Methink I am thrice-imprisoned—ask not me Of news that need no telling— By loss of sight, confinement in my house, And this vile body for my spirit’s… - al-Ma'arri

Men of acute mind call me an ascetic, but they are wrong in their diagnosis. Although I disciplined my desires, I only abandoned worldly pleasures because the best of these withdrew themselves from me.

How sad that I returned, how sad,
Instead of dying at Baghdad!
I say, whene'er things fall amiss,
"My coming home hath brought me this."

Do not unjustly eat what the water has given up, and do not desire as food the flesh of slaughtered animals,
Or the white (milk) of mothers who intended its pure draught for their young, not for noble ladies.
And do not grieve the unsuspecting birds by taking their eggs; for injustice is the worst of crimes.
And spare the honey which the bees get betimes by their industry from the flowers of fragrant plants;
For they did not store it that it might belong to others, nor did they gather it for bounty and gifts.
I washed my hands of all this; and would that I had perceived my way ere my temples grew hoar!