Al-Maʿarri

Abu al - ' Ala al - Ma'arri (Arabic أبو العلاء المعري, DMG Abū l - ʿ ʾ al - Ma ʿ Alā Arri; * 973 in Ma'Arra, † 1057 in Ma'Arra ) was an Arab poet.

Life

Al- Ma'arri 973 was the son of a distinguished family - his father Abdallah ibn Sulaiman was a poet and philologist - born in the northern Syrian city Ma'Arra. At the age of four he lost as a result of an attack of smallpox, his eyesight. His renderings of disability, although later by his excellent memory offset, he felt his blindness but life as a " prison ". In his hometown and in Aleppo al - Ma'arri studied Islam and the Arabic language and literature.

Later, al - Ma'arri moved to Baghdad. There he made ​​the acquaintance of many scholars and hoped allegedly also to acquire a reputation as Lobdichter. In his time, his Baghdad dispute coincides with the letters al - Murtada. After a heated dispute over the status of poetry al - Mutanabbis this al - Ma'arri let grind at the feet of his literary salon.

1010 returned al - Ma'arri back to his hometown. In his house, he was just to leave until his death again, he gathered disciples around him and maintained a lively correspondence with leading scholars of his time. At the age of 84 years, al - Ma'arri died after a short illness.

Views on Islam and religion in general

Al- Ma'arri was a skeptic and denounced superstition and religious dogmatism. He was therefore referred to as pessimistic freethinker.

Al- Ma'arri taught that religion is a " conceived by the fathers of old fable " is of no value except for exploiting the gullible masses. During his lifetime, al Ma'arris several caliphates were originated in Egypt, Baghdad and Aleppo, which instrumentalized all religion to support their power. He rejected the claim to truth of Islam as well as other religions back:

Al- Ma'arri criticized many dogmas of Islam, such as Hajj, which he called a " Heidenzug "

One of his poems is his view expression:

He rejected any divine revelation. His beliefs were those of philosophers and ascetics, for which reason holds a moral guide and virtue reward enough for themselves.

Works

Al- Ma'arri wrote both poetry and prose. In his youth and the Baghdad period, the Siqt az- zand ( ' tinder spark " ) falls, a collection of more conventional poems, including complaints about mourning the death of his parents and Lobgedichte. The resulting after the Baghdad residence poems, collected in Luzum ma la yalzam ( The requirement that is not required) deal, however, in more complex rhyme technique with philosophical issues.

His most extensive prose is a reply to the letter also received a certain Ibn al - Qarih. This, a rather unsuccessful poet, turned to al - Ma'arri with a request for financial support. Ibn al - Qarih had his former patron al - Maghribi, a Fatimid State, quite shabby abandoned, fell as his family the Caliph in disgrace. In his letter to al - Ma'arri Ibn al - Qarih trying to redeem himself for this behavior.

Al- Ma'arris response, the Risalat al - Ghufran ( " Epistle on forgiveness " ), it has often been compared to Dante's Divina Commedia. The poet sends the surviving Ibn al - Qarih in his imagination on a journey through the afterlife paradise and hell.

Al - Fusul wal- Ghayat ( " sections and ends " ), a collection of homilies in rhymed prose, was described as a parody of the Koran.