Abū Al-ʿAlāʾ Al-Maʿarrī Quotes

So, too, the creeds of man: the one prevails
Until the other comes; and this one fails
When that one triumphs; ay, the lonesome world
Will always want the latest fairytales.

There is no imam but the mind, who guides by day and night.

When men shake hands with time, time crushes
Them like tumblers; little pieces of glass.

Kings are sad creatures.

Everyone who strives after gain in the perishable world will necessarily come to regret it, at the time of separation and the moment of non-being.

Now this religion happens to prevail
Until by that religion overthrown,–
Because men dare not live with men alone,
But always with another fairy-tale