The world we have now

Here's a short verse from the Arabian philosopher, poet, and writer; Abu-al-‘Alā’al-Ma’arri ...

... it's translated from the Arabic by George Wightman and Abdullah al-Udhari; and taken from the pictured 1983 collection, edited by J. M. Cohen.


Bill of Sale

God help us, we have sold our souls, all that was best,
To an enterprise in the hands of the Receiver.

We’ve no dividends, or rights, for the price we paid.

Yet should our wills choose between this corrupt business
And a paradise to come, rest assured they’d want

The world we have now.

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Abu-al-‘Alā’al-Ma’arri (973-1058)


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