Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī Quotes

And I, albeit I come in Time's late hour,
Achieve what lay not in the ancients' power.

Philosophical pessimism

His poems generally known as the Luzumiyat arrest attention by their boldness and originality as well as by the sombre and earnest tone which pervades them.

If I had but a garden for a bower
Wherein the roses of Damascus flower,
How happy, with the Luzumiyat in hand,
To pass the afternoon and sunset hour!

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Abu'l-Ala is a poet many centuries ahead of his time.

ولو أنّي حُبِيتُ الخُلْدَ فَرْداً     لمَا أحبَبْتُ بالخُلْدِ انفِرادا
فلا هَطَلَتْ عَلَيّ ولا بأرْضي     سَحائبُ ليسَ تنْتَظِمُ البِلادا