Abdul Alhazred

Arab author of the Al Azif, also known as the Necronomicon. ". . .a mad poet of Sanaa, in Yemen, who is said to have flourished during the period of the Ommiade caliphs, circa 700 A. D." [HPL History (online text)] Other sources give earlier dates for Alhazred:

  • A reviewer of W. T. Faraday's 1935 English version of the Necronomicon asserted that Alhazred lived shortly before Muhammed [DAW Review (online text)], thus prior to 570 AD.
  • In 1947, Laban Shrewsbury stated that Alhazred was born almost fifteen centuries ago [AWD Island]. This would place Alhazred's birth as ca. 447 AD. However, Shrewsbury may have been speaking on very loose and approximate terms on that occasion.

Travels

"He visited the ruins of Babylon and the subterranean secrets of Memphis and spent ten years alone in the great southern desert of Arabia – the Roba el Khaliyeh or 'Empty Space' of the ancients – and 'Dahna' or 'Crimson' desert of the modern Arabs, which is held to be inhabited by protective evil spirits and monsters of death. . . In his last years Alhazred dwelt in Damascus, where the Necronomicon (Al Azif) was written..." [HPL History]

"He claimed to have seen the fabulous Irem, or City of Pillars..." [HPL History] According to Shrewsbury, Alhazred saw Irem during his sojourn in the Roba El Khaliyey [AWD Keeper].

Alhazred also claimed "to have found beneath the ruins of a certain nameless desert town the shocking annals and secrets of a race older than mankind." [HPL History; AWD Keeper]. However, it is possible that Alhazred visited the "nameless desert town" only in dreams; for he is said to have dreamt of the Nameless City on the night before he sang his famous couplet: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die." [HPL Nameless (online text)]

The Madness of Alhazred

"Of his madness many things are told" [HPL History]. However, there are varied estimates of Alhazred's sanity. Seneca Lapham said only that Alhazred was "commonly thought" to be mad [AWD Lurker]. Judge Wilton was uncertain whether the mythology of Hastur and other evil beings was only the creation of a mad mind, Abdul Alhazred [AWD Hastur]. Some say Alhazred had "reasons for his madness," perhaps due to having imbibed of the Black Lotus [RB Lotus]. James Allington wrote that Alhazred knew many things; it was only the weight of his knowledge that drove him mad [RB Suicide (online text)]. Michael Leigh said that Alhazred delved so deeply into forbidden secrets that people thought him mad [HK Salem (online text)]. The Abyss narrator speculated that Alhazred was sane, and only considered mad by those who could not bear the burden of the truths he revealed [RAL Abyss (online text)].

Devotions

"He was only an indifferent Moslem, worshipping unknown entities whom he called Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu." [HPL History]

Alhazred bred charnel worms in the bellies of slain camels [FBL WereSnake (online text)].

Death and Afterlife

"...of his final death or disappearance (738 A. D.) many terrible and conflicting things are told. He is said by Ebn Khallikan (12th cent. biographer) to have been seized by an invisible monster in broad day-light and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses." [HPL History]

According to Laban Shrewsbury, Alhazred mysteriously disappeared and subsequently died in 731 AD (rather than 738) [AWD Keeper]. According to Shrewsbury, it was only an illusion when Alhazred appeared to be devoured before a great crowd, and Alhazred was instead brought to the Nameless City to undergo punishment and death for revealing the secrets of the Ancient Ones (2). In modern times, Shrewsbury and Nayland Colum visited the cell of Alhazred in the Nameless City and temporarily raised him from the dead. Alhazred's eyes had and tongue had been removed, presumably as a result of torture. Shrewsbury compelled Alhazred to trace a map showing the location of Cthulhu, and to reveal the location of the remaining pages of the original manuscript of the Al Azif. Shrewsbury then sent Alhazred's soul away again. [AWD Keeper]

Writings

Alhazred wrote the Necronomicon to enable humans to communicate with their true masters [RB Strange]. Alhazred wrote of rites that could be used to call the Great Old Ones (3) [AWD Lurker].

Alhazred heard the name of Nyarlathotep whispered in tales of shadowed Irem [RB Faceless]. Alhazred described Nyarlathotep as faceless [AWD Lurker].

Alhazred knew of the Place of the Blind Apes, where Nephren-Ka bindeth up the threads of truth. [RB Fane]

Other Works

Alhazred is also attributed as the author of an additional book, which he wrote after the Necronomicon. Mrs. Armer had a copy of a very old and worn volume by Abdul Alhazred. The introduction stated that Alhazred "had authored an earlier volume called the Necronomicon." Since the introduction could be read by a retired police captain with no scholarly interests, this edition was most likely published in English. [HC Intruders]

It is interesting that Alhazred is described as a "mad poet," since the available excerpts from the Necronomicon are all in prose, with the exception only of his "immortal couplet." [See Necronomicon]. Perhaps he wrote additional poetic works, or perhaps the Necronomicon includes more poetry that doesn't get quoted very much.

Artifacts

Alhazred once owned a lamp that stimulated visions. A later owner, Ward Phillips (2) was convinced that the lamp showed landscapes that were known to Alhazred. [AWD Lamp (online text)]

Alhazred left many legacies among his own people, possibly including surviving copies of the Necronomicon. [RB Fane]

Other References

The Book tells of things the mad Arab never dreamed of in his wildest nightmares [HH Guardian].

Alhazred is mentioned in passing as the mad Arab author of the Necronomicon in

Aka: Keeper of the Key.

 
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