Abu al-ʻAlaʼ al-Maʻarri

Biography

Abu al-ʻAlaʼ al-Maʿarri (973–1057) was a blind Arab philosopher, poet, and writer from Maʿarrat al-Nuʻman in modern Syria. One of the greatest poets in the Arabic language, he is known for his rationalism, pessimism, and religious skepticism—remarkable positions for his time. His most famous work, the Luzumiyat, consists of poems written with a self-imposed constraint of double rhyme. He was a vegetarian who opposed animal cruelty, a skeptic who questioned organized religion, and a pessimist who advocated against reproduction. His freethinking earned comparisons to Lucretius and Omar Khayyam.