Maqama
The maqāma is an Arabic prosimetric literary genre of picaresque short stories originating in the tenth century C.E. The maqāmāt are anecdotes 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'. 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. 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 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.
Narrative structure
The maqāma are typically understood to be short picaresques told by a fictitious narrator about a low-class trickster protagonist who uses disguises, refined language and sophisticated rhetoric to swindle onlookers out of their money. 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 interspersed with saj'. Like much Arabic literature of its time, the maqāmāt also typically blended serious or genuine narratives and tone with humor and jest . 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 Alain Qian expands on this structure somewhat. The isnad 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 both recognize the protagonist of the anecdote as the recurring roguish character. After this recognition scene the maqāma is ended with envoi, 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 → Reward → Recognition ← Reproach ← Justification ← Parting"In this proposed schema the arrows do not indicate chronology but rather the rise and fall of narrative suspense. 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. 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 as the originator of the maqāmāt and al-Hamadhānī's predecessor, and others who credit the even earlier author Ibn Duraid.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 There are two significant departures from works such as these that al-Hamadhānī is commonly credited for originating. First is his use of saj' throughout an anecdote, including the narrative itself. Saj'
Al-Hamadhānī's work was followed shortly thereafter by a collection of ten maqāmāt by literatus Ibn Nāqiyā, though the genre would only gain most of its popularity after the creation of Maqāmāt al-Harīrī, 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, 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 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, which he titled maḥberōt 'ītī'ēl. Two years later, he composed his own maḥbārōt, titled Sēfer Taḥkemōnī. 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. Joseph ibn Zabara, a resident of Barcelona and Catalan speaker, wrote the Sēfer sha'ashū'īm, 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 novels such as the anonymous Lazarillo de Tormes and Guzmán de Alfarache by Mateo Alemán.