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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Epistle of Forgiveness, Volume Two: Or, a Pardon to Enter the Garden: Hypocrites, Heretics, and Other Sinners

The Epistle of Forgiveness, Volume Two: Or, a Pardon to Enter the Garden: Hypocrites, Heretics, and Other Sinners

Al-Maʿarrī, Abū L-ʿalāʾ
Gelder, Geert Jan Van
Gelder, Geert Jan Van

Hardcover

Series: Library of Arabic Literature, Book 36

ArabicFiction AnthologiesGeneral Middle Eastern History

ISBN10: 0814771947
ISBN13: 9780814771945
Publisher: New York Univ Pr
Published: Jan 3 2014
Pages: 360
Weight: 1.40
Height: 1.30 Width: 6.10 Depth: 9.10
Language: English

One of the most unusual books in classical Arabic literature, The Epistle of Forgiveness is the lengthy reply by the prolific Syrian poet and prose writer, Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri (d. 449/1057), to a letter by an obscure grammarian, Ibn al-Qarih. With biting irony, The Epistle of Forgiveness mocks Ibn al-Qarih's hypocrisy and sycophancy by imagining he has died and arrived with some difficulty in Heaven, where he meets famous poets and philologists from the past. He also glimpses Hell, and converses with the Devil and various heretics. Al-Ma'arri--a maverick, a vegan, and often branded a heretic himself--seems to mock popular ideas about the Hereafter.

This second volume is a point-by-point reply to Ibn al-Qarih's letter using al-Ma'arri's characteristic mixture of erudition, irony, and admonition, enlivened with anecdotes and poems. Among other things, he writes about hypocrites; heretical poets, princes, rebels, and mystics; apostates; piety; superstition; the plight of men of letters; collaborative authorship; wine-drinking; old age; repentance; pre-Islamic pilgrimage customs; and money. This remarkable book is the first complete translation in any language, all the more impressive because of al-Ma'arri's highly ornate and difficult style, his use of rhymed prose, and numerous obscure words and expressions.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

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