The Epistle Of Forgiveness Or

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 H/1057 AD), to a letter by an obscure grammarian, Ibn al-Qarih. With biting irony, The Epistle of Forgiveness mocks Ibn al-QarihOCOs 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'arriOCoa maverick, a vegan, and often branded a heretic himselfOCoseems to mock popular ideas about the Hereafter. a This second volume is a point-by-point reply to Ibn al-QarihOCOs letter using al-Ma'arriOCOs 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'arriOCOs highly ornate and difficult style, his use of rhymed prose, and numerous obscure words and expressions. a Geert Jan van Gelder awas Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford from 1998 to 2012. He is the author of several books on classical Arabic literature, including aBeyond the Line: Classical Arabic Literary Critics on the Coherence and Unity of the Poem aand aOf Dishes and Discourse: Classical Arabic Literary Representations of Food . a Gregor Schoeler awas the chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Basel from 1982 to 2009. His books in the fields of Islamic Studies and classical Arabic literature includea The Oral and the Written in Early Islam, anda Paradies und HAlle, a partial German translation of The Epistle of Forgiveness."