# Chapter XCIII explained — The Luzumiyat

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

## What happens

A brief allegorical stanza about a prince of souls who foolishly seeks to clothe himself in mortal clay, entering the Pottery despite a warning to stay away.

## Themes in this chapter

### Illusion and Reality

The prince of souls seeking a vesture of clay suggests the illusion of embodiment or material form.

### Fate and Destiny

The fool's warning and his entry into the Pottery imply a destined or fated action.

## Key lines

> A prince of souls, ’tis sung in ancient lay, One morning sought a vesture of the clay; He came into the Pottery, the fool⁠— The lucky fool was warned to stay away.

According to an old song, a spiritual prince once sought to take on a physical body. He entered the workshop of creation, a naive soul who was fortunate enough to be told not to come, but came anyway.

_The stanza uses the metaphor of the Pottery to represent the creation or incarnation of a soul into material form._

## Links

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