Maqamat al-Hariri
The Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī 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, a poet and government official of the Seljuk Empire. 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. Although probably less creative than the work of its precursor, Maqāmāt al-Hamadhānī, the Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī became extremely popular, with reports of seven hundred copies authorized by al-Ḥarīrī during his lifetime.
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 and one from 1334 in Egypt or Syria.
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. 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. A second phase runs from around 1300 to 1337, during the Egyptian Mamluk period, with production probably centered around Cairo.
Manuscripts of the Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī belong to the category of "secular Arabic manuscripts", as opposed to religious works such as illustrated Qur'ans.
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 chapters are in order:1-10 "Encounter at San'a", Holwan, Kayla, Damietta, Kufa, Maraghah, Barkaid, Ma'arrah, Alexandria, Al-Rahba
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.
Manuscripts
Early, non-illustrated copies
Several early non-illustrated editions of the Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī are known, starting from the lifetime of al-Ḥarīrī himself, when he was about 56 years old. The earliest known manuscript is Cairo, National Library of Egypt, MS Adab 105, dated 504/1110–11 through an ijaza certificate of authenticity by al-Ḥarīrī himself. It is by far the earliest the earliest known manuscript, and it was copied the same year al-Ḥarīrī completed his work.Other early manuscripts are known, such as London, British Library, Or. 2790 ; Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 265 ; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Arabe 3924 ; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Arabe 3926 ; and Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Arabe 3927.
After this initial non-illustrative phase, illustrated Maqamat manuscripts 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".
Pictorial tradition
The origins of the pictorial tradition of Arabic illustrated manuscripts are uncertain. The first known decorated manuscripts are some Qur'ans from the 9th century CE. They were not illustrated, but were "illuminated" with decorations of the frontispieces or headings. The tradition of illustrated manuscripts started with the Graeco-Arabic translation movement and the creation of scientific and technical treatises often based on Greek scientific knowledge, such as the Arabic versions of The Book of Fixed Stars, De materia medica or Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye. The translators were most often Arab Syriac Christians, such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq or Yahya ibn Adi, and their work is known to have been sponsored by local rulers, such as the Artuqids.An exposition of artistic artistry towards the illustration of manuscripts occurred in the 12th and 13th century. Throughout the 13th century in the area of Syria and Iraq, there is a lot in common stylistically between the Christian Syriac illustrated manuscripts, such as Syriac Gospels (British Library, Add. 7170), and Arab illustrated manuscripts such as the Maqamat al-Hariri. This synthesis seems to point to a common pictorial tradition that existed since circa 1180 CE in the region, which was highly influenced by Byzantine art.
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Arabe 3929 (1200-1210)
Arabe 3929 was probably produced in Amid, modern-day Diyarbakır, Turkey, ca. 1200-1210. 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.This illustrated manuscript is considered the most ancient illustrated Maqāmāt known. The illustrations are rather simple and literal, which leads most specialists to attribute it to the early 13th or even late 12th century.
The first pages are lost: the manuscript starts from the second story.
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Arabe 6094 (1222)
Arabe 6094 was made in the Jazira region, and is the earliest securely dated illustrated Maqāmāt by al-Hariri. The style and numerous Byzantine inspirations in the illustrations suggest it might have been drawn in the area of Damascus in Syria, under the rule of the Ayyubids. The date appears in several places.Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Arabe 5847 (1237)
Arabe 5847, also known as the Schefer Ḥarīrī, is a copy created by Yahya ibn Mahmūd al-Wāsitī and is probably the most applauded copy of the Maqāmāt. According to its colophon, the manuscript was copied in the year 634 AH. It may have been created in Baghdad, based on some stylistic parallels with the Kitab al-baytarah, which securely emanated from this city, and the fact that the name of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir appears in one of the paintings ; but this attribution remains quite conjectural. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France, holder of the manuscript, simply presents it as "Mesopotamian".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, who may be the potentate the manuscript was dedicated to. This potentate seems like a Turkic emir, and may be one of the Atabegs who ruled in the region, particularly Badr al-Din Lu'lu', who ruled in the Mosul region and Upper Mesopotamia with the approval of the Abbasid caliph at the time.
The book is written in red and black ink, and supplemented by 99 miniatures. These miniatures depict a wide variety of scenes from the Maqāmāt and from everyday life. Most are decorated with gold.
This Maqamat is particularly noted for its ability to depict various "types", according to they ethnic or social characteristics. Officials and "men of the sword" wear the sharbush hat, coat and boots, and are often armed with a spear, reflecting Turkic styles. "Men of the pen" such as judges, literary figures, musicians or merchants wear turbans, tunic and baggy trousers, with low black shoes, reflecting Arab practices. The few women in the manuscript often wear veils and have henna markings on their hands. Servants and slaves are often scantily clothed and tend to have darker skin.