# XVIII explained — The Luzumiyat

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

## What happens

A brief quatrain urging the reader to tread lightly, as the dust beneath their feet may contain the remains of once-mighty figures, including an Arabian queen.

## Themes in this chapter

### Mortality and Transience

The quatrain emphasizes the transience of power and beauty, as even the mighty and queens are reduced to dust.

## Key lines

> Tread lightly, for the mighty that have been Might now be breathing in the dust unseen; Lightly, the violets beneath thy feet Spring from the mole of some Arabian queen.

Walk gently, because the powerful people of the past may now be lying as invisible dust; the violets you step on grow from the beauty spot of a long-dead Arabian queen.

_A meditation on the fragility of earthly glory and the cycle of life and death._

## Links

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