Ma'arrat al-Numan

Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, in northwestern Syria between Aleppo and Hama, is the birthplace of the blind poet and freethinker Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri (d. 1057), one of the most celebrated and controversial figures of classical Arabic literature, author of the Luzumiyyat and the Risalat al-Ghufran; he lived and is buried in his home town.