The Maqamat al-Hariri (Arabic: مقامات الحريري) is a collection of 50 tales or maqamat written at the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century by al-Hariri of Basra (1054–1122), a poet and government official of the Seljuk Empire.^[2] The first known manuscripts date to 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 Vienna).^[3]

Altogether, more than a hundred Maqamat manuscripts are know, but only 13 are illustrated. They mainly cover a period of about 150 years.^[4] 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.^[5]

Manuscripts

Early non-illustrated editions

Several early non-illustrated editions of the Maqamat al-Hariri are known. The earliest known manuscript is "Ms. Cairo Adab 105", dated 504/1110-11 through an ijaza certificate of authenticity by al-Hariri himself. It is by far the earliest the earliest known manuscript, and it was copied the same year al-Hariri completed his work.^[8]

Other early manuscripts are known, such as "London, British Library, Or. 2790" dated 557 AH/1161-62 CE; "Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 265", dated 583 AH/1187 CE; "Paris, BnF, Arabe 3924", dated 584 AH/1188 CE; "Paris, BnF, Arabe 3926", dated 611 AH/1214 CE; "Paris, BnF, Arabe 3927", dated 611 AH/1214 CE.

Although probably less creative than the work of his predecessor al-Hamadhani (968–1008 CE), the Maqamat al-Hariri became extremely popular, with reports of seven hundred copies authorized by al-Hariri during his lifetime.^[9]

After this initial non-illustrative phase, illustrated Maqamat manuscripts then started to appear, corresponding to a broader "explosion of figural art" in the Islamic world, from the 12th to 13th centuries, despite religious condemnations against the depiction of living creatures "because it implies a likeness to the creative activity of God".^[10]

1200-1210 edition (BNF Arabe 3929)

An edition dating to the early 13th century exists at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Arabe 3929).^[11] This edition may be Artuqid.^[12] It was probably manufactured in Amid, modern-day Diyarbakır, Turkey, ca. 1200–1210.^[13] This manuscript probably belongs to the "Artuqid school" of painting, together with an early 1206 edition of the Automata of Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, devoted to the depiction of mechanical devices (Ahmet III 3472, Topkapı Sarayı Library, securely dated to 1206 and displaying many design similarities).^[14][15]

This illustrated manuscript is considered as the most ancient Maqamat known. The illustrations are rather simple and literal, which leads most specialists to attribute this manuscript to the early 13th or even late 12th century.^[16]

The first pages are lost, and the manuscript only starts from the second story (second Maqamah).^[17]

• 
  Arabe 3929, 7v
• 
  Arabe 3929, 117r
• 
  Arabe 3929, 157r: ruler in Turkic dress wearing the sharbūsh with the tall cap
• 
  A Jariya prostitute.^[18]

1222 edition (BNF Arabe 6094)

The 1222 edition is an illuminated manuscript, now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (BNF Arabe 6094).^[19] It was made in the Jazira region, and is the earliest securely dated Maqamat by al-Hariri.^[20] The style and numerous Byzantine inspirations in the illustrations also suggest it might have been drawn in the area of Damascus in Syria, under the rule of the Ayyubids.^[21] The date appears in several places (on the hull of the boat in folio 68, or a plate held by a schoolboy in folio 167, in the format "made in the year 619" i.e. 1222 CE).^[21]

• 
  Maqamat 1222, 6r
• 
  Maqamat 1222, 31r
• 
  Maqamat 1222, 133v, Turkic ruler detail, wearing sharbūsh.^[22]
• 
  Maqamat 1222, 167r. Students, some wearing the Arab turban, others Turkic caps.^[23]

1237 edition (BNF Arabe 5847)

The 1237 edition is an illuminated manuscript created by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti in 1237. This is probably the most applauded edition of the Maqamat.^[24] It may have been created in Baghdad, based on some stylistic parallels with the Kitab al-baytarah which securely emanated from this city, but this attribution remains quite conjectural.^[25] Still the name of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir appears in one of the paintings (fol. 164v), which does create a certain connection.^[26]

This maqama manuscript is currently kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (BNF Arabe 5847).^[27] It is also known as the Schefer Ḥarīrī.^[28]

According to its colophon, the manuscript was copied in the year 634 of the Islamic calendar (equivalent to 1237 in the Western calendar).^[29][30] The manuscript details a series of tales regarding the adventures of the fictional character Abu Zayd of Saruj who travels and deceives those around him with his skill in the Arabic language to earn rewards.^[31]

The twin frontispieces show one individual in Arab dress, who may be the author himself, and a majestic ruler in Seljuk-type Turkic military dress (long braids, fur hat, boots, fitting coat), who may be the potentate the manuscript was dedicated to.^[2][32][33]

The book is written in red and black ink, and supplemented by 99 miniatures.^[29] These miniatures depict a wide variety of scenes from the Maqamat and from every day life. Most are decorated with gold.^[25]

• 
  Left frontispiece (1v): ruler in Turkic dress (long braids, Sharbush fur hat, boots, fitting coat), in the Maqamat of al-Hariri, 1237 CE, possibly Baghdad.^[2][32][33]
• 
  Right frontispiece (2r): possible depiction of the author al-Hariri himself, in the Maqamat of al-Hariri, 1237 CE, possibly Baghdad.^[2][28]
• 
  Assembly
• 
  Childbirth in a foreign land
• 
  A conversation near a city
• 
  A ship bound for Oman (Maqāma 39).^[34]
• 
  Ayyubid Governor of Rahba, with Abū Zayd and his son.^[35]
• 
  Turkic amir with guards, wearing the Turkic headgear Sharbush, in the preaching scene at Rayy, Iran,^[36][33] , in maqāma 21 (fols. 58v–59r).^[37]

1242-1258 edition (Suleymaniye, Esad Efendi 2961)

This manuscript is badly damaged and all the faces were erased.^[38] Its colophon bears a dedication to Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta'sim (1243-1258), but location is unknown.^[38][26]

• 
  Suleymaniye Library, Esad Efendi 2916
• 
  Suleymaniye Library, Esad Efendi 2916
• 
  Suleymaniye Library, Esad Efendi 2916
• 
  Suleymaniye Library, Esad Efendi 2916

1256 edition (British Library, Ms. Or. 1200)

This manuscript has a colophon describing the date of its manufacture as 1256.^[38] It was made by an artist named Umar ibn Ali ibn al-Mubarak al-Mawsili ("from Mosul").^[38] The manuscript is quite damaged, and miniatures often have been clumsily repainted.^[38]

• 
  British Library, Ms. Or. 1200
• 
  British Library, Ms. Or. 1200
• 
  British Library, Ms. Or. 1200
• 
  Abū Zayd in the children's school. British Library, Ms. Or. 1200

Late 13th century edition (British Library, Ms. Or. 9718)

The manuscript is quite damaged, and many of the miniatures were repainted in rather recent times.^[39] The original artist was from Damascus (folio 53r has a mention of the author "Work of Ghazi ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Dimashqi" who is known to have been born in 1232-3 and died in 1310 at the age of 80, and apparently lived in Damascus all his life).^[39][40]

• 
  Two camel riders in Arab bedouin costumes. Maqamat, Syria, late 13th-century, British Library, Ms. Or. 9718.
• 
  Abū Zayd in the children's school. British Library, Ms. Or. 9718.

13th century edition (St Petersburg Ms. S.23)

This manuscript (also sometimes labelled Ms. C-23), although in rather poor condition, has many elaborate illustrations.^[41] It is undated, and the place of origin is unknown.^[25]

• 
  Abu Zayd before the governor of Merv (Maqāma 28). Saint-Petersburg Ms. S.23.
• 
  A ship bound for Oman (Maqāma 39). Saint Petersburg, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ms. S.23.
• 
  Assembly
• 
  Travelers

Early 14th century edition (British Library, Ms. Or. Add. 22114)

This manuscript may have been made in Syria, in the early 14th century.^[42][39] The first and last pages were lost.^[39] Many miniatures are well preserved, but they are dull and repetitive, suggesting a copy without much invention.^[39] A governorial figure wearing typically Seljuq or Turkic costume, particularly the sharbush headgear, and quite similar to the figure of Badr ad-Din Lu'lu' in other manuscripts, appears in one of the folios.^[43]

• 
  MS add 22114, folio 96r
• 
  MS add 22114, folio 94
• 
  British Library, Ms. Or. Add. 22114
• 
  British Library, Ms. Or. Add. 22114

1323 edition (British Library, Ms. Or. 7293)

This manuscript has a colophon describing the date of its manufacture as 1323.^[44] It is beautifully made, and suggests a luxury edition.^[44] Still, many of the miniatures are left blank and were never completed.^[44] It may have been copied from the Paris 5847 edition.^[44] The manuscript was acquired by a tax collector in Damascus in 1375-1376, according to an inscription on the first page.^[44]

• 
  Maqamat, British Library, Ms. Or. Add. 7293
• 
  Maqamat, British Library, Ms. Or. Add. 7293 (detail). Abu Zayd and his audience (3rd maqama)

1334 edition (Vienna ÖNB AF9)

The 1334 edition is dated to the Egyptian Mamluk era, and was published in Egypt or Syria, most probably in Cairo.^[45] It is now in Vienna, Austria (Vienna ÖNB AF9). The fronstispiece shows an enthroned Prince at his court. The style is Turkic: "In the paintings the facial cast of these [ruling] Turks is obviously reflected, and so are the special fashions and accoutrements they favored".^[46] The ruler may be the Mamluk Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad.^[47][48]

• 
  Frontispiece with Mamluk court scene. Probably Egypt, dated 1334. Maqamat of Al-Hariri.^[49]
• 
  Maqamat of al-Hariri, Vienna manuscript AF 9, 1334 CE Folio 42v
• 
  Maqamat of Al-Hariri, 1334
• 
  Maqamat of Al-Hariri, 1334

1337 edition (Oxford Bodleian, Marsh 458)

Only a few pages of this manuscript remain.^[45] The colophon indicates that it was manufactured in 1337 for an official at the Mamluk court, the Mamluk amir Nasir al-Din Muhammad, son of Husam al-Din Tarantay Silahdar, in Cairo, Egypt.^[45][50]

• 
  Ms. Marsh 458, Frontispiece
• 
  Ms. Marsh 458, Folio 7b
• 
  Ms. Marsh 458, Folio 29b
• 
  Ms. Marsh 458, Folio 77b

Figures of the Qadi (judges or governors)

Figures of Qadis or Governors appears recurrently in the various editions of Maqamat al-Hariri, from the 13th century miniatures of North Jazira down to those of the Mamluk period.^[43] These are characteristic of the figures of princely cycle and courtly life in early Islamic art. These figures are generally similar to Seljuq depictions of authority, wearing typically Seljuq or Turkic costumes, particularly the sharbush headgear, with distinctive facial features, and sitting cross-legged on a throne with one hand on the knee and one arm raised.^[43] These figures are also similar to those in the frontispieces of the Kitab al-Aghani and Kitab al-Diryaq of the mid-13th century. In all manuscripts, these figures of power and authority in Seljuk style are very different from the otherwise omnipresent figures in Arabic style with their long robes and turbans.^[43][2]

List of stories

After a preface by al-Hariri himself, there are 50 stories altogether, generally entitled on the format "Encounter at....", with the name of a different city for each story. The cities are in order:^[51]
1-10 "Encounter at San'a", Holwan, Kayla, Damietta, Kufa, Maraghah (or "The Diversified"), Barkaid, Ma'arrah, Alexandria, Rabah
11-20 "Encounter at Saweh", Damascus, Baghdad, Mecca, "Encounter called "The Legal"", "Encounter of the West", "Encounter called "The Reversed"", Sinjar, Nasibin, Mayyafariqin
21-30 "Encounter at Rayy al-Mahdiyeh", Euphrates, "Encounter of the Precinct", "Encounter called "Of the Portion"", Kerej, "The Encounter of the address", "The Encounter of the Tent-dwellers", Samarkand, Wasit, Sur
31-40 "Encounter at Ramlah", Tayleh, Tiflis, Zabid, Shiraz, Maltiyah, Sa'dah, Merv, Oman, Tabriz
41-50 "Encounter at Tanis", Najran, Al-Bakriya, "The Encounter called "The Wintry"", Ramlah, Aleppo, Hajr, Harmamiyeh, Sasan, Basra.^[51]

See also

• Maqamat Badi' az-Zaman al-Hamadhani

Notes

Sources

• Contadini, Anna (1 January 2012). A World of Beasts: A Thirteenth-Century Illustrated Arabic Book on Animals (the Kitāb Na't al-Ḥayawān) in the Ibn Bakhtīshū' Tradition. Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004222656_005.
• Ettinghausen, Richard (1977). La Peinture arabe (in French). Geneva: Skira. pp. 104–124.
• Grabar, Oleg (1984). The Illustrations of the Maqamat (PDF). University of Chicago Press. p. 7.
• Grabar, Oleg. "Maqamat Al-Hariri: Illustrated Arabic Manuscript from the 13th century". Retrieved 24 January 2023.
• Hillenbrand, Robert (1 January 2010). "The Schefer Ḥarīrī: A Study in Islamic Frontispiece Design". Arab Painting: 117–134. doi:10.1163/9789004236615_011.
• Shah, Amina (1980). The assemblies of al-Hariri : fifty encounters with the Shaykh Abu Zayd of Seruj. London : Octagon Press. ISBN 978-0-900860-86-7.

• Al Maqamat: Beautifully Illustrated Arabic Literary Tradition – 1001 Inventions

External links

• Media related to Maqamat of al-Hariri at Wikimedia Commons
• Les Makamat de Hariri; exemplaire orné de peintures exécutées par Yahya ibn Mahmoud ibn Yahya ibn Aboul-Hasan ibn Kouvarriha al-Wasiti., online digitisation of the BnF manuscript