Al-Hariri of Basra

Al-Hariri
الحریری البصری
Possible depiction of al-Hariri, in the Maqamat of al-Hariri, 1237 CE edition, probably Baghdad.[1]
Possible depiction of al-Hariri, in the Maqamat of al-Hariri, 1237 CE edition, probably Baghdad.[1]
BornAbū Muhammad al-Qāsim ibn ʿAlī ibn Muhammad ibn ʿUthmān al-Harīrī
أبو محمد القاسم بن علي بن محمد بن عثمان الحريري
1054 (1054)
Al-Mashan Village, near Basra, Abbasid Caliphate, now Basra Governorate, Iraq
Died10 September 1122(1122-09-10) (aged 67–68)
Basra, Abbasid Caliphate, now Basra Governorate, Iraq
OccupationArab Poet, writer, Scholar of Arabic language, Official of Seljuqs
Notable worksMaqamat al-Hariri مقامات الحريري

Al-Hariri of Basra (Arabic: أبو محمد القاسم بن علي بن محمد بن عثمان الحريري, romanizedAbū Muhammad al-Qāsim ibn ʿAlī ibn Muhammad ibn ʿUthmān al-Harīrī; 1054 – 10 September 1122) was a poet belonging to the Beni Harram tribe of Bedouin Arabs, who lived and died in the city of Basra, modern Iraq.[2] He was a scholar of the Arabic language and a dignitary of the Seljuk Empire, which ruled Iraq during his lifetime, from 1055 to 1135.

He is known for his Maqamat al-Hariri (also known as the ‘'Assemblies of Hariri'’), a collection of some 50 stories written in the Maqama style, a mix of verse and literary prose. For more than eight centuries, Al-Hariri's best known work, his Maqamat has been regarded as one of the greatest treasure in Arabic literature after the Quran and the Pre-Islamic poetic canons. Although the maqamat did not originate with al-Hariri, he elevated the genre to an art form.

  1. ^ Flood, Finbarr Barry (2017). A Turk in the Dukhang? Comparative Perspectives on Elite Dress in Medieval Ladakh and the Caucasus. Austrian Academy of Science Press. p. 232.
  2. ^ Shah 1980, p. 10.