The Epistle of Forgiveness

Apart from its fine quality, an enormous advantage of this new edition and translation lies in its completeness. (Journal of Islamic Studies) Van Gelder and Schoeler present one of the most complex and unusual texts in Arabic literature, by al-Ma’arri (d. 1057 AD), maverick, poet and vegetarian (Banipal Magazine)

Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī (Author) Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī (363-449⁄973-1058) was a major poet and prose writer of the late Abbasid period. Born near Aleppo, Syria, he lost his eyesight in childhood and was renowned for his asceticism. Matthew Reynolds (Foreword by) Matthew Reynolds is Professor of English and Comparative Criticism at Oxford University. Gregor Schoeler (Translator) Gregor Schoeler was the chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Basel from 1982 to 2009. His books in the fields of Islamic Studies and classical Arabic literature include The Oral and the Written in Early Islam, and Paradies und Holle, a partial German translation of The Epistle of Forgiveness. Geert Jan van Gelder (Translator) Geert Jan van Gelder was Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford from 1998 to 2012. He is the author of several books on classical Arabic literature, including Beyond the Line: Classical Arabic Literary Critics on the Coherence and Unity of the Poem and Of Dishes and Discourse: Classical Arabic Literary Representations of Food.