al-Ma'arri

In his self-defensive treatise Zajr al-Nabeh (The Repelling of the Barker), al-Ma'arri explicitly affirmed his orthodox Islamic faith—including his belief in the Day of Judgment—and sought refuge in God from claims that his poetry was proof of atheism. In these texts, he clarified that his verses were not a rejection of Islam itself, but rather harsh critiques directed at the corruption of religious scholars, hypocritical practices, and the theological ignorance of his contemporaries. 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 by various scholars as a "pessimistic freethinker", al-Ma'arri was a controversial rationalist of his time, known for challenging 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. Because his poetry fiercely critiqued the religious practices of his era, several critics interpreted his work as an attack on Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Zoroastrianism, with some historians asserting he became a deist. However, in response to contemporary accusations of heresy stemming from these poetic critiques, al-Ma'arri authored Zajr al-Nabeh. In this text, he explicitly denied holding atheistic or anti-Islamic beliefs, clarifying that his verses targeted the corruption, hypocrisy, and ignorance of religious figures rather than the core tenets of the faith itself. 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. Consistent with his pervasive pessimism, al-Ma'arri harbored a deep skepticism regarding gender relations and advocated for the strict seclusion of women.

Yaḥyá ibn ʿAlī Tibrīzī is recorded as having studied under al-Ma'arri. The recorded working language is Arabic. The field of work recorded is Arabic literature, Arabic poetry and Islamic philosophy. Works named in the authority record are Resalat Al-Ghufran, Saqt az-Zand, Diwan al-Lazumiyat, Paragraphs and Periods and Risālat al-ṣāhil wa-al-shāḥij.

• Name — Abu al-'Ala' al-Ma'arri أبو العلاء المعري • Other Names — * Abulola Moarrensis • Abulola • Born — December 973 • Birthplace — Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo • Place of death — Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Mirdasid Emirate of Aleppo • Region — Middle Eastern philosophy • Arabic philosophy • Era — Post-classical era • Islamic Golden Age • School Tradition — * Pessimism • Rationalism • Main Interests — * Poetry, skepticism • ethics • antinatalism • Notable Ideas — Veganism

Abu al-'Ala' was born in December 973 in al-Ma'arra (present-day Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Syria), southwest of Aleppo, whence his nisba ("al-Ma'arri"). At his time, the city was part of the Abbasid Caliphate, the third Islamic caliphate, during the Islamic Golden Age. He was a member of the Banu Sulayman, a notable family of Ma'arra, belonging to the larger Tanukh tribe. One of his ancestors was probably the first qadi of Ma'arra. The Tanukh tribe had formed part of the aristocracy in Syria for hundreds of years, and some members of the Banu Sulayman had also been noted as good poets. He lost his eyesight at the age of four due to smallpox. Later in his life, he regarded himself as "a double prisoner", which referred to both his blindness and the general isolation that he felt during his life. He began his career as a poet at a young age, around 11 or 12 years old. He was educated at first in Ma'arra and Aleppo, then in Antioch and other Syrian cities. Among his teachers in Aleppo were companions from the circle of Ibn Khalawayh. This grammarian and Islamic scholar had died in 980 CE, when al-Ma'arri was still a child. Al-Ma'arri nevertheless laments the loss of Ibn Khalawayh in strong terms in a poem of his Risālat al-Ghufrān. Al-Qifti reports that when on his way to Tripoli, al-Ma'arri visited a Christian monastery near Latakia where he listened to Hellenistic philosophy debates that birthed his secularism, but other historians such as Ibn al-Adim deny that he had been exposed to any theology other than Islamic doctrine. Aisha Abd al-Rahman details Ibn al-Adim's evidence regarding anachronisms in the accounts of later compilers, including Ibn Kathir. She highlights Ibn al-Adim's documentation that the House of Knowledge (Dar al-Ilm) in Tripoli was established by Qadi Jalal al-Mulk Ibn Ammar in 472 AH (1079 CE), twenty-three years after al-Ma'arri's death in 449 AH (1057 CE). These accounts confused al-Ma'arri's verified journey to the House of Knowledge in Baghdad with the later Tripoli institution. Abd al-Rahman attributes the monastery narrative to subsequent transmitters who sought to tie his scholarship to Hellenistic philosophy. She argues that the widespread presence of Christian monasteries across Islamic territories makes the claim of a singular, transformative philosophical encounter illogical. She documents that Greek philosophical works were already translated and integrated into Arabic scholarship over two centuries before al-Ma'arri's era. She concludes that chroniclers formulated these narratives to credit foreign origins, discounting the capacity of his native Islamic environment. In 1004–05, al-Ma'arri learned that his father had died and, in reaction, wrote an elegy where he praised his father. Years later he would travel to Baghdad where he became well received in the literary salons of the time, though he was a controversial figure. After the eighteen months in Baghdad, al-Ma'arri returned home for unknown reasons. He may have returned because his mother was ill, or he may have run out of money in Baghdad, as he refused to sell his works. He returned to his native town of Ma'arra in about 1010 and learned that his mother had died before his arrival. He remained in Ma'arra for the rest of his life, where he opted for an ascetic lifestyle, refusing to sell his poems, living in seclusion, and observing a strict vegetarian diet. His personal confinement to his house was only broken once when violence had struck his town. In that incident, al-Ma'arri went to Aleppo to intercede with its Mirdasid emir, Salih ibn Mirdas, to release his brother Abu'l-Majd and several other Muslim notables from Ma'arra who were held responsible for destroying a winehouse whose Christian owner was accused of molesting a Muslim woman. Though he was confined, he lived out his later years continuing his work and collaborating with others. He enjoyed great respect and attracted many students locally, as well as actively holding correspondence with scholars abroad. Despite his intentions of living a secluded lifestyle, in his seventies, he became rich and was the most revered person in his area. Al-Ma'arri never married and died in May 1057 in his hometown.

An early collection of his poems appeared as The Tinder Spark (Saqṭ az-Zand; سقط الزند). The collection of poems included praise of people of Aleppo and the Hamdanid ruler Sa'd al-Dawla. It gained popularity and established his reputation as a poet. A few poems in the collection were about armour.

A second, more original collection appeared under the title Unnecessary Necessity (Luzūm mā lam yalzam لزوم ما لا يلزم), or simply Necessities (Luzūmīyāt اللزوميات). The title refers to how al-Ma'arri saw the business of living and alludes to the unnecessary complexity of the rhyme scheme used.

His third work is a work of prose known as The Epistle of Forgiveness (Risalat al-Ghufran رسالة الغفران). The work was written as a direct response to the Arabic poet Ibn al-Qarih, whom al-Ma'arri mocks for his religious views. In this work, the poet visits paradise and meets the Arab poets of the pagan period. This view is shared by Islamic scholars, who often argued that pre-Islamic Arabs are indeed capable of entering paradise. Because of the aspect of conversing with the deceased in paradise, the Risalat al-Ghufran has been compared to the Divine Comedy of Dante which came hundreds of years after. The work has also been noted to be similar to Ibn Shuhayd's Risala al-tawabi' wa al-zawabi, though there is no evidence that al-Ma'arri was inspired by Ibn Shuhayd nor is there any evidence that Dante was inspired by al-Ma'arri. Algeria reportedly banned The Epistle of Forgiveness from the International Book Fair held in Algiers in 2007.

Paragraphs and Periods (al-Fuṣūl wa al-Ghāyāt) is a collection of homilies. The work has been accused of being a parody of or an attempt to imitate the Quran. Al-Ma'arri also composed a significant corpus of verse riddles. • Illustration — Saqt al-Zand • Illustration — Risalat al-Gufran

In early Western scholarship, Al-Ma'arri has frequently been characterized as a skeptic who denounced superstition and dogmatism in religion. This specific interpretation of his poetry, along with his general negative view on life, has led to descriptions of him as a pessimistic freethinker. Throughout his philosophical writings, a recurring theme highlighted by these early critics is the idea that reason holds a privileged position over traditions, suggesting that relying on the preconceptions and established norms of society can be limiting. Based on English translations of select verses, early orientalists such as Reynold A. Nicholson argued that Al-Ma'arri viewed religion as a "fable invented by the ancients", alleging he considered it worthless except for those who exploit the credulous masses. This historical viewpoint is frequently illustrated by translations found in early 20th-century encyclopedias: Do not suppose the statements of the prophets to be true; they are all fabrications. Men lived comfortably till they came and spoiled life. The sacred books are only such a set of idle tales as any age could have and indeed did actually produce. Based on Nicholson's translations, Al-Ma'arri was understood by these scholars to have criticized many Islamic dogmas; Nicholson notably cited a verse where the poet allegedly described the Hajj as "a pagan's journey". In this historical Western framework, Al-Ma'arri was depicted as rejecting claims of divine revelation, with his creed characterized as that of a philosopher and ascetic for whom reason provides a moral guide and virtue is its own reward. Nicholson argued that his perceived secularist views targeted Judaism and Christianity equally, quoting Al-Ma'arri's observation that monks in their cloisters and devotees in their mosques blindly followed their local beliefs, and would have become Magians or Sabians had they been born among them. A verse frequently cited by these authors to summarize his supposed stance on organized religion reads: "The inhabitants of the earth are of two sorts: those with brains, but no religion, and those with religion, but no brains."

Al-Ma'arri was an ascetic, renouncing worldly desires and living secluded from others while producing his works. He opposed all forms of violence. In Baghdad, while being well received, he decided not to sell his texts, which made it difficult for him to live.

In al-Ma'arri's later years, he chose to stop consuming meat and all other animal products (i.e., he became a practicing vegan). He wrote:

Al-Ma'arri's fundamental pessimism is expressed in his antinatalist recommendation that no children should be begotten, so as to spare them the pains of life. In an elegy composed by him over the loss of a relative, he combines his grief with observations on the ephemerality of this life: Soften your tread. Methinks the earth's surface is but bodies of the dead, Walk slowly in the air, so you do not trample on the remains of God's servants. Al-Ma'arri's self-composed epitaph, on his tomb, states (in regard to life and being born): "This is my father's crime against me, which I myself committed against none."