Maqama (Arabic, assemblies, pl., maqamat) are an (originally) Arabic literary genre of rhymed prose with intervals of poetry in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The 10th century author Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani is said to have invented the form, which was extended by al-Hariri in the next century. Both men's maqamat center on trickster figures whose wanderings and exploits in speaking to assemblies of the powerful are conveyed by a narrator. Manuscripts of al Hariri's Maqamat anecdotes of abu Zayd were frequently illustrated with miniatures.
Noted Authors of Maqamat
de:Makame
