Literature (continued)

 

Part III. Tales and Short Stories

A. The Maqamat - rhymed "short stories" for popular entertainment

The maqamat is the most popular expression of the Arabic spirit. They were written in rhymes, but they weren't really poetry. Their purpose was to tell a story to entertain. It is closest to what we call "short stories". The heroes of these stories were common people who were caught up in many entertaining adventures. The readers could see themselves, their problems, and their culture in these humorous stories.

Below: Painting from "Maqamat (Story) of Hajr and Yamama - doctor bleeds patient". Maqamat of al-Hariri, Pages of Perfection (S.F. Public Library). This man is being bled with "cupping".

 

 

1. The word "maqamat" is usually translated as "assemblies" or "collections" of stories. They are full of wit (cleverness, has a good sense of intelligent humor) and are very funny. The maqamat were composed (written, created) in "rhymed prose" (the form in which the Qur'an was revealed). Each part of the maqamat dealt with a separate topic, but the whole maqamat was unified by the narrator into a whole.

 

2. The creator of this art form was Badi' al-Zamdn, (969-1008 A.D.) who wrote "Wonder of the Age," or "al-Hamadhdni". The leading character of his work was Abu'l-Fatih of Alexandria, the wandering scholar who lived by his wits roving through the land. The narrator of the Maqamat pretended to have encountered this character wherever he went and entertained his audience with Abu'l-Fatih's stories he told.

 

3. The most famous and best loved of these maqamat storytellers is al-Hariri (1054-1122 A.D.) In al-Hariri's stories the narrator was the traveler Abu Zayd. The maqamat style enabled the authors to display all the intelligence, verbal skills, and wit. The maqamat became almost the best known and most highly appreciated literary works of later times among the Arabs. They remained a favorite in the Muslim world.

 

 

Several of the Maqamat were illustrated, so we can get a better idea of the dress and culture in which these stories took place.

You can read an example of the maqamat stories by al-Harari at Medieval Sourcebook: Al Hariri: Maqamat.

 

 

B. Animal Tales

During the Abbasid empire, writers were curious for all kinds of knowledge. They found foreign works and translated them. Ibn al-Muqaffa translated the fables of Bidpai, an Indian wiseman, into Arabic. The Indian stories of the animal world became very popular, and in some ways are like the fables of Aesop.

. . .

Dimna's Trial, Kalila wa Dimna, 13th century; Paris, Bibiliotheque National . . Right: Dog and Its Reflection, Kalila wa Dimna. Baghdad, first half of 13th century. Hazine 363, folio 32b, Topkapi Collection.

 

 

C. Arabian Nights, or "A Thousand and One Nights"

The Thousand and One Nights (Alf Laylah wa Laylah) is the only Arabic work that has become truly popular in the West. For centuries it was frowned upon by educated Arabs for its inelegant style and mixing of the classical (old, respected) and vernacular (modern, common style) languages.

The first written compilation (putting together) of the stories was made in Iraq in the 10th century by al-Jahshiyari who added tales from local storytellers to an old Persian work, Hazar Afsana ("thousand tales"), which in turn contained some stories of Indian origin. The "frame" story, in which Scheherazad saves herself from execution at the hands of King Shahrayar with her endless supply of tales was borrowed from the Persian Afsana but probably originated in India. [See Arab Gateway: 1001 Nights and a good version by Andrew Lang] Read this version with beautiful modern illustrations!

Scheherazad begins her stories in order to save her life... (above, 19th century illustration).

 

Sindbad from British Library Exhibition, U.K. Copyright, 1997. From Wonders of Creation, Persian manuscript, Herat, 1503-4.

 

 

These famous stories include the tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor, and many more all held together by the tale of Schaherazad, the newest wife of a king who kills his wives after their wedding night.

The entire translation of Arabian Nights by Sir Richard Burton is available and with comments/summaries of each story. (There are 30 stories in all.) Also see another translation of stories (in "Reading about the World"); for example, "The Lady and Her Five Suitors" and others.

 
 

 

More Tales and Folklore from around the Islamic World

 Four Tales with a Moral

 

Arab and Sufi Folktales

Many stories have a moral. The next three are from Mariam's Story Park. It is a great story site featuring many stories from the Sufi traditions around the world.

 

1. This one is from Tunisia.

One day Si' Djeha was strolling on the outskirts of the town when he came upon the qadi (Islamic judge) snoring under a tree, working off his last wine-drinking bout. So deeply sunk in sleep was the judge that Si' Djeha was able to pull his fine new woolen cloak off him without making him stir.

When the qadi woke up and saw that he had been robbed of his costly coat, he sent his men to search for it. They soon recognized it on Si' Djeha's back and dragged him to court. "How did you come to possess so fine a cloak?" demanded the qadi.

"I saw an unbeliever grossly drunk with the stink of wine upon him lying asleep under a tree. So I spit on his infidel's (non-Muslim's) beard and took his coat. But if your honor claims the cloak, it is only just that you should have it back."

"I have never seen this coat before in my life," hissed the qadi. "Now be off with you, and take the coat along too."

 

 

This next story is from Iraq

2. Djuha and the Basket of Figs

One year when Djuha's pomegranate tree bore very large fruits, he chose the three reddest and most perfect and took them to the palace as a present for the emir. And for this he was generously rewarded. Some months later, when his turnip crop proved unusually fine, he filled a basket with the best of his harvest and set out for the palace again.

On the way he met a neighbor, and when he had explained his errand, the man said, "Are turnips any gift for a prince? Shame on you! Something dainty or something sweet is what will please an emir. Take him figs."

Djuha was persuaded, and when he arrived at the palace gates he had a basket of figs over his arm.

This time, however, the prince happened to be angry, with a frown on him that would frighten a hero. Far from rewarding Djuha for his pains, he ordered his servants to pelt him with his own figs and chase him out. But every time a fig hit the mark, Djuha would cry out, "May Allah reward you with His blessings, dear neighbor!" or "God grant you many sons and abundant riches, dear neighbor!" The prince's curiosity finally overcame his anger, and he asked Djuha why he was saying such things.

"Sire," replied Djuha, "I was bringing you a basket of the largest turnips you have ever seen, white and sweet as apples, but my neighbor told me that figs would be a better gift. Should I not thank the man who saved my life? Had my basket been full of turnips, every bone in my body would be broken by now!"

The prince laughed and, regaining his good humor, sent Djuha home with a purse of gold.

 

The next story is an old Persian tale from ZenSufi

3. The Story Of The Boatman And The Teacher

A certain man named, Arya, who was the proud owner of a boat, invited the village teacher for an excursion on the Caspian Sea. The teacher lolled about under the canopy and asked Arya, "What kind of weather will we have today?"

Arya checked the direction of the wind, looked up at the sun, wrinkled his brow, and answered, "If you ask me, we is going to have a storm."

Horrified by this reply, the teacher made a face and said critically, "Arya, you should not say 'we is' but say 'we are'. Didn't you ever learn grammar?"

Arya responded to this reprimand with nothing but a shrug of his shoulders. "What do I care about grammar?" he asked.

The teacher was at his wits' end. "You don't know grammar. That means half your life is down the drain!"

Just as Arya had predicted, dark clouds developed on the horizon, a strong wind whipped the waves, and the boat tossed about in the rough sea. In no time there was lots of water in the boat and Arya asked the teacher, "Have you ever learned to swim?"

The teacher answered, "No. Why should I learn to swim?"

Grinning from ear to ear, Arya replied, "Well, in that case your whole life is down the drain, because our boat is going to sink any minute now!"

 

4. The Old Wrestler - A Persian story from The Rose Garden (Bustan) by Sa'di

 

A person had become a master in the art of wrestling. He knew three hundred and sixty tricks in this art, and could exhibit a fresh trick for every day throughout the year. He became fond of one of his students. The old teacher taught him three hundred and fifty nine of those secret moves, but he put off instruction of the last one.

In short, the youth became so proficient (skillful) in the art and talent of wrestling that none of the other young wrestlers was able to defeat him. At length he one day boasted before the reigning sovereign (the ruling king), saying: "I am superior to my master in strength and equal to him in skill. I have not challenged him out of respect to his age."

This lack of respect displeased the king. He ordered a wrestling match to be held, and a spacious field to be fenced in for the occasion. The ministers of state, nobles of the court, and gallant men of the realm (kingdom) were assembled, and the ceremonials of the combat took place. Like a huge and angry elephant, the youth rushed into the ring with such a crash that had a mountain opposed him he would have moved it from its base. The master being aware that the youth was his superior in strength, engaged him in that strange strategy of which he had kept him ignorant. The youth was unacquainted with its guard. Advancing, nevertheless, the master seized him with both hands, and, lifting him bodily from the ground, raised him above his head and flung him on the earth. The crowd cheered.

The king ordered them to give the master an honorary robe and handsome gifts. The youth he addressed with reproach (criticism, scolding) saying: "You played the traitor with your own teacher, and failed in your challenging him." The youth replied: "O sir! my master did not overcome me by strength and ability, but by the one cunning trick in the art of wrestling which he refrained from (kept from) teaching me. By that little trick he had the upper hand today!"

The master said: "I prepared myself for such a day as this. As the wise have told us, put not so much into a friend's power that, if he becomes angry, he can do you an injury. Have you not heard what that man said who was treacherously dealt with by his own pupil:

Either in fact there is no good faith in this world, or
Nobody has perhaps practiced it in our day.
No person learned the art of archery from me
Who did not in the end make me his target."

Old Wrestler story from The Bustan by Sa'di, Persian

 

Learn more about Great Literature from Many Islamic Lands:

A. Persian Literature [literature of Iraq and Iran] (heroic tales and poetry)

  • An introduction to Persian literature is found here.
  • Ferdowsi [Famous poet of 10th century Persia - Iran for whom great statues and tomb were built] Note: Persian is written in Arabic script. The Epic of Shahnameh by Ferdowsi [Epic of Kings - famous heroic poem in Persian]
  • Bustan of Sa'di (Persian poet of the 13th century) "Bustan" in Persian means flower-garden and Bustan of Sa'di is a composition of stories and maxims each representing a flower of this garden. Bustan of Sa'di is world famous due to its eloquence of style, clear language, moral guidance and counseling through the art of poetry. Read more stories from the Bustan.
  • Classical Persian Poetry and Poets

B. Turkish Literature (Note: Modern Turkish is written in an alphabet similar to the Latin alphabet, but the "classical" literature below was written in Arabic script.)

C. Egyptian Literature (modern)

  • A modern writer, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1985 is the Egyptian novelist (who writes in modern Arabic), Naguib Mafouz. Read his version of the stories from the Arabian Nights and Days (1982); somewhat shocking when Aladdin gets his head chopped off! Read this short biography. of Mafouz.

D. Palestinian

 

See more illustrations from early manuscripts - where stories inspired art:

 

 

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Go to Page Six: Other Types of Literature (Sayings, Travel Books, Puppet Theater)

 

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