ABŪ 'I-'ALĀ al-MA'ARRĪ. Born of Muslim parents in al-Ma'arra or Ma'arrat an-Nu'mān (Syria) in 973, and died in 1058. He is renowned as a poet and as a thinker; he lost his sight at the age of four.
Among his works, the best known are a collection of youthful poems (Saqt az-Zand) and another of poems from his mature years (Luzūmiyyāt), celebrated for their pessimism; but the one of greatest interest is the Risālat al-Ghufrān, that is, the Epistle of Forgiveness, pointed out in our own day as one of the sources of the Divine Comedy. Asin Palacios observes that the manner in which the earthly traveler begins his conversation with the souls in paradise, the fact that he finds them divided there into groups, and the criterion according to which God admits them into it, are identical in both works. Furthermore, Dante's encounters with Pia, Piccarda, Cunizza, Virgil, Adam and Matelda have analogies and parallels in the aforementioned epistle. It should be noted, however, that, unlike Dante, A. is an unbeliever, and the epistle is a parody of Muslim eschatology. It is believed that he also parodied the Koran; but on this matter see A. Fischer, Der « Koran » des Abū 'I-'Alā al-Ma'arrī, Leipzig 1942.
Bibliography6 worksIbn Hallikān, Wafayāt al-a'yān, I, Paris 1843, Engl. trans. by B. Mc Guckin; De Slane, Biographical Dictionary, pp. 94-98; R. A. Nicholson,
BIBL.: Ibn Hallikān, Wafayāt al-a'yān, I, Paris 1843, Engl. trans. by B. Mc Guckin; De Slane, Biographical Dictionary, pp. 94-98; R. A. Nicholson, in Journ. R. Asiat. Society, (1900), p. 637 ff.; (1902), passim (where he translates a good part of the Ep.); M. Asin Palacios, La escatologia musulmana en la D.C., 2nd ed., Madrid-Granada 1943, pp. 89-108 (points to A. as a source of the Divine Comedy); F. Gabrieli, Una Divina Commedia musulmana, in Bilychmi, Feb. 1928 (denies that Dante depends on A.).
Sfair, Pietro. “AbŪ 'I-'AlĀ Al-Ma'ArrĪ.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, col. 147. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948. https://azioneromana.com/article/abu-i-ala-al-ma-arri.
MLA
Sfair, Pietro. “AbŪ 'I-'AlĀ Al-Ma'ArrĪ.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948, col. 147. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/abu-i-ala-al-ma-arri.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec1_abu_i_ala_al_ma_arri,
author = {Sfair, Pietro},
title = {AbŪ 'I-'AlĀ Al-Ma'ArrĪ},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {I},
pages = {147},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1948},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/abu-i-ala-al-ma-arri}
}
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