Maqāmāt
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The ''maqāma'' (
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: مقامة aˈqaːma literally "assembly"; plural ''maqāmāt'', مقامات aqaːˈmaːt is an (originally) Arabic prosimetric literary genre of
picaresque The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt ...
short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
originating in the tenth century C.E.Qian, A. (2012)
The Maqāmah as Prosimetrum: A Comparative Investigation of its Origin, Form and Function
npublished doctoral dissertation University of Pennsylvania.
The ''maqāmāt'' are
anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Anecdotes may be real ...
s told by a fictitious narrator which typically follow the escapades of a roguish protagonist as the two repeatedly encounter each other in their travels. The genre is known for its literary and rhetorical complexity, as well as its alternating use of rhymed verse with a form of Arabic rhymed prose known as ''
saj' Saj' () is a form of rhymed prose defined by its relationship to and use of end-rhyme, meter, and parallelism. There are two types of parallelism in saj': ''iʿtidāl'' (rhythmical parallelism, meaning "balance") and ''muwāzana'' (qualitative m ...
''. The two most well-known authors within the genre are Badī' al-Zaman al-Hamadhāni, one of its earliest exponents, and al-Harīrī of Basra, whose ''maqāmāt'' are commonly held responsible for the genre's rise in popularity from the eleventh century onward. Interest in al-Hariri's ''Maqāmāt'' spread throughout much of the Islamic Empire, with translations and original works appearing in Hebrew, Syriac and Persian. Many authors still contribute to and draw inspiration from the literary genre of ''Maqāma'' to this day. Professionally illustrated and calligraphed manuscripts were produced for private use. Of these manuscripts, only 11 surviving copies are known to exist; all of them are of al-Harīrī's ''Maqāmāt'', and none are from before the thirteenth century C.E.George, A. F. (2012). Orality, Writing and the Image in the Maqāmāt: Arabic Illustrated Books in Context. ''Art History'', ''35''(1), 10–37. These illustrations tend to be colored linework on a white background; they often depict the narrator and protagonist's escapades together, and so most of these compositions ( unlike much of medieval
Islamic Art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...
) primarily feature human figures with notably expressive faces and gestures. The illustrated manuscripts made extensive use of captions, likely added after the manuscripts' completion to provide key context to the illustration or to provide information that could not be gleaned from the illustration alone. Art found in the illustrations of al-Harīrī's ''Maqāmāt'' appears to include borrowed visual motifs from medieval Christian and Judaic art as well as references to architecture found within the Islamic empire. In addition, the illustrations tend to share formal qualities with the art of
shadow play Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim (material), ...
.


Narrative structure

The ''maqāma'' are typically understood to be short picaresques told by a fictitious narrator about a low-class
trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...
protagonist who uses disguises, refined language and sophisticated rhetoric to swindle onlookers out of their money.Okazaki, K., "Maqama as a Courtroom Play – Disguised Hero, Duped Judge", Orient, Vol. XVll 2007, 125–149. In the case of the ''Maqāmāt al-Harīrī,'' the same narrator al-Harīth tells of his numerous encounters with the roguish protagonist Abu Zayd, in various cities and under varying circumstances. The ''maqāmāt'' are known for their use of ''badi'' (ornate linguistic style) interspersed with ''
saj' Saj' () is a form of rhymed prose defined by its relationship to and use of end-rhyme, meter, and parallelism. There are two types of parallelism in saj': ''iʿtidāl'' (rhythmical parallelism, meaning "balance") and ''muwāzana'' (qualitative m ...
'' (rhyming prose). Like much Arabic literature of its time, the ''maqāmāt'' also typically blended serious or genuine narratives and tone (''jidd'') with humor and jest (''hazl)''. Many scholars propose that the events and characters within the ''maqāmāt'' are primarily vehicles through which the author can showcase his own literary, poetic and rhetorical skills. There have been attempts to schematize loose plot outlines for the ''maqāmāt''. J. Hämeen-Anttila puts forth the following pattern for a typical ''maqāma'':
''Isnad'' → General Introduction → Link → Episode Proper → Recognition Scene → Envoi (→ Finale)
Alain Qian expands on this structure somewhat. The ''isnad''  (citation or "backing" used to verify the legitimacy of a statement, most commonly used in verifying ''
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
'') lends a sense of credibility to the narrator, even if he is known to be fictional. In the general introduction the narrator tells the audience where he was and/or what he was doing in the city in question, providing context for the anecdote to follow. The link transitions from general introduction into the episode proper, where the events of the anecdote are relayed. After a time in the anecdote itself, the narrator and the audience (those of whom that are familiar with the genre) both recognize the protagonist of the anecdote as the recurring roguish character. After this recognition scene the ''maqāma'' is ended with ''
envoi Envoi or envoy in poetry is used to describe: * A short stanza at the end of a poem such as a ballad, used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem. * A dedicatory poem about sending the book o ...
'' (summation in verse), followed occasionally by a finale in which the narrator and protagonist part ways. A different schema for ''Maqāmāt al-Harīrī'' has been proposed by K. Okazaki, similar to Anttila's except for its mirror-like structure:
"Arrival of the narrator in town → Encounter with the protagonist → Speech (poetry) → Reward → Recognition ← Reproach ← Justification (Poetry) ← Parting"
In this proposed schema the arrows do not indicate chronology but rather the rise and fall of narrative suspense (in a manner not unlike Gustav Freytag's plot pyramid). The proposed structure illustrates that the narrator arrives in a city and comes across the protagonist, often drawn to them by their eloquent speech and pOor dress. The protagonist is often employing this speech to the end of asking for money or other aid. After he receives his reward, the narrator sees through the protagonist's disguise and recognizes him as the recurring protagonist Abu Zayd, then tells Abu Zayd off for his continual abuse of others' good faith and charity. Abu Zayd justifies his actions in verse and the two part ways.


Origins and development

Maqāma arose in the tenth century CE from the Arabic genre of prose known as '' adab'' (referring to "culture", "manners", "belles lettres"). There is some debate as to the precise origins of the genre. While it has generally been accepted that the genre was first established with the publication of Badī' al-Zaman al-Hamadhāni's '' Maqāmāt'' in the tenth century, there are some scholars that credit Ahmad
Ibn Faris Ibn Faris (, , died Ray, Iran 395/1004) was a Persians, Persian linguist, scribe, scholar, philologist and lexicographer, As well as bearing the epithet ''al-Rāzī'' ('meaning 'from Ray'), ibn Fāris was also known variously by the epithets al-S ...
(d. 383/1004) as the originator of the maqāmāt and al-Hamadhānī's predecessor, and others who credit the even earlier author Ibn Duraid (d. 933). Al-Hamadhānī drew much of his inspiration from compilations of anecdotes such as those collected by al-Taniikhi, and may have found the prototype for his roguish and eloquent protagonist in the work of
al-Jahiz Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri (; ), commonly known as al-Jahiz (), was an Arab polymath and author of works of literature (including theory and criticism), theology, zoology, philosophy, grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, philology, lin ...
(d. 869) There are two significant departures from works such as these that al-Hamadhānī is commonly credited for originating. First is his use of
saj' Saj' () is a form of rhymed prose defined by its relationship to and use of end-rhyme, meter, and parallelism. There are two types of parallelism in saj': ''iʿtidāl'' (rhythmical parallelism, meaning "balance") and ''muwāzana'' (qualitative m ...
throughout an anecdote, including the narrative itself. ''Saj''' is an ornate form of rhyming prose interspersed with full verse, the use of which had thus far been restricted to religious and political works. This claim has been contested, with some evidence that the use of ''saj throughout a narrative was not unique to al-Hamadhānī's ''maqāmāt'' at the time of their writing. The second literary innovation al-Hamadhānī is credited for is the fact that unlike most works from his time or before it, al-Hamadhānī's ''maqāmāt'' are openly fictitious (rather than covertly fictitious or openly non-fictitious). Al-Hamadhānī's work was followed shortly thereafter by a collection of ten ''maqāmāt'' by literatus
Ibn Nāqiyā Ibn Nāqiyā al-Baghdādī (, full name ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Dāwūd Ibn Nāqiyā, born 15 March 1020 in Baghdad, died in the same place 15 February 1092) was a noted Arabic-language litteratus. Life Ibn Nāqiyā spent ...
(d. 1092), though the genre would only gain most of its popularity after the creation of ''Maqāmāt
al-Harīrī Al-Hariri of Basra (; c. 1054 – 10 September 1122) was a poet belonging to the Beni Harram tribe of Bedouin Arabs, who lived and died in the city of Basra, modern Iraq. He was a scholar of the Arabic language and a dignitary of the Seljuk Emp ...
'', a century after al-Hamadhānī's work had been created. The popularity of al-Harīrī's ''maqāmāt'' is such that they were worthy of memorization, recitation, and scholarly criticism during his lifetime, and he has been the most well-known author in the genre for most of its history. The genre spread to the east, with ''maqāmāt'' appearing in Persian, Hebrew and Syriac. ''Maqāmāt'' also appeared to the west in
al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
(now Andalusia, Spain), courtesy of a small group of Andalusian poets who reported that after hearing al-Harīrī himself recite his own work in his Baghdad garden, they chose to recite the ''maqāma'' to those in al-Andalus who had not attended. Despite the genre's geographical reach, interest in the ''maqāma'' was confined to a relatively small population of wealthy literary scholars. These literati would attend small private recitations of al-Harīrī's ''maqāmāt'', during which improvisations and embellishments were made as the reader or audience saw fit. The ''maqāmāt'' were also produced in professionally calligraphed and illustrated manuscripts. These were likely made for private consumption for individuals or small groups, as the ownership of representational images was commonly frowned upon in Islamic tradition. To art historians' knowledge, only eleven illustrated manuscripts of the ''maqāmāt'' survive today, with none of them having been made before the 13th century.


Etymology

The meaning and original use of the word "maqāma" to describe the literary genre are the subject of some scholarly debate. Al-Hamadhānī referred to his anecdotes as "''maqāma''" in a letter written as early as the year 922 C.E. Amina Shah writes in her introduction to ''The Assemblies of Al-Harīrī'' that the word ''maqāma'' may be taken to mean "a place where one stands upright", "the persons assembled at any place", or "the discourses delivered or conversations held in any such assembly". Qian wrote that, at the time that al-Hamadhānī wrote and compiled his ''Maqāmāt'', the term ''maqāma'' and its common substitutes could be used to denote an assembly, a heroic boast, or a religious or moralizing sermon, among other meanings. The word ''maqāma'' or ''maqām'' (used interchangeably at this time) were often used in explaining eloquence and speech appropriate for particular situations. Given this historical context, Qian proposes that al-Hamadhānī may have intended a moralistic or religious meaning in his use of the word ''maqāma'' to describe his work; however, the word has since come to exclusively refer to the literary genre, and conversations like those one might find within its works. Beyond its historical context, there has been some discussion of the word ''maqāma'' as it refers to the genre. K. Okazaki wrote that the word ''maqāma'' as "assembly" is meant to reflect the assemblages of characters within the narrative witnessing the acts committed and subsequent trials faced by the roguish protagonist. Alain George argues that this reflection is two-fold. By his assertion, not only does "assembly" refer to the characters within the narrative, but it also refers to the small audiences of elite scholars who, according to George, would attend private readings of al-Harīrī's ''Maqāmāt''.


Development in Hebrew

The ''maqāma'' genre was also cultivated in Hebrew in Spain, beginning with Yehūda al-Ḥarīzī's translation of al-Harīrī's ''maqāmāt'' into Hebrew (c. 1218), which he titled ''maḥberōt 'ītī'ēl'' ("the ''maqāmāt'' of Ithiel"). Two years later, he composed his own ''maḥbārōt,'' titled '' Sēfer Taḥkemōnī'' ("The Book of the Tachmonite"). With this work, al-Ḥarīzī sought to raise the literary prestige of Hebrew to exceed that of Classical Arabic, just as the bulk of Iberian Jewry was finding itself living in a Spanish-speaking, Latin- or Hebrew-literate environment and Arabic was becoming less commonly studied and read. Some Hebrew ''maqāmāt'' made more significant departures, structurally and stylistically, from the classical Arabic ''maqāmāt'' of al-Hamadhānī and
al-Harīrī Al-Hariri of Basra (; c. 1054 – 10 September 1122) was a poet belonging to the Beni Harram tribe of Bedouin Arabs, who lived and died in the city of Basra, modern Iraq. He was a scholar of the Arabic language and a dignitary of the Seljuk Emp ...
. Joseph ibn Zabara (end of the 12th-beginning of 13th century), a resident of Barcelona and Catalan speaker, wrote the ''Sēfer sha'ashū'īm'' ("The Book of Delights"), in which the author, the narrator, and the protagonist are all Ibn Zabara himself, and in which the episodes are arranged in linear, not cyclical fashion, in a way that anticipates the structure of Spanish
picaresque novel The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...
s such as the anonymous ''
Lazarillo de Tormes ''The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities'' ( ) is a Spanish novella, published anonymously because of its anticlerical content. It was published simultaneously in three cities in 1554: Alcalá de Henares, Burgos a ...
'' (1554) and
Guzmán de Alfarache ''Guzmán de Alfarache'' () is a picaresque novel written by Mateo Alemán and published in two parts: the first in Madrid in 1599 with the title , and the second in 1604, titled '. The works tells the first person adventures of a ''picaro'', a ...
(1599) by Mateo Alemán.


Notable exponents

* Abu 'l-Ḥusayn Aḥmad b. Fāris (d. 1004) – 10th century poet and intellectual, who some scholars suggest developed the maqamat genre, even before Hamadani *
Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadani Badi' al-Zamān al-Hamadānī or al-Hamadhānī (; ; 969 in Hamadan، Iran – 1007) was a medieval poet and man of letters. He is best known for his work the ''Maqamat Badi' az-Zaman al-Hamadhani'', a collection of 52 episodic stories of a rogu ...
– 11th century Arabo-Persian writer generally credited as the originator of the maqamat genre *
Al-Hariri of Basra Al-Hariri of Basra (; c. 1054 – 10 September 1122) was a poet belonging to the Beni Harram tribe of Bedouin Arabs, who lived and died in the city of Basra, modern Iraq. He was a scholar of the Arabic language and a dignitary of the Seljuk Emp ...
– 11th century Arab scholar, poet and writer who elevated the maqamat to a major literary art * Ibn Sharaf al-Qairawani – 11th century Amerian poet * Abu Muhammad b. Malik al-Qururrubi – 11th century Amerian poet * Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Ali al-Qudai – Andalusi poet and writer, who after witnessing a reading by Al-Hariri in April, 1111, took the genre back to al-Andalus (now Andalusia, Spain) * Abu al-Tahir Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Tamimi al-Saraqusti, known simply as Al-Saraqusti, (d. 1143) – a leading intellectual from Cordoba, al-Andalus, who imitated al-Hariri and whose work, "Maqamat Al-luzumiyah", has been described as a "masterpiece" * Abu Abd Allah ibn Abi al-Khisal – Al-Andalus' scholar who wrote in the al-Hariri tradition * Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib – Andalusi scholar who wrote in the al-Hariri tradition * Al-Farthibsn Khaqan – Andalusian scholar who wrote in the al-Hariri tradition * Qadhi Hamid al-Din Abu Bakr – 12th century Persian poet and writerTamīmʹdārī, A., "The Book of Iran: A History of Persian Literature: Schools, Periods, Styles and Literary Genres", UK, Alhoda, 2002, p. 108 * Shayk Muslih al-Din Sadi – 13th century Persian poet and writer. * Judah al-Harizi – Medieval rabbi and poet, active in Spain, who wrote a Hebrew version of the maqama and translated al-Hariri's Maqamat into Hebrew, entitled, Tahkemoni. * Joseph ibn Zabara (1140–1200) – Spanish-Jewish poet and satirist who composed a Hebrew maqamat * Judah ibn Shabbetai – late 12th century Jewish-Spanish poet who composed several Hebrew versions of maqamat


Illustrated manuscripts

No known illustrations of maqamat exist prior to the 13th century. However, illustrations were added to maqamat to add grandeur and interest to the manuscripts, even though the text was usually performed orally in large groups, rather than read in solitude. Common images across various ''Maqāmāt'' texts include: grand banquet events involving music and drinking, large groups congregated (sometimes in mosques), and general scenes involving the trickery of Abu Zayd as well as the frustration of Al Harith.  Particularly in the Saint Petersburg ''Maqāmāt'', these scenes were meant to be humorous to those reading the text, as they often were loosely associated with the poem the image was correlated with.  These comical images were also shown through the over-exaggerated gestures, such as rigid elbows and knees, of the human figures portrayed as shown in the Vienna ''Maqāmāt''. The human figures expressed in these illustrations tended to be quite large in relation to the architecture they were occupying as well as typically against a blank, white background. Most of these images either took up an entire or half page, but were not incorporated within the text as a whole. The use of the double-page spread began to become popular during this time and were used extensively in these manuscripts.  The color palettes were typical of this time and were the schemes often employed in Qurans. While some of the images refer to the previous text in the manuscript, scholars cannot necessarily determine the relationship between the image and the text when they do not appear to relate to each other. Although the illustrations have a clear correlation with the text, the text does not need these images to serve its purpose.  Therefore, these images can instead serve as a distraction to the reader rather than an aid. The difference of text and images is also used to cater to the taste of different groups of people. For example, the text is read by the audience who are experts of Arabic language and literature, while the images can be helpful for those with less formal education.


Captions

Captions were used extensively in ''Maqāmāt'' manuscripts, however it is important to note that they were either added last, or perhaps even later in the manuscripts' existence, rather than during its completion.  While the captions that were added to these illustrations did correspond to the text, they were often simplistic or only identified the figures in the image. This characteristic was irregular as compared to other manuscripts at the time such as the Mamluk '' Kalila wa Dimna''.  To use an example by Bernard O'Kane, there is a ''Maqāmāt'' illustration that shows a large crowd with underfed children and an elderly woman.  However, this woman is instead the trickster Abu Zayd who is using these children as a ploy for empathy from the congregation of people.  While you gain this knowledge from the text of the manuscript, the caption only reads "image of the old person and the youths," instead of implying the larger context of the scene. However, these captions could also have been used to clarify what the illustrator failed to render in the images, rather than just an explanation of the scene produced.  Captions also created a sense of picture framing in instances of small spaces for the text, often resulting in bent captions that created an enclosure for the picture.


Artistic influences

The ''Maqāmāt'' illustrations have stylistic characteristics of other religions such as Christianity and Judaism. One of the main instances of Christian inspiration originates from the use of gold circles surrounding a figure's head to denote its holiness, typically used for saints in early medieval Christian manuscripts.  However, it was not meant to signify a sacred figure, but rather it is thought to create a distinction from the blank background because of its common use for ordinary figures throughout the illustrations.  Another Christian motif employed in these manuscripts is the particular treatment of the sky which also appeared in some Byzantine manuscripts. The Vienna ''Maqāmāt'' and several earlier ''Maqāmāt'' manuscripts also included some imagery from medieval Jewish culture, such as the inclusion of their particular type of gravestone.  At this time, typical Islamic gravestones were minimalistic without many inscriptions, while several Jewish cemeteries included a type of small stepped stone grave marker. These Jewish gravestones were the ones illustrated in these manuscripts rather than the small Islamic headstones. However, the illustrations in ''Maqāmāt'' manuscripts also included influences from the Islamic world, notably from the city of Baghdad.  Specifically in the Istanbul ''Maqāmāt'', several buildings do recall the architectural style and form of the city, notably shown through the Mustansiriya complex that appears to be replicated throughout the illustrations. The use of vegetal designs and specific rendering of authority figures also alludes back to the style of the Islamic world which can be seen through the Arabic translations of the Greek teachings of
Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Materia medica, Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic phar ...
.


Shadow play

The illustrated ''Maqāmāt'' manuscripts made during the 13th century connect the idea of shadow play. This is shown through the emphasis of the outline, the dramatic behavior and mobile gestures of figures, the strong contrast between figures and the background, and the tendency of the figures being present in an unregulated setting. However, the ''Maqāmāt'' illustrations do not just emphasize the shadow and are instead full of bright colors, only using shadow to detail the environment around the figures. These similarities of the ''Maqāmāt'' illustration and shadow play may have some effect on the viewer of these illustrations. In other words, these images can help viewers understand the reason for a dramatic difference between the text and paintings by suggesting that these images were not made as an aid of the text, but rather as stand alone paintings.


Known manuscripts

Altogether, more than a hundred ''Maqamat'' manuscripts are know, but only 13 are illustrated, all belonging to the ''
Maqamat of al-Hariri The ''Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī'' (Arabic: مقامات الحريري) is a collection of fifty tales or '' maqāmāt'' written at the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century by al-Ḥarīrī of Basra (1054–1122), a poet and go ...
''. They mainly cover a period of about 150 years. A first phase consists in manuscripts created between 1200 and 1256 in areas between Syria and Iraq. This phase is followed by a 50-year gap, corresponding to the Mongol invasions ( invasion of Persia and Mesopotamia, with the
Siege of Baghdad The siege of Baghdad took place in early 1258. A large army commanded by Hulegu, a prince of the Mongol Empire, attacked the historic capital of the Abbasid Caliphate after a series of provocations from its ruler, caliph al-Musta'sim. Within ...
in 1258, and the invasion of the Levant). A second phase runs from around 1300 to 1337, during the Egyptian Mamluk period, with production probably centered around
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
. One of the earliest and most widely known illustrated editions is that by al-Waisiti (completed in the year 1236), now in the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
(in Paris).


Modern examples in literature

''Maqāma'' as a literary genre has continued to exist and be contributed to since its inception. Mohamed Salah-Omri argues that for the modern Arabic writer, composing ''maqāmāt'' or works similar to them may serve as a way of defying Western literary forms and expectations (such as the European novel) and legitimizing their own Arabic identities and that of their reader by appealing to a shared literary history. This process, he argues, would have been especially important in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as modern Arabic states and national identities began to form as a result of or reaction to European colonialism. Some authors may choose to follow the literary tradition of the genre as closely as possible, while others make use of only some of the features of classical ''maqāma'', to different ends such as parody, entertainment, or colloquialization of the genre. Omri lists the following modern examples of ''maqāma'': * ''Majama' al-Bahrayn,'' (1856) collection by al-Yaziji (d. 1871) * ''Hadith Issa ibn hisham'' (1901) by Muhammad al-Muwahili * ''Al-Saq 'ala al-Saq'' (1855) by
Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq (, ; born Faris ibn Yusuf al-Shidyaq; 1805 or 1806 – 20 September 1887) was an Ottoman scholar, writer and journalist who grew up in what is now present-day Lebanon. A Maronite Christian by birth, he later lived in majo ...
(d. 1887) * ''Maqāmāt''
Bayram al-Tunisi Bayram al-Tunisi () (born in 1893 in Alexandria, Egypt as Maḥmūd Muḥammad Muṣṭafā Bayram () - died 1961), was an Egyptian poet with Tunisian roots. He was exiled from Egypt by the British for his Egyptian nationalist poetry. Early life ...
(d. 1961) In addition to these, many works of modern Arabic literature may only vaguely refer to ''maqāma'' or use its narrative structure as a framing device for translations of other works.


Sources

* al-Hamadhani, Badi` al-Zaman. ''Maqamat''. Ed. Muhammad `Abduh. Beirut: al-Maktaba al-kathulikiyya, s.a. * ---. ''The Maqamat of Badi' al-zaman al-hamadhani'': Translated from the Arabic with an Introduction and Notes. Trans. W. J. Prendergast. London: Curzon Press, 1915. * al-Hariri, Abu Muhammad al-Qasim ibn `Ali. ''Maqamat al-Hariri''. Ed. `Isa Saba. Beirut: Dar Sadr; Dar Beirut, 1970. * ---. ''Sharh Maqamat al-Hariri''. Beirut: Dar al-Turath, 1968. * al-Saraqusti, Abu l-Tahir Muhammad ibn Yusuf. ''Al-Maqamat al-Luzumiya''. Trans. James T. Monroe. Leiden: Brill, 2002. * ---. ''Al-Maqamat al-luzumiyah li-l-Saraqusti''. Ed. Ibrahim Badr Ahmad Dayf. Alexandria: al-Hay'at al-Misriyat al-'Ammah li-l-Kitab, 2001. * ---. ''al-Maqamat al-Luzumiyya''. Ed. Hasan al-Waragli. Tetuan: Manšurat `Ukaz, 1995. * ---. ''al-Maqamat al-Luzumiyya li'l-Saraqusti''. Ed. Ibrahim Badr Ahmad Dayf. Alexandria: al-Hay'a al-Misriyya al-`amma li'l-Kitab, 1982. * ---. ''Las sesiones del Zaragocí: Relatos picarescos (maqamat)''. Trans. Ignacio Ferrando. Saragossa: U Zaragoza P, 1999. * Arie, R. "Notes sur la maqama andalouse". ''Hesperis-Tamuda'' 9.2 (1968): 204–205. * de la Granja, F. "La maqama de la fiesta de Ibn al-Murabi al-Azdi". ''Etudes d'Orientalisme Dedieés a la mémoire de Lévi-Provençal''. Vol. 2. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose, 1962. 591603. * Drory, Rina. "The maqama". ''The Literature of Al-Andalus''. Eds. María Rosa Menocal, Michael Sells and Raymond P. Scheindlin. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2000. 190–210. * Habermann, Abraham Meir. "Maqama". EJ. * Hämeen-Anttila, Jaakko. ''Maqama: A History of a Genre''. Wiesbaden: Harrassovitz, 2002. * Hamilton, Michelle M. "Poetry and Desire: Sexual and Cultural Temptation in the Hebrew Maqama Tradition". ''Wine, Women and Song: Hebrew and Arabic Literature of Medieval Iberia''. Eds. Michelle M. Hamilton, Sarah J. Portnoy and David A. Wacks. Estudios de Literature Medieval Number: 2: Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs, Newark, DE, 2004. 59–73. * Ibn Shabbetai, Judah ben Isaac. ''"Minhat Yehudah", "'Ezrat ha-nashim" ve-"'En mishpat"''. Ed. Matti Huss. Vol. 1. 2 vols. Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1991. * Ibn Zabara, Joseph ben Meir. ''Libre d'ensenyaments delectables: Sèfer Xaaixuïm''. Trans. *Ignasi González-Llubera. Barcelona: Editorial Alpha, 1931. * Ignasi González-Llubera. ''Sepher Shaashuim''. Ed. Israel Davidson. New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1914. * Katsumata, Naoya. "The Style of the Maqama: Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Syriac". ''Arabic and Middle Eastern Literatures'' 5.2 (2002): 117–137. * Mirsky, Aharon. "al-Harizi, Judah ben Solomon". ''Encyclopaedia Judaica CD-ROM'' Edition Version 1.0. Ed. Geoffrey Wigoder. Jerusalem: Judaica Multimedia, 1997. * Wacks, David. "Framing Iberia: Maqamat and Frametale Narratives in Medieval Spain". Leiden: Brill, 2007.
---. "The Performativity of Ibn al-Muqaffa's Kalila wa-Dimna and Al-Maqamat al-Luzumiyya of al-Saraqusti"
''Journal of Arabic Literature'' 34.1–2 (2003): 178–189.]
---. "Reading Jaume Roig's ''Spill'' and the ''Libro de buen amor'' in the Iberian ''maqâma'' tradition". ''Bulletin of Spanish Studies'' 83.5 (2006): 597–616.
* Young, Douglas C. ''Rogues and Genres: Generic Transformation in the Spanish Picaresque and Arabic Maqama''. Newark, DE: Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs, 2004. * Young, Douglas C. "Wine and Genre: Khamriyya in the Andalusi Maqama". ''Wine, Women and Song: Hebrew and Arabic Poetry of Medieval Iberia''. Eds. Michelle M. Hamilton, Sarah J. Portnoy and David A. Wacks. Newark, DE: Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs, 2004. * * * *
Al Maqamat: Beautifully Illustrated Arabic Literary Tradition – 1001 Inventions


See also

*
Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
*
Arabic miniature Arabic miniatures (Arabic: ٱلْمُنَمْنَمَات ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة, ''Al-Munamnamāt al-ʿArabīyyah'') are small paintings on paper, usually book or manuscript illustrations but also sometimes separate artworks that occupy entir ...
*
Culture of Iraq The culture of Iraq (Arabic: ثقافة العراق) or the culture of Mesopotamia is one of the world's oldest cultural histories and is considered one of the most influential cultures in the world. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates ...
*
Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...
*
List of Iraqi artists The following is a list of important artists, including visual arts, poets and musicians, who were born in Iraq, active in Iraq or whose body of work is primarily concerned with Iraqi themes or subject matter. Note: This article uses Arabic nami ...
*
List of Persian-language poets and authors The list is not comprehensive, but is continuously being expanded and includes Persian literature, Persian poets as well as poets who write in Persian from Iran, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Georgia, Dagestan, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajik ...


Notes

{{Authority control 10th-century introductions Medieval Arabic literature Arabic poetry forms Shadow play Short story types Picaresque novels Anecdotes