The Message of Forgiveness

"Message of Forgiveness" is a high-level prose work by the poet and philosopher Abu Al-Alaa Al-Ma'arri, written in 424 AH (1033 AD) as a response to the letter of Ibn Al-Qarih. The reader is taken on an imaginary journey to the afterlife, where Ibn Al-Qarih meets the great poets and writers in paradise and hell, amidst dialogues full of philosophy, religious criticism, and literary criticism. The narration blends divine imagination and critical reality in a sarcastic and fearless style.