A lamp in the face of the sun emitteth not a ray of light.Saadi
Gulistan, Preface, in the Internet Archive copy of the English translation
The sentence around it is about humility: a man holding glass beads among jewellers, standing before a prince. Saadi reaches for the sun to say it, and the image outlives the modesty. A lamp does not stop shining because the sun is up. It is simply no longer the measure of what light is. Nothing here asks the small light to compete, and nothing says it is put out. It is asked only to be what it is, in the presence of something greater.
From the Library: Gulistan, Saadi