HAMADHANI, AL-

born 969, Hamadan, Iran died 1008, Herat, Ghaznavid Afghanistan in full Badi' az-Zaman Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hamadhani Arabic-language author famed for the introduction of the maqamah (assembly) form in literature. Al-Hamadhani, often known as Badi' az-Zaman (Wonder of the Age), achieved an early success through a public debate with Abu Bakr al-Khwarizmi, a leading savant, in Nishapur. He subsequently traveled throughout the area occupied today by Iran and Afghanistan before settling in Herat and marrying. Al-Hamadhani is credited with the composition of 400 maqamahs, of which some 52 are extant (Eng. trans. by W.J. Prendergast, The Maqmt of Bad' al-Zamn al-Hamadhani, 1915). These maqamahs are written in a combination of prose, rhymed prose (saj'), and poetry and recount typically the encounters of the narrator 'Isa ibn Hisham with Abu al-Fath al-Iskandari, a witty orator and talented poet who roams in search of fortune unencumbered by Islamic conventions of honour.