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Abul ʿAla Al-Maʿarri (Arabic ', full name '; 973–1057〔) was a blind Arab philosopher, poet, and writer. Born in modern day Maarrat al-Nuʿman, Syria, he studied at Aleppo, Tripoli and Antioch. Producing popular poems in Baghdad, he nevertheless refused to sell his texts. In 1010, he returned to Syria after his mother began declining in health, and continued writing which gained him local respect. Described as a "pessimistic freethinker", Al-Maʿarri was a controversial rationalist of his time, citing reason as the chief source of truth. He was pessimistic about life describing himself as "a double prisoner" of blindness and isolation. He attacked the dogmas of religion and rejected Islam. He was equally sarcastic towards the religions of Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians. He advocated social justice, and lived a secluded, ascetic lifestyle. He was a strict vegetarian, writing "do not desire as food the flesh of slaughtered animals." Al-Maʿarri held an anti-natalist view, in line with his general pessimism, suggesting that children should not be born to spare them of the pains of life. Al-Maʿarri wrote three main works that were popular in his time. Among his works are "The Tinder Spark", "Unnecessary Necessity", and "The Epistle of Forgiveness" which may be considered a precursor to Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. Al-Maʿarri never married and died at the age of 83 in the city where he was born, Maarrat al-Nuʿman. In 2013, a statue of Al-Maʿarri located in Syria was beheaded by jihadists from the Al Nusra Front.〔 Despite controversy about his unorthodox views, Al-Maʿarri is regarded as one of the greatest classical Arabic poets. == Life == Abul Ala was born in Maʿarra, modern Maarrat al-Nuʿman, Syria, near the city of Aleppo, in December 973. At his time, the city was part of the Abbasid Caliphate, the third Islamic caliphate, and was during the Golden Age of Islam. He was a member of the ''Banu Sulayman'', a notable family of Maʿarra, belonging to the larger Tanukh tribe.〔1940 أبو العلاء المعري: نسبه وأخباره وشعره ومعتقده، تأليف أحمد تيمور باشا، ص.3، ط〕〔 Miguel Asín Palacios, ''Islam and the Divine comedy'', Routledge, 1968, ISBN 978-0-7146-1995-8, (p. 55 )〕 One of his ancestors was probably the first qadi of Maʿarra. The Tanukh tribe had formed part of the aristocracy in Syria for hundreds of years and some members of the ''Banu Sulayman'' had also been noted as good poets. He lost his eyesight at the age of four due to smallpox. His later pessimism may be explained by his blindness. Later in his life, he regarded himself as "a double prisoner" which referred to both this blindness and the general isolation that he felt during his life.〔Philip Khuri Hitti, ''(Islam, a Way of Life )'', page 147. University of Minnesota Press〕 He started his career as a poet at an early age, at about 11 or 12 years old. He was educated at first in Maʿarra and Aleppo, later also in Antioch and other Syrian cities. Among his teachers in Aleppo were companions from the circle of Ibn Khalawayh.〔〔 This grammarian and Islamic scholar had died in 980 CE when al-Maʿarri was still a child. Al-Maʿarri nevertheless laments the loss of Ibn Khalawayh in strong terms in a poem of his ''Risālat al-ghufrān''. Al-Qifti reports that when on his way to Tripoli, Al-Maʿarri visited a Christian monastery near Latakia where he listened to debates about Hellenistic philosophy, which planted in him the seeds of his later skepticism and irreligiosity; but other historians such as Ibn al-Adim deny that he had been exposed to any theology other than Islamic doctrine.〔 In 1004-5 Al-Maʿarri learned that his father had died and, in reaction, wrote an elegy where he praised his father.〔 Years later he would travel to Baghdad where he became well received in the literary salons of the time, though he was a controversial figure.〔 After the eighteen months in Baghdad, al-Maʿarri returned home for unknown reasons. He may have returned because his mother was ill, or he may have run out of money in Baghdad, as he refused to sell his works.〔 It may have also been possible that Al-Maʿarri was expelled from Baghdad for being controversial.〔 He returned to his native town of Maʿarra in about 1010 and learned that his mother had died before his arrival.〔 He remained in Maʿarra for the rest of his life, where he opted for an ascetic lifestyle, refusing to sell his poems, living in seclusion and observing a strict vegetarian diet.〔D. S. Margoliouth, (Abu 'l-ʿAla al-Maʿarri's correspondence on vegetarianism ), ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', 1902, p. 289.〕 His personal confinement to his house was only broken one time when violence had struck his town.〔 Though he was confined, he lived out his later years continuing his work and collaborating with others. He enjoyed great respect and attracted many students locally, as well as actively holding correspondence with scholars abroad.〔 Despite his intentions of living a secluded lifestyle, in his seventies, he became rich and was the most revered person in his area.〔 Al-Maʿarri never married and died in May 1057 in his hometown.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Al-Maʿarri」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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