Bani Adam (The Children of Adam)

by Saadi Shirazi (13th-century Persian poet)

The sons of Adam are limbs of each other,
Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time affects one limb,
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others,
You are unworthy of being called by the name of a human.

Cited in The Order of Time by physicist Carlo Rovelli.                                                                                                                                           As noted Carlo Rovelli, this poem is displayed at the entrance of the United Nations Headquarters.