al-Hariri of Basra
Al-Hariri of Basra (Arabic: أبو محمد القاسم بن علي بن محمد بن عثمان الحريري, romanized: Abū 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. 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.
Al-Hariri الحریری البصری | |
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Possible depiction of al-Hariri, in the Maqamat of al-Hariri, 1237 CE edition, probably Baghdad. | |
| Born | Abū Muhammad al-Qāsim ibn ʿAlī ibn Muhammad ibn ʿUthmān al-Harīrī أبو محمد القاسم بن علي بن محمد بن عثمان الحريري 1054 Al-Mashan Village, near Basra, Abbasid Caliphate, now Basra Governorate, Iraq |
| Died | 10 September 1122 (aged 67–68) Basra, Abbasid Caliphate, now Basra Governorate, Iraq |
| Occupation | Arab Poet, writer, Scholar of Arabic language, Official of Seljuqs |
| Notable works | Maqamat al-Hariri مقامات الحريري |
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.