R. Kevin Lacey's All the World Is Awry examines one of the most complicated authors of medieval Islam, Abu al-ʿAlaʾ al-Maʿarri (d. 447/1057), the blind poet of Syria—dubbed as freethinker and atheist, on the one hand, and a pious ascetic, on the other—through one of his most controversial works, a collection of poems entitled Luzum ma la Yalzam (The Self-Imposed Unnecessity; hereafter, Luzum), widely known for its literary virtuosity and contradictions. Luzum is the work most closely associated with al-Maʿarri's controversial thoughts, especially regarding matters of faith and (un)belief. Lacey's study is the most thorough examination of Luzum's content to date. It offers the most versatile reading of this lengthy dīwān, diligently bringing forth the entire thematic landscape and touching upon every important topic in the collection.
Chapter 1 is an excellent sketch of al-Maʿarri's biography, with a comprehensive account of his family, social network, and main works. Lacey also reveals the purpose of his study, which is “how we are simply to understand al-Maʿarri, regardless of whether we feel compelled to accept or reject, like or loathe, whatever confessional tendencies or life orientations he may or may not have exhibited” (p. 36). Lacey states that the methodological core of the study is to allow the source to speak for itself, instead of relying on various interpretations. However, this statement does not bear much analytical value—Lacey himself, as we shall see, uses an interpretative paradigm that goes beyond the text itself.
In chapter 2, Lacey surveys the milieu in which al-Maʿarri worked, also summarizing preceding political and intellectual developments. This chapter is unnecessarily lengthy and descriptive; a brief analytical discussion would have sufficed to underscore the intense political, intellectual, and religious scene of the time. Moreover, Lacey misses an opportunity to discuss contemporary critiques of religion (he dedicates a few pages to the famous freethinker Abu Bakr al-Razi (d. ca. 313/925), but only as an individual and philosopher). By al-Maʿarri's time, motifs of religious critique were significant across multiple genres. The fact that freethinkers “did not establish any sect” (p. 247) should not diminish their input.
Chapter 3 provides a wonderful overview of Luzum's literary characteristics, detailing al-Maʿarri's most distinguished technique of “conceits” (kulaf). This chapter could be a reference for anyone who wants to understand the character of Luzum's extraordinary literary features. The most problematic part of this chapter, and of the book as a whole, is Lacey's approach to contradictions. It is well known that Luzum is full of contradictions, especially concerning tenets of religion and faith. For instance, one finds verses portraying God in scriptural terms next to verses presenting God as unjust. Lacey writes that the contradictions are sometimes resolvable but are usually blatantly incompatible statements. In order to resolve these contradictions, the author relies on the well-known theory of dissimulation (taqiyya), which suggests that orthodox verses exist only to cover the poet's unbelief and save him from persecution. Already Alfred von Kremer in the 19th century thought that al-Maʿarri applied taqiyya, and Taha Hussein was the Arab author who advocated this theory.
Having set this rule of thumb for the reading of Luzum, Lacey then explores its major themes in the fourth and final chapter, which is the most essential part of the study. He carefully surveys all the verses in which al-Maʿarri contemplates humankind, God, religion, cosmology, ethics, and other themes. In addition to a thorough exposure of themes, Lacey also integrates previous scholarly work and interpretations of Luzum.
In the first part of chapter 4, the author scrutinizes al-Maʿarri's views on humankind—from its physical totality to its essential properties like soul, intellect, and mortality. An intriguing discussion here is how al-Maʿarri views free will and predetermination. The poet fluctuates between these two notions, sometimes favoring the former and sometimes the latter. Fortunately, in this case, Lacey does not use the concept of taqiyya and instead concludes that al-Maʿarri holds neither view, situating himself somewhere in the middle and thus having space for both beliefs. When it comes to resurrection, Lacey concludes that al-Maʿarri allowed only the possibility of the resurrection of the soul and not the body, but this conclusion is unconvincing, given the many verses that suggest that resurrection is possible without any further specification.
In the second part, Lacey discusses the notion of God and religion. He uses the idea of taqiyya to explain why al-Maʿarri should frequently confirm the reality of God as a pious Muslim, while also frequently presenting God as unjust and the cause of evil. Lacey also sheds light on verses in which al-Maʿarri speaks of God ironically and those which state that human beings can never obtain enough knowledge about God.
The third part considers al-Maʿarri's social and political views. Here, Lacey exhaustively exposes the verses showing the poet's disapproval for family, women, people of state, and learned classes—religious or secular. The only group al-Maʿarri treats mildly are philosophers, and Lacey thinks this is because he agreed more with philosophers than anyone else. This claim can be justified only to a certain degree. While in many cases al-Maʿarri uses philosophical ideas, he never sustains a series of philosophical arguments on any of the issues he raises in a categorical assertive style akin to philosophers.
The next part is a rich discussion on al-Maʿarri's perception of creation and cosmogony. In many verses, al-Maʿarri mentions the eternity of matter, time, and space, thus going against the theory of God's creation of the world ex nihilo and the belief that God is the only eternal. In this case too, al-Maʿarri's ideas are complicated by contradictions, which Lacey says are “intended to provide at least a semblance of camouflage for belief in the eternity of the natural elements” (p. 287). Lacey suggests that al-Maʿarri was influenced by al-Razi, as the latter also believed in the co-eternity of God. While al-Maʿarri was certainly knowledgeable about al-Razi's views, comparing the two requires a more nuanced approach, especially in relation to the notion of God—who is benign, just, wise, and compassionate for al-Razi but not for al-Maʿarri—and the notion of intellect—which is an absolutely positive agent for al-Razi but not for al-Maʿarri.
When concluding the book, Lacey states that, despite its nonconformist views, Luzum “largely reflects on the natural progression of Islamicate thought, its ethical guidelines and doctrines stretching back to Qur'an and the books of fiqh, ḥadīth, taṣawwūf, adab, and ʿilm al-akhlāq” (p. 352). It is hard not to see the conflict Lacey invokes here, given that the entire study presents al-Maʿarri as someone alienated from all this, as a maverick unbeliever who disguised his ideas to preserve his life. The impression here is not that Lacey integrates al-Maʿarri and his thought into this broader culture, but tries to defend al-Maʿarri's legacy in the face of modern accusations of unbelief. One might ask whether al-Maʿarri needs any apologetic attitude.
Overall, relying on the idea of taqiyya is restrictive. The notion of religious persecution should always be historically contextualized. Al-Maʿarri's fame was not based primarily on his religious thought but on his literary merits—especially his virtuosity and mannerism—and his thorough knowledge of Arabic. It is true there were rumors about his unbelief, but these were only rumors, not threats. We find no serious allegations of unbelief in contemporary chronicles; it is not until centuries later that the staunchly accusing narrative became dominant in Hanbali circles, specifically in the writings of Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 598/1201). Moreover, had there been any serious motivation to punish al-Maʿarri, Luzum contains numerous straightforwardly freethinking verses, in addition to its allegories and double entendres. It seems strange that someone who supposedly feared persecution would openly state the paucity of his religion and his covert writing. Ultimately, al-Maʿarri avoided punishment not because he successfully hid behind contradictions, but because in his historical context there was no need for him to hide—the sociopolitical setting was not conducive to such punishment. In a way, Lacey seems to be aware of this, but being too tempted to resolve the contradictions, he insists on the notion of taqiyya.
Further, the impression one gets from the study is that by al-Maʿarri's time, religious discussions had set all the boundaries of belief, and one could either accept or reject them. However, it would be more accurate to say that skepticism and uncertainty lay at the heart of the religious realm. The lengthy overview in the book about religious and intellectual trends leading up to al-Maʿarri's time speaks to the anxiety and accumulation of knowledge that led to skepticism and confusion, not to certainty. Al-Maʿarri in fact had an aversion to anyone who claimed to know things for certain (his Epistle of Forgiveness is an indicator of this). By placing opposing discourses in one and the same text, al-Maʿarri allows space for both belief and unbelief.
Despite this restrictive mode of interpretation, the work under review remains a greatly valuable contribution to al-Maʿarri's scholarship.
