The Function of Poetry in the Maqamat Al-Hariri
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2-24-2020 The Function of Poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri Hussam Almujalli Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Arabic Language and Literature Commons, Arabic Studies Commons, and the Comparative Literature Commons Recommended Citation Almujalli, Hussam, "The Function of Poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri" (2020). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 5156. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/5156 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. THE FUNCTION OF POETRY IN THE MAQAMAT AL-HARIRI A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Humanities and Social Sciences College in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Comparative Literature by Hussam Almujalli B.A., Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, 2006 M.A., Brandeis University, 2014 May 2020 Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge all of the help that the faculty members of the Comparative Literature Department at Louisiana State University have given me during my time there. I am particularly grateful to my advisor, Professor Gregory Stone, and to my committee members, Professor Mark Wagner and Professor Touria Khannous, for their constant help and guidance. This dissertation would not have been possible without the funding support of the Comparative Literature Department at Louisiana State University. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgments ……………………………………………………………………………………....... ii List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………………………....…….. iv Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………………...…… v Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………...….. 1 Chapter 1. The Maqama and al-Hariri ………………………………………………………………...…. 6 The Maqama: A New Genre in Medieval Arabic Literature ………………………………...…...…. 6 Al-Hariri: His Life and His Maqamat …………………………………………………………...…. 46 Chapter 2. Themes, Language, and Structure in al-Hariri’s Poetry …………………………………….. 69 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………. 69 Two Types of Poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri (Qasidahs and Qit’ahs) …………………………...70 The Function of Poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri ………………………………………………...... 92 Trickery in al-Hariri’s Poetry ……………………………………………………………………….. 99 Placement of poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri ……………………………………………………. 109 Al-Hariri’s Poetic Themes …………………………………………………………………………. 113 How al-Hariri Alternates Poetic Exchanges Between the Protagonist and the Narrator …………... 119 The Poetic Language of the Maqamat al-Hariri …………………………………………………... 123 Meters and Rhymes in the Maqamat al-Hariri ……………………………………………………. 134 Chapter 3. Community Issues in al-Hariri’s Poems ………………………………………………...…. 139 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………... 139 Political Highlights of the Abbasid Caliphate ……………………………………………………... 140 Social Descriptions ………………………………………………………………………………… 142 Religious Content and Context …………………………………………………………………….. 153 Psychological Aspects of the Maqamat al-Hariri …………………………………………………. 166 Chapter 4. Al-Hariri’s Superiority over Other Poets …………………………………………………... 176 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………... 176 Al-Hariri’s Superiority over Classical Arab Poets ………………………………………………… 176 Al-Hariri’s Superiority over al-Hamadhani ………………………………………………………... 180 Al-Hariri’s Superiority over His Contemporary Poets …………………………………………….. 212 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………... 227 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………… 229 Vita …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 235 iii List of Tables 1. Protagonists and Narrators in Popular Arabic Maqamat ……………………………………. 24 2. Al-Hariri’s Life and Maqamat ………………………………………………………………. 68 3. Al-Saruji and His Family Members Who Trick Characters ……………………………….. 108 4. Al-Saruji Tricks a Governor and a Judge ………………………………………………….. 109 5. Placement of Poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri ……………………………………………. 110 6. Number of Verses per Maqama ……………………………………………………………. 112 7. Number of Maqama with the Fewest Verses ………………………………………………. 113 8, Number of Verses per Character …………………………………………………………… 135 9. The Maqamat al-Hariri Characters’ Meters Recited ……………………………………..... 135 10. Rhyming Letters for the Characters in the Maqamat al-Hariri …………………………... 137 iv Abstract The Maqamat al-Hariri is one of the most notable examples of prose in Arabic literature. Called one of the most eloquent statements of medieval Arabic prose, it also serves as a religious, social, cultural, and political document of the Abbasid Caliphate. As a writer, al-Hariri became a famous figure in Arabic literature after writing his maqamat. This dissertation studies al-Hariri as a poet through his most important prose work, the Maqamat al-Hariri. Chapter 1 of the dissertation provides an overview of the maqama genre, including its definition, themes, stylistic features, character types, a brief history of maqamat studies, and illustrations of maqamat genre. Furthermore, the review presents a brief biography of al-Hariri and his most famous text, the Maqamat al-Hariri, with a focus on his reasons for writing the work. Finally, the review contains a detailed discussion of the Maqamat al-Hariri, including its format, setting, prefatory material, content, structure, characters, locations, styles, commentaries, illustrations, and legacy. Chapter 2 examines the themes, language, and structure in al-Hariri’s poetry, including the two types of poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri. The chapter also looks at the function of poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri; the use of trickery in al-Hariri’s poetry; the placement of poetry in the Maqamat al-Hariri; al-Hariri’s poetic themes; the poetic exchanges between the protagonist (Abu Zayd al-Saruji) and the narrator (al-Harith ibn Hammam); the poetic language of the Maqamat al-Hariri; and meters and rhymes in the Maqamat al-Hariri. Chapter 3 considers the community issues in al-Hariri’s poems, focusing on political, social, religious, and psychological aspects. Chapter 4, which examines al-Hariri’s superiority over all other Arabic poets, is divided into three sections: al-Hariri’s superiority over other classical Arab poets; al-Hariri’s superiority over v al-Hamadhani; and al-Hariri’s superiority over the poets of his own era. The chapter compares poetry in eight maqamat written by al-Hamadhani and al-Hariri. The Conclusion, discusses the significance of the Maqamat al-Hariri in medieval and modern Arabic literature, and argues that more studies on maqama poetry will help to advance this important academic topic. vi Introduction At present, many researchers of classical and medieval Arabic literature focus more on traditional Arabic poetry than on Arabic prose. As a result of this critical attention, classical and medieval Arabic prose, including the formal invention known as the maqama (“assembly”), has not received an adequate amount of scholarly attention. Maqamat (the plural of maqama), which were first invented in the eleventh century A.D. and lasted into the nineteenth century, are a collection of short rhymed prose stories, usually fifty, which have two main characters: the protagonist and the narrator. The latter always appears as a character in the story and always has a relationship with the protagonist. Each maqama, which is two to ten pages long, contains, in Rina Drory’s words, “practically everything, from literary models to particular themes, motifs, situations, verses of poetry, figures of speech, clichés, and ready-made rhymed-prose formulas.”1 The earliest practitioner of the maqamat was Badi’ al-Zaman al-Hamadhani2 (969–1008 A.D.), and the latest famous practitioner was Muhammad al-Muwaylihhi (1868–1930). Despite the availability and diversity of many prose texts, the complex discipline of the maqama, which showcases the enormous facility and ingenuity of geographically diverse authors, has been relatively neglected by scholars and critics, a fact that can be demonstrated by the relative dearth of published academic works on maqamat. Taking into consideration the wealth of prose texts available for study, this field remains fertile for academic inquiry. 1Rina Drory, “The Maqama,” in Maria Rosa Menocal, Raymond P. Scheindlin, and Michael Sells, eds., The Literature of Al-Andalus (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 190. 2Zaki Mubarak (1892–1952), who is an Egyptian literary scholar, claims that al-Hamadhani is not the originator of the maqama genre in Arabic literature, although he rivaled (‘arada) Ibn Durayd’s (837–933 A.D.) forty tales (ahadith). Mubarak states that al-Hariri was wrong when he wrote in the preface of his maqamat that al-Hamadhani invented the maqama genre. Zaki Mubarak, Al-Muqtataf, 76, 418–421 and 561–564. However, al- Hamadhani’s originality in the maqama genre, as Alfred Beeston states, includes two characteristics: the adoption of rhymed prose (saj’) in the Maqamat al-Hamadhani and his stories are fictitious. Alfred Beeston, “The Genesis of the Maqamat Genre,” Journal of Arabic Literature, 1971, 1–12. 1 Maqamat reflect the social, historical, cultural, economic, linguistic, and literary fabric of the societies in which they were written.