HARIRI, AL-

in full Abu Muhammad Al-qasim Ibn 'ali Al-hariri born 1054, near Basra, Iraq died 1122, Basra scholar of Arabic language and literature and government official who is primarily known for the refined style and wit of his collection of tales, the Maqamat, published in English as The Assemblies of al-Harr (1867, 1898). His works include a long poem on grammar (Mulhat al-i'rab fi annahw), for which he also wrote a commentary, and a book on errors of expression in Arabic (Durrat al-ghawwas fi awham al-khawass). The Assemblies recounts in the words of the narrator, al-Harith ibn Hammam, his repeated encounters with Abu Zayd as-Saruji, an unabashed confidence artist and wanderer possessing all the eloquence, grammatical knowledge, and poetic ability of al-Hariri himself. Time and again, al-Harith finds Abu Zayd at the centre of a throng of people in a new city. Abu Zayd brings tears to his listeners' eyes with the vivid description of his pretended hardships and dazzles them with his poetry, then suddenly disappears with their presents. Al-Hariri's Assemblies seems to unite his experiences as an information officer with his authoritative knowledge of Arabic grammar, style, and verse. These tales are filled not only with humour and adventure but with linguistic and poetic feats as well. This maqamah (assembly) style was not al- Hariri's invention. He openly acknowledged his debt to its creator, al-Hamadhani (9691008).