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Lot Essay
The Maqamat, which consists of short satirical stories edged with social criticism, is amongst the earliest example of the Arabic belle-lettres tradition (Esin Atil, Renaissance of Islam. Art of the Mamluks, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 1981, p.258). Narrated by the dim-witted al-Harith, the stories relate to the escapades of Abu Zayd, whose linguistic abilities enable him to swindle and evade punishment. Since the 8th century about 400 of these tales have been written, compiled by al-Hamdhani around the year 1000 AD. Fifty of the maqama, all of which are present in our manuscript, were written down by al-Hariri, whose work became the most widely copied and illustrated version through the 13th and 14th centuries (Atil, op.cit., p.258).
Our manuscript is likely to have been copied in Rasulid Yemen. The Rasulids ruled South Yemen and Tihama, with their capital at Ta’izz from AH 626/1228 AD to AH 858/1454 AD. According to Bosworth, “a number of Amirs who accompanied the first Ayyubids to Yemen in the 13th century, remained behind after the last Ayyubid ruler left Yemen for Syria in 1229. Ayyubid tradition remained strong in the new state and in the later thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw the zenith of Rasulid political power and cultural splendour. The Sultans were great builders in such cities as Ta’izz and Zabid, and were munificent patrons of Arabic literature, with not a few of the Sultans themselves proficient authors” (C.E. Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties – A Chronological and Genealogical Manual, Edinburgh, 1996, pp.108-09). It is only natural that the Rasulids would be influenced by their neighbours the Mamluks, who succeed the Ayyubids in Egypt, in the production of illuminated manuscripts. This manuscript demonstrates this. The overall conception of the calligraphy and illumination is very Mamluk in style, yet there are subtle differences. In his discussion on a Rasulid Qur’an folio in the Khalili Collection, David James mentions the gold calligraphy outlined in black, such as is seen here in the titles of each of the Maqamat. He writes of it as one of the features that secures the Rasulid attribution, as it is infrequently found in Mamluk manuscripts (David James, The Master Scribes, London, 1992, no.40, p.160). The colours used in the opening illumination, with the strong green on a black ground, are also not typically of the Mamluk Egyptian or Syrian tradition.
Inscriptions on the frontispiece mention that the manuscript was from the library of Mawlana Jamal al-Din al-Mutawakil 'ala Allah Yahya Sharaf al-Din. It also bears the ownership inscriptions of an Al-Qadi Abu Bakr al-Arjani and 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas.
Our manuscript is likely to have been copied in Rasulid Yemen. The Rasulids ruled South Yemen and Tihama, with their capital at Ta’izz from AH 626/1228 AD to AH 858/1454 AD. According to Bosworth, “a number of Amirs who accompanied the first Ayyubids to Yemen in the 13th century, remained behind after the last Ayyubid ruler left Yemen for Syria in 1229. Ayyubid tradition remained strong in the new state and in the later thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw the zenith of Rasulid political power and cultural splendour. The Sultans were great builders in such cities as Ta’izz and Zabid, and were munificent patrons of Arabic literature, with not a few of the Sultans themselves proficient authors” (C.E. Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties – A Chronological and Genealogical Manual, Edinburgh, 1996, pp.108-09). It is only natural that the Rasulids would be influenced by their neighbours the Mamluks, who succeed the Ayyubids in Egypt, in the production of illuminated manuscripts. This manuscript demonstrates this. The overall conception of the calligraphy and illumination is very Mamluk in style, yet there are subtle differences. In his discussion on a Rasulid Qur’an folio in the Khalili Collection, David James mentions the gold calligraphy outlined in black, such as is seen here in the titles of each of the Maqamat. He writes of it as one of the features that secures the Rasulid attribution, as it is infrequently found in Mamluk manuscripts (David James, The Master Scribes, London, 1992, no.40, p.160). The colours used in the opening illumination, with the strong green on a black ground, are also not typically of the Mamluk Egyptian or Syrian tradition.
Inscriptions on the frontispiece mention that the manuscript was from the library of Mawlana Jamal al-Din al-Mutawakil 'ala Allah Yahya Sharaf al-Din. It also bears the ownership inscriptions of an Al-Qadi Abu Bakr al-Arjani and 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas.