# Chapter XCVI explained — The Luzumiyat

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

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### Abu al-ʻAlaʼ al-Maʻarri

The speaker, expressing doubt about the afterlife and religious promises.

## Key lines

> 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._

## Links

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