# LVII explained — The Luzumiyat

> Chapter companion for The Luzumiyat by Abu al-ʻAlaʼ al-Maʻarri.

## What happens

The speaker reflects on his own hypocrisy, comparing himself to a slave who robs by dawn and prays by noon, and expresses a wish for night to blot out both humanity and its sins.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Power and Hypocrisy

The speaker admits to his own duplicity, robbing and then praying, highlighting the hypocrisy inherent in human behavior.

### Mortality and Transience

The wish for night to blot out sins and the self underscores a desire for oblivion and the fleeting nature of life.

## Character check-ins

### Abu al-ʻAlaʼ al-Maʻarri

The speaker of the quatrain, confessing his own wheedling and hypocrisy.

## Key lines

> I wheedle, too, even like my slave Zeidun, Who robs at dawn his brother, and at noon Prostrates himself in prayer⁠—ah, let us pray That Night might blot us and our sins, and soon.

I also cajole and deceive, just like my slave Zeidun, who steals from his fellow man in the morning and then humbly prays at midday. Let us pray that the night will quickly erase both us and our wrongdoings.

_The speaker confesses his own hypocrisy and desires an end to human sinfulness through oblivion._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_luzumiyat_se/chapters/lvii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_luzumiyat_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_luzumiyat_se/chapters