In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “one of the major persian poets of the medieval period”. Today it says “persian sufi poet”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Persian poet (1210–c.1291) Abu Mohammad Moshrefoldin Mosleh ebn Abdollah ebn Mosharraf , better known by his pen name Saadi ( / ˈ s ɑː d i / ; Persian : سعدی , romanized : Saʿdī , IPA: [sæʔˈdiː] ), also known as Saadi of Shiraz ( سعدی شیرازی , Saʿdī Shīrāzī ; born 1210; died 1291 or 1292), was a Persian poet and prose writer of the medieval period. He is recognized for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts. Saadi is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets of the classical literary tradition, earning him the nickname "The Master of Speech" or "The Wordsmith" ( استاد سخن ostâd-e soxan ) or simply "Master" ( استاد ostâd ) among Persian scholars. He has been quoted in the Western traditions as well. His book, Bustan has been ranked as one of the 100 greatest books of all time by The Guardian . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ). SAʿDI, Abu Moḥammad Mošarref-al-Din Moṣleḥ b. ʿAbd-Allāh b. Mošarref Širāzi, Persian poet and prose writer (b. Shiraz, d. 1291 or 1292), widely considered to be one of the greatest masters of the classical literary tradition. Saʿdī, also spelled Saadi, byname of Musharrif al-Dīn ibn Muṣlih al-Dīn, (born c. 1213, Shīrāz, Iran—died Dec. 9, 1291, Shīrāz), Persian poet, one of the greatest figures in classical Persian literature.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1296617287.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (1184 – 1283/1291?), better known by his pen-name as Saʿdī ( ) or, simply, Saadi , was one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. He is recognized not only for the quality of his writing, but also for the depth of his social thoughts.
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The opening as it stood in 2015
Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī , Saadi Shirazi ( ), better known by his pen-name Saʿdī ( ) or simply Saadi , was one of the major Persian poets and literary men of the medieval period.He is not only famous in Persian-speaking countries, but has been quoted in western sources as well.He is recognized for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts.The City – Kathryn Hinds – Google Books .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668404758.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī ( ), better known by his pen name Saadi ( / ˈ s ɑː d i / ; , ), also known as Saadi of Shiraz ( سعدی شیرازی , Saʿdī Shīrāzī ; born 1210; died 1291 or 1292), was a major Persian poet and prose writer of the medieval period. He is recognized for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts. Saadi is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets of the classical literary tradition, earning him the nickname "Master of Speech" ( استاد سخن ostâd-e soxan ) or simply "Master" ( استاد ostâd ) among Persian scholars.He has been quoted in the Western traditions as well.Encyclopedia Iranica "SAʿDI, Abu Moḥammad Mošarref-al-Din Moṣleḥ b. ʿAbd-Allāh b.Mošarref Širāzi, Persian poet and prose writer (b.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964856904.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Persian poet (1210-c.1291) Saadi Shīrāzī , better known by his pen name Saadi ( / ˈ s ɑː d i / ; , ), also known as Sadi of Shiraz ( سعدی شیرازی , Saʿdī Shīrāzī ; born 1210; died 1291 or 1292), was a Persian poet and prose writer of the medieval period. He is recognized for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts. Saadi is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets of the classical literary tradition, earning him the nickname "The Master of Speech" or "The Wordsmith" ( استاد سخن ostâd-e soxan ) or simply "Master" ( استاد ostâd ) among Persian scholars. He has been quoted in the Western traditions as well. His book, Bustan has been ranked as one of the 100 greatest books of all time by The Guardian . SAʿDI, Abu Moḥammad Mošarref-al-Din Moṣleḥ b. ʿAbd-Allāh b. Mošarref Širāzi, Persian poet and prose writer (b. Shiraz, d. 1291 or 1292), widely recognized as one of the greatest masters of the classical literary tradition.Saʿdī, also spelled Saadi, byname of Musharrif al-Dīn ibn Muṣlih al-Dīn, (born c. 1213, Shīrāz, Iran—died Dec. 9, 1291, Shīrāz), Persian poet, one of the greatest figures in classical Persian literature.There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
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Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “one of the major persian poets of the medieval period”. Today it says “persian sufi poet”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
one of the major persian poets of the medieval period
Now
persian sufi poet
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.