The Luzumiyat · Chapter
XC explained
A brief but potent quatrain urging the reader to refrain from violence against innocent creatures, emphasizing the shared mortality of hunter and hunted.
What happens
A brief but potent quatrain urging the reader to refrain from violence against innocent creatures, emphasizing the shared mortality of hunter and hunted.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and Transience
The quatrain underscores the fleeting nature of life for both hunter and hunted, reminding that neither endures long.
Suffering and Resilience
The warning against staining life with guiltless blood highlights the suffering inflicted on innocent creatures and the futility of violence.
Key passages
“Thy life with guiltless life-blood do not stain— Hunt not the children of the woods; in vain Thou’lt try one day to wash thy bloody hand: Nor hunter here nor hunted long remain.”
Do not taint your life by shedding innocent blood—do not hunt the creatures of the forest; you will find it futile to cleanse your bloodstained hand, for both the hunter and the hunted are equally transient.
A moral admonition against killing, rooted in the shared impermanence of all living beings.