al-Hamad̲h̲ānī (908 words) , Aḥmad Badīʿ al-Zamān “the Prodigy of the Age”, Arabo-Persian writer and letter-writer, was born at Hamad̲h̲ān in 358/968 and died at Herāt in 398/1008. He pursued his early studies in his native town, where his master was Ibn Fāris [q.v.]. Aided by an exceptional memory and talents, he was soon noted for his virtuosity in handling the Arabic and Persian languages. He apparently remained true to S̲h̲īʿism for the greater part of his life. At about 22 years of age, he settled at Rayy where the intellectual atmosphere appeared favourable to his ambitions; the Būyid wazīr Ibn ʿAbbād [q.v.] granted him his patronage; it is possible that in this town the young man mixed with the local beggars’ guild and notably with the unorthodox poet Abū Dulaf, an intimate friend of the wazīr (see al-T̲h̲aʿālibī, iii, 175-94). It may be supposed that these contacts gave to al-Hamad̲h̲ānī the idea of ¶ composing certain of his first Maḳāmāt . Perhaps as a result of a quarrel, the young man went to D̲j̲urd̲j̲ān where he is said to have come into contact with Ismāʿīlī elements. In 382/992 he went to Nīs̲h̲āpūr, apparently attracted by the renown and the activity of this intellectual metropolis; there he made some useful contacts but clashed with the letter-writer Abū Bakr al-K̲h̲wārizmī, then at the height of his fame; he finally prevailed and eclipsed his adversary, who died, overcome by chagrin. From this time al-Hamad̲h̲ānī undertook a series of journeys which were also triumphs; perhaps he went to Zarand̲j̲ (in Sīstān) to the court of the amīr K̲h̲alaf, whose panegyrist and favourite he was. After the deposition of the Sāmānids, he attached himself for a while to Maḥmūd of G̲h̲azna, whose praises he sang (see al-T̲h̲aʿālibī, iv, 200) before settling finally at Herāt where he died, scarcely aged 40; a short time earlier he had embraced Sunnism.

Even in his lifetime it would appear that al-Hamad̲h̲ānī had created for himself a certain reputation as a poet; the collection of verse which survives under his name (ed. Cairo 1903) does not, however, reveal any originality, and by the subjects dealt with as well as by the style it is related to the poetical works composed at this time in the circles of the wits of ʿIrāḳ and Iran. The same may be said of the “Epistles” or Rasāʾil in rhymed and rhythmic prose, part of which has been published (Istanbul 1298, Beirut 1890); the brilliance of the often affected style does not succeed in convincing us that so much artistry should be put to the service of such wordlly and empty preoccupations. Of a completely different interest is the volume of Maḳāmāt or “Séances”, which has perpetuated the writer’s name.

Al-Hamad̲h̲ānī seems to deserve the title of creator of this genre. The hypothesis of Zakī Mubārak that the idea of the “Séance” is to be found in the works of the grammarian Ibn Burayd arises from a misinterpretation of a passage of al-Ḥuṣrī. The composition of the Maḳāmāt, begun about 380/990, seems to have extended over many years. Al-Hamad̲h̲ānī is said to have dictated not less than four hundred of them; only fifty-two are now known. These “sketches” vary in length but rarely exceed a few pages; they are made up according to a strict balance; they are of rhymed and rhythmic prose, mixed with verse; the learned, sometimes precious, style constitutes the principal but not the sole concern of the author. In fact, he shows himself to be a keen observer of life and men; through his contacts with the beggars’ guild, he feels obliged to devote a fairly important place to those who represent it; one séance is even devoted to the vernacular of these rogues; the common people find a

place in these narrations as well as the bourgeoisie and the literati; the satire of manners, so rare in Arabic literature, is developed here with burlesque and piquancy; certain séances are sometimes also panegyrics of patrons. It may be said that in al-Hamad̲h̲ānī’s hands the maḳāma reflects contemporary society. This writer has the final merit of having given a framework to this genre; with the exception of a few “sketches” which are narratives set in the past (such as the Séance of G̲h̲aylān, Beirut ed., 43-8), the greater part of the collection is made up of accounts which portray a cultivated and cynical bohemian and a bourgeois suffering for his own credulity. The “Séance” thus conceived was to serve as a model for almost a thousand years [see maḳāma ].

(R. Blachère)

BibliographyThaʿālibī, Yatīma, iv, 167 ff.

Ibn K̲h̲allikān, Cairo 1310, i, 39

Maḳāmāt: ¶ Istanbul 1298/1880, Beyrut (ed. Muḥammad ʿAbduh) 1889, 1908 (?), 1924, 1958, Cairo (ed. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd) 1342/1923

translations by S. de Sacy, Chrestomathie arabe, iii, 78 ff. (6 Māḳāmāt), by Grangeret de Lagrange, Anthologie arabe, 153 ff. (3 Maḳāmāt), by O. Rescher in Beiträge zur Maqamen-littératur, v, Leonburg 1913, by W. Prendergast, The maqāmāt of Badīʿ az-Zamān, Madras-London 1915, by F. Gabrieli in Rend. Lincei, 1949 (1 Maḳāma). Studies on the genre and the author: Z. Mubārak, La prose arabe au IV e siècle de l’Hégire, Paris 1931, 148 ff.

R. Blachère, Étude sémantique sur le nom Maqāma, in Machriq, 1953, 646 ff.

R. Blachère and P. Masnou, Choix de maqāmāt, traduites de l’arabe avec une étude sur le genre, Paris 1957 (with the rest of the bibliography)

cf. Brockelmann, I, 93 ff. and S I, 150 ff.

Cite this page

Blachère, R.. "al-Hamad̲h̲ānī." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online, 2015. Reference. Emory University. 12 June 2015 <http://referenceworks.brillonline.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/al-hamadhani-SIM_2654> First appeared online: 2012 First Print Edition: isbn: 9789004161214, 1960-2007