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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 One: A Vision of Heaven and Hell

The Epistle of Forgiveness: Volume One: A Vision of Heaven and Hell

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

Hardcover

Series: Library of Arabic Literature, Book 32

ArabicFiction AnthologiesGeneral Middle Eastern History

ISBN10: 0814763782
ISBN13: 9780814763780
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: Aug 23 2013
Pages: 464
Weight: 1.70
Height: 1.40 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
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 written 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 book, the first of two volumes, includes Ibn al-Qarih's initial letter to al-Ma'arri, as well as the first half of The Epistle of Forgiveness.

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