Tread lightly, for a thousand hearts unseen
Might now be breathing in this misty green;
Here are the herbs that once were pretty cheeks,
Here the remains of those that once have been.
Afearing whom I trust I gain my end,
But trusting, without fear, my friend;
Much better is the Doubt that gives me peace,
Than all the Faiths which in hell-fire may end.
Among us some are great and some are small,
Albeit in wickedness, we’re masters all;
Or, if my fellow men are like myself,
The human race shall always rise and fall.
The air of sin I breathe without restraint;
With selfishness my few good deeds I taint;
I come as I was molded and I go,
But near the vacant shrine of Truth I faint.
A church, a temple, or a Kaba Stone,
Koran or Bible or a martyr’s bone —
All these and more my heart can tolerate
Since my religion now is Love alone.
— from the poems of Al-Maarri
Al-Ma’arri (973–1058) was a blind Arab philosopher and poet, and a controversialist who raised the ire of Muslims for his rationalist positions concerning religion. He rejected the claim that Islam or any other religion — including Christianity and Judaism — possessed the truths they claimed and accused the prophets of being liars. In 2013, during the Syrian conflict, the al-Nursa Front, a branch of al-Qaeda, beheaded a statue of Al Ma’arri either because of his atheism or because it was claimed he was related to the Assad family.
Tread lightly, for a thousand hearts unseen
Might now be breathing in this misty green;
Here are the herbs that once were pretty cheeks,
Here the remains of those that once have been.
Afearing whom I trust I gain my end,
But trusting, without fear, my friend;
Much better is the Doubt that gives me peace,
Than all the Faiths which in hell-fire may end.
Among us some are great and some are small,
Albeit in wickedness, we’re masters all;
Or, if my fellow men are like myself,
The human race shall always rise and fall.
The air of sin I breathe without restraint;
With selfishness my few good deeds I taint;
I come as I was molded and I go,
But near the vacant shrine of Truth I faint.
A church, a temple, or a Kaba Stone,
Koran or Bible or a martyr’s bone —
All these and more my heart can tolerate
Since my religion now is Love alone.
— from the poems of Al-Maarri
Al-Ma’arri (973–1058) was a blind Arab philosopher and poet, and a controversialist who raised the ire of Muslims for his rationalist positions concerning religion. He rejected the claim that Islam or any other religion — including Christianity and Judaism — possessed the truths they claimed and accused the prophets of being liars. In 2013, during the Syrian conflict, the al-Nursa Front, a branch of al-Qaeda, beheaded a statue of Al Ma’arri either because of his atheism or because it was claimed he was related to the Assad family.
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