Hariri.

Hariri. ABU MOHAMMED AL KASIM IBN ALI, surnamed AL-HARIRI ('the Silk-merchant'), an Arabic writer, was born at Basra, on the Tigris, in 446 A.H. (1054 A.D.), spent his life in study and devotion to literary work, and died at Basra about 1121. He wrote valuable works on Arabic grammar, as Molhat el Arab, a work on syntax, and Durrat el-Ghawwas, on common faults in current language. But the most famous of his writings, indeed one of the most famous compositions of all times and countries, is his Makamat (Literary Gatherings). This is a collection of rhymed tales, the central character in which is a certain Abu Seid from Seruj, a witty, clever, amiable rogue, well read in sacred and profane lore, but cunning and unscrupulous, who turns up under all possible disguises and in all possible places. The brilliancy of imagination and wit displayed in these adventures, their striking changes, and dramatic situations, have hardly ever been equalled; but more wonderful still is the poet's power of language. The whole force of the proverbial fullness of expression, spirit, elegance, and grandeur of the Arabic idiom has been brought to bear on the subject. Indeed, as far as language is concerned, the Makamat is looked upon in the East as the highest source of authority next to the Koran. The book has been translated, either entirely or partially, into nearly every Eastern and European tongue, and has been the prototype of innumerable imitations, the most successful being one in Hebrew, Machberoth Ithiel, by Yehudah ben Shelomoh al-Kharizi. The best edition of the Makamat is that by Silvestre de Sacy, which appeared in Paris, 1822 (re-edited 1847-53). Of translations, the palm is due to Rückert, who has completely reproduced the spirit and form of the work in his Verwandlungen des Abu Seid von Serug, first published in 1826. English translations (partial) have been made by Preston (1850) and by Cheney (1867).