Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri was an Arab poet. Al-Ma'arri was born in 973 to a prominent family - his father, Abdallah ibn Sulaiman, was a poet and philologist - in the northern Syrian city of Ma'arra. At the age of four, he lost his eyesight due to a smallpox illness. Although he later compensated for this disability with his excellent memory, he felt his blindness was a "prison" throughout his life. In his hometown and in Aleppo, al-Ma'arri studied Islam as well as the Arabic language and literature.