The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala, L

translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

And in the pottery the potter cried,
As on his work shone all the master’s pride—
      “How is it, Rabbi, I, thy slave, can make
Such vessels as nobody dare deride?”

Credit

The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala (James T. White & Co., 1920) by Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī. Translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani. Copyright © 1920 by Ameen Rihani. This poem is in the public domain.

Translators
Ameen Rihani
1876 –
1940