# XIII explained — The Luzumiyat

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

## What happens

The chapter reflects on the transient nature of dreams and the promise of renewal, as a messenger takes away faded garments of dreams to return them as new robes, symbolizing hope and transformation.

## Themes in this chapter

### Mortality and Transience

The faded garments of dreams symbolize the ephemeral nature of human aspirations and life.

### Illusion and Reality

The promise of new robes to-morrow contrasts the illusion of permanence with the reality of change.

## Character check-ins

### Allah

Implied as the Dyer who receives and renews the faded garments of dreams.

## Key lines

> And he the Messenger, who takes away The faded garments, purple, white, and gray Of all our dreams unto the Dyer, will Bring back new robes to-morrow⁠—so they say.

The messenger collects our worn-out dreams, colored in purple, white, and gray, and delivers them to the Dyer, who will return them as fresh garments the next day—or so the story goes.

_The passage uses the metaphor of a dyer and garments to express hope in renewal after loss._

## Links

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