The Luzumiyat
Title page of a modern edition of the Luzumiyat. | |
| Author | Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī |
|---|---|
| Original title | اللزوميات / لُزوم ما لا يلزم |
| Translator | Ameen Fares Rihani (one translation) |
| Language | Arabic |
| Genre | Classical Arabic poetry, philosophical poems |
| Publisher | J. T. White (for selected‐edition) |
Publication date | (original composition period: 10th–11th century) |
| Publication place | Abbasid Caliphate / Islamic Golden Age Syria |
Published in English | 1918 (selected edition) |
| Media type | Print (poetry collection) |
| Pages | 119 (in the 1918 edition) |
| Preceded by | Saqt az-Zand |
The Luzumiyat (Arabic: اللزوميات) is the second collection of poetry by al-Ma'arri, comprising nearly 1600 short poems organised in alphabetical order and observing a novel double-consonant rhyme scheme devised by the poet himself.
The work is also known as Luzūm mā lā yalzam (Arabic: لزوم ما لا يلزم) which is variously translated as Unnecessary Necessity, The Self-Imposed Compulsion or "committing oneself to what is not obligatory"; this title is a reference to the difficult, 'unnecessary', rhyme scheme which al-Ma'arri applied to his work. This self-imposed technical challenge was a parallel to other constraints he adopted in his own life, including veganism and virtual social isolation. The poems were written over a period of many years and bear no individual titles. They were circulated by Al-Ma'arri under the title Luzumiyat during his lifetime. The poems are known chiefly for the ideas they contain, written in an ironic and, at times, cynical tone. Unlike traditional qasidas, they focus on doubt, uncertainty, sin, death, and the afterlife.