it was very natural that the pioneer and prophet of
this great idea should also be the first to introduce into German poetry
the new _west-östliche Richtung_.

Herder's theological studies turned his attention to the East at an
early age. As is well known, he always had a fervid admiration for the
Hebrew poets, but we have evidence to show, that, even before the year
1771, when Jones' _Traité sur la poésie orientale_ appeared, he had
widened the sphere of his Oriental studies and had become interested in
Saʻdī.[79] Rhymed paraphrases made by him of some stories from the
_Gulistān_ date from the period 1761-1764,[80] and, as occasional
references prove, Saʻdī continued to hold his attention until the
appearance, in 1792, of the fourth Collection of the _Zerstreute
Blätter_, which contains the bulk of Herder's translation from Persian
and Sanskrit literature, and which therefore will have to occupy our
attention.[81]

Of this collection the following are of interest to us: 1°. Four books
of translations, more or less free, of maxims from the _Gulistān_,
entitled _Blumen aus morgenländischen Dichtern gesammlet_. 2°.
Translations from the Sanskrit consisting of maxims from the
_Hitōpadēśa_ and from Bhartṛhari and passages from the _Bhagavadgītā_
under the name of _Gedanken einiger Bramanen_. 3°. A number of versions
from Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic poets given in the Suphan
edition as _Vermischte Stücke_.

The first three books of the _Blumen_ consist entirely of maxims from
the _Gulistān_, the versions of Gentius, or sometimes of Olearius, being
the basis, while the fourth book contains also poems from Rūmī, H̱āfiḍ
and others (some not Persian), taken mostly from Jones' well known