The Luzumiyat · Chapter
Chapter XCVI explained
The speaker yearns for a returned traveler from the afterlife to confirm whether the astrologer Nubakht is damned, and whether those who sacrificed for religious promises now mock the promised paradise as a deception.
What happens
The speaker yearns for a returned traveler from the afterlife to confirm whether the astrologer Nubakht is damned, and whether those who sacrificed for religious promises now mock the promised paradise as a deception.
Themes in this chapter
Doubt and Skepticism
The speaker doubts the reality of hell and paradise, wondering if the promises of the Prophet are a 'sell'.
Illusion and Reality
The 'Paradisal sell' suggests that the promised afterlife may be an illusion, a deceptive prize.
Characters to notice
- Abu al-ʻAlaʼ al-Maʻarri
The speaker, expressing doubt about the afterlife and religious promises.
Key passages
“Oh! that some one would but return to tell If old Nubakht is burning now in hell, Or if the workers for the Prophet’s prize Are laughing at his Paradisal sell.”
If only someone could come back from the dead to say whether the ancient astrologer Nubakht is suffering in hell, or whether those who labored for the Prophet's reward are now mocking the deception of paradise.
The speaker expresses a desire for empirical evidence of the afterlife, casting doubt on religious promises.