Usama ibn Munqidh أسامة بن منقذ

knight · poet · Shaizar, Syria · 1095–1188

A Syrian knight and poet who lived through the age of the Crusades to ninety-three. Around ninety he left his memoir, the Book of Contemplation.

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c. 1185 · At ninety

When I rise, I feel I am carrying a mountain, and when I walk, I walk like a man in fetters.

فإذا نهضت حسبت أني حامل جبلا وأمشي إن مشيت مقيدا

The memoir Book of Contemplation (Kitab al-I'tibar)