Al-Ma'arri

Abu ibn Abd Allah al-Ma'arri ( December 26 , 973 - May 10 or May 21 , 1057 ), was a Arabian poet and writer. His collections of poetry are The Tinder Spark ( Saqt az-zand ) and Unnecessary Necessity ( Luzum ma lam yalzam ). He hailed from the city of Ma'arra in Syria , from which has name derives. He was notable for being an Athiest, something extremely rare during his time. v t e v t e

Abul ʿAla Al-Maʿarri ( Arabic أبو العلاء المعري Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī , full name أبو العلاء أحمد بن عبد الله بن سليمان التنوخي المعري Abū al-ʿAlāʾ Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sulaimān al-Tanūẖī al-Maʿarrī ; 973–1058) was a blind Arab philosopher , poet, and writer. He was a controversial rationalist of his time, attacking the dogmas of religion and rejecting the claim that Islam or any other religion possessed the truths they claimed. He considered the words of prophets to be lies (literally, "forgery") and "impossible" to be true. He was equally sarcastic towards the religions of Muslims , Jews , Christians , and Zoroastrians . According to the poet Saadi Shirazi , he was a strict vegetarian who argued for animal rights . At his deathbed, according to Sa'di, he was ordered by the physician to take some chicken soup. When served, the blind Ma'arri burst into tears, reciting a heart-wrenching requiem to the slaughtered bird, adding that he felt easier dying than eating the broken body of the luckless creature.

Arab philosopher and poet (973–1057) Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī ( , full name أبو العلاء أحمد بن عبد الله بن سليمان التنوخي المعري Abū al-ʿAlāʾ Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sulaymān al-Tanūkhī al-Maʿarrī , also known under his Latin name Abulola Moarrensis ; December 973 – May 1057) was an Arab philosopher, poet, and writer. Because of his controversially irreligious worldview , he is known as one of the "foremost atheists" of his time according to Nasser Rabbat. Born in the city of al-Ma'arra (present-day Ma'arrat al-Nu'man , Syria) during the later Abbasid era , he became blind at a young age from smallpox but nonetheless studied in nearby Aleppo , then in Tripoli and Antioch . Producing popular poems in Baghdad , he refused to sell his texts. In 1010, he returned to Syria after his mother began declining in health, and continued writing which gained him local respect. Described as a " pessimistic freethinker ", al-Ma'arri was a controversial rationalist of his time, rejecting superstition and dogmatism. His written works exhibit a fixation on the study of language and its historical development, known as philology He was pessimistic about life, describing himself as "a double prisoner" of blindness and isolation . He attacked religious dogmas and practices , was equally critical and sarcastic about Judaism , Christianity , Islam and Zoroastrianism , and became a deist . He advocated social justice and lived a secluded , ascetic lifestyle. He was a vegan , known in his time as moral vegetarian, entreating: "do not desire as food the flesh of slaughtered animals / Or the white milk of mothers who intended its pure draught for their young". Al-Ma'arri held an antinatalist outlook , in line with his general pessimism, suggesting that children should not be born to spare them of the pains and suffering of life. Saqt az-Zand , Luzūmiyyāt , and Risalat al-Ghufran are among of his main works. Ma'arrat al-Nuʿman, The Luzumiyat , stanza 35.

Arab philosopher and poet (973–1057) Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri , Arabic : أبو العلاء المعري , (December 973 – May 1057), also known by his Latin name Abulola Moarrensis ; was an Arab philosopher, poet, and writer from Ma'arrat al-Nu'man , Syria. Because of his irreligious worldview, he is known as one of the "foremost atheists " of his time. Born in the city of al-Ma'arra (present-day Ma'arrat al-Nu'man , Syria) during the later Abbasid era , he became blind at a young age from smallpox but nonetheless studied in nearby Aleppo , then in Tripoli and Antioch . Producing popular poems in Baghdad , he refused to sell his texts. In 1010, he returned to Syria after his mother began declining in health, and continued writing which gained him local respect. Described as a " pessimistic freethinker", al-Ma'arri was a controversial rationalist of his time, rejecting superstition and dogmatism. His written works exhibit a fixation on the study of language and its historical development, known as philology . He was pessimistic about life, describing himself as "a double prisoner" of blindness and isolation . He attacked religious dogmas and practices , was equally critical and sarcastic about Judaism , Christianity , Islam , and Zoroastrianism , and became a deist . He advocated social justice and lived a secluded , ascetic lifestyle. He was a vegan , known in his time as a moral vegetarian, entreating: "Do not desire as food the flesh of slaughtered animals / Or the white milk of mothers who intended its pure draught for their young." Al-Ma'arri held an antinatalist outlook, in line with his general pessimism, suggesting that children should not be born to spare them of the pains and suffering of life. Saqt az-Zand , Luzumiyat , and Risalat al-Ghufran are among his main works. 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 ). The Luzumiyat , stanza 35.