Abu'l-Ala, beside being a poet and scholar of the first rank, was also one of the foremost thinkers of his age. The larger collection of his poems, the Luzumiyat, was published in Cairo, in two volumes, by Azeez Zind, from an original Ms. written in the twelfth century, under Abu'l-Ala's own title Luzum ma la Yalzam, or the Necessity of what is Unnecessary. The quatrains which are here published are culled from the three Volumes of his poems, and they are arranged, as nearly as may be, in the logical order of their sequence of thought.

In his translation, Ameen Rihani sought to capture the essence of al-Ma'arri's skepticism and wisdom while making it accessible to an English-speaking audience. Furthermore, this work is celebrated for maintaining the philosophical depth and lyrical beauty of the original Arabic.

This new edition comes with an Easy to Read Layout designed to make reading comfortable.