At the height of the Islamic Golden Age, in the first half of the 11th century, the Arab poet and freethinker Abu al-Ala al-Maarri touched off an entire literary scene around himself in his hometown of Marra, Syria. With a religious skepticism bordering on atheism, al-Maarri attacked the established religious orthodoxy of his day, venturing to criticize Islamic, Christian, and Jewish doctrines alike. Calling himself "thrice-imprisoned" by his blindness, isolation, and physical embodiment, he argued for the ethical position of antinatalism and lived a life of asceticism (becoming in the process one of the first recorded individuals who intentionally lived what contemporary individuals might call a "vegan" lifestyle). These concepts all emerged in his poetry, part of which has survived in a collection known as the Luzumiyat or Unnecessary Necessity, a title referring to a challenging rhyme scheme that he invented and adopted for his quatrains.
This Standard Ebooks edition of the Luzumiyat is based on Ameen Rihani's translation. Rihani, a notable Syrian-American poet and author in his own right, was one of the first major translators of al-Maarri into English. This translation is not a complete translation of the Luzumiyat, which even today is not generally available to the English-reading public, but is a selection of quatrains presented alongside some from an earlier poetry collection, the Saqt az-Zand.
Perfect for readers who appreciate profound philosophical poetry and bold intellectual inquiry, this remarkable collection offers rare insight into one of history's most daring freethinkers. Al-Maarri's fearless questioning of religious orthodoxy and his beautiful, complex verse make this essential reading for anyone interested in medieval Islamic literature, comparative religion, or poetry that challenges conventional wisdom with stunning literary artistry.
