Maqamat al-Hariri
Collection of tales from the Middle East / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 government official of the Seljuk Empire.[3] The text presents a series of tales regarding the adventures of the fictional character Abū Zayd of Saruj who travels and deceives those around him with his skill in the Arabic language to earn rewards.[4] Although probably less creative than the work of its precursor, Maqāmāt al-Hamadhānī (whose author lived 968–1008 CE), the Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī became extremely popular, with reports of seven hundred copies authorized by al-Ḥarīrī during his lifetime.[5]
The first known manuscripts date from the 13th century, with eight illustrated manuscripts known from this period. The most famous manuscripts include one from 1237 in Baghdad (now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) and one from 1334 in Egypt or Syria (now in the National Library of Austria).[6]
Altogether, more than a hundred manuscripts of the work are known, but only thirteen are illustrated. They were mainly produced over a period of about 150 years.[7] 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 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.[8]
Manuscripts of the Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī belong to the category of "secular Arabic manuscripts", as opposed to religious works such as illustrated Qur'ans.[9]