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رسالة الغفران
لأبي العلاء المعرّيّ
المجلّد الأوّل
The Epistle of Forgiveness
or
A Pardon to Enter the Garden
by
Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī
edited and translated by
Geert Jan van Gelder and Gregor Schoeler
Volume One:
A Vision of Heaven and Hell
preceded by
Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s Epistle
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
Table of Contents
Letter from the General Editor
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations used in the Introduction and Translation
Introduction
A Note on the Text
A Note on the Edition
Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s Hopes for a Meeting with al-Maʿarrī
Criticism of Heresy and Heretics
On Fate
Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s Complaints of Old Age
The Prophet at the Beginning of his Mission
Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s Weaknesses and Self-Reproach
The Sheikh Exculpates Himself
Praise of al-Maʿarrī
On Memorizing and Forgetting; Ibn al-Qāriḥ Complains Again
al-Maʿarrī’s Description of Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s Letter
Description of Paradise
A Drinking Scene
The Sheikh’s Excursion
The Conversation with al-Aʿshā Maymūn
The Conversation with Zuhayr
The Conversation with ʿAbīd ibn al-Abraṣ
The Conversation with ʿAdī ibn Zayd
The Conversation with Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī
The Conversation with the Two Nābighahs, al-Dhubyānī and al-Jaʿdī
The Geese of Paradise
The First Conversation with Labīd
The Singing of the Damsels
An Altercation in Paradise
The Conversation with Ḥassān ibn Thābit
The Five One-Eyed Men of Qays
The Story of Tamīm ibn Ubayy ibn Muqbil
The Sheikh’s Story of his Resurrection, the Day of Judgment, and his Entry into Paradise
The Sheikh’s Conversation with Riḍwān and Zufar, Guards of the Garden
The Conversation with ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib
The Conversation with Fāṭimah, the Prophet’s Daughter
The Prophet’s Intercession
The Crossing of the Bridging Path
The Second Conversation with Riḍwān; the Entry into Paradise
The Conversation with “the Camel-Herd” and Ḥumayd ibn Thawr
The Second Conversation with Labīd
A Banquet in Paradise
The Conversation with the two “Locusts”
The Conversation with Jirān al-ʿAwd
The Dance of the Damsels
Beer, Marinated Peacock, and Roast Goose
The Conversation with the Two Damsels
The Tree of Damsels
The Paradise of the Demons
The Poetry of the Demons
Abū Hadrash al-Khaytaʿūr’s Heroic Deeds
Animals in Paradise
In the Furthest Reaches of Paradise; A Conversation with al-Ḥuṭayʾah
The Conversation with al-Khansāʾ
The Conversation with Satan
The Conversation with Bashshār ibn Burd
The Conversation with Imruʾ al-Qays
The Conversation with ʿAntarah
The Conversation with ʿAlqamah
The Conversation with ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm
al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥillizah
The Conversation with Ṭarafah
The Conversation with Aws ibn Ḥajar
The Conversations with the Hudhalī poets Abū Kabīr and Ṣakhr al-Ghayy
The Conversation with al-Akhṭal
The Conversation with Muhalhil
The Conversation with the Two