al-Hariri
- Died
- 516 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu Muhammad al-Hariri (446–516 AH / 1054–1122 CE) was a Shafi'i scholar, philologist, and prose writer from Basra, best known for composing the Maqamat al-Hariri (The Assemblies of al-Hariri) .
Early life and education
Abu Muhammad al-Qasim ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Hariri was born around 446 AH in al-Mashan, a settlement near Basra, where he grew up before residing in the Banu Haram quarter of Basra . He was affiliated with the Shafi'i legal school, a background reflected in the legal questions embedded within his literary compositions . He was physically described as short and plain in appearance, with a noted habit of plucking his beard while contemplating . He was also a person of considerable wealth, owning extensive palm plantations in al-Mashan reported at eighteen thousand trees .
Al-Hariri studied Arabic philology and literature under Abu al-Qasim al-Fadl ibn Muhammad al-Qasbani in Basra and Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Faddal al-Mujashi'i . He studied Shafi'i jurisprudence under Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi and Abu Nasr ibn al-Sabbagh, and learned the laws of inheritance and arithmetic from Abu Hakim al-Khabari and Abu al-Fadl al-Hamadhani . In hadith, he heard transmissions from Abu Tamam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Muqri' and Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ahmad al-Baqillani .
Career and students
In public office, al-Hariri served as the official intelligence and news reporter (sahib al-khabar) for the Abbasid caliphal administration in Basra, a post that remained held by his descendants until the end of the caliphate of al-Muqtafi . He also traveled to Baghdad, where he transmitted hadith and recited his literary works .
Among those who transmitted from him were the viziers Ali ibn Tirad al-Zaynabi and Ali ibn Sadaqa, the hadith memorizer Ibn Nasir, Abu Bakr ibn al-Naqqur, and Barakat ibn Ibrahim al-Khushu'i, who was the last to transmit from him by general license (ijazah) . His sons, Najm al-Din Abd Allah and Diya' al-Islam Ubayd Allah, who became the judge of Basra, likewise studied and transmitted under him .
Scholarly standing
Al-Hariri attained widespread fame for his mastery of Arabic lexicography, grammar, and rhymed prose . His collection of fifty assemblies was modeled on the earlier genre created by Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani, framing intricate rhetorical devices, rare vocabulary, and legal riddles through the fictional narrator al-Harith ibn Hammam and the eloquent trickster Abu Zayd al-Saruji . Beyond his Maqamat, he addressed grammatical instruction in his didactic poem Milhat al-Irab (The Witticism of Inflection) and cataloged common linguistic mistakes of educated writers in Durrat al-Ghawwas fi Awham al-Khawas (The Diver's Pearl on the Delusions of the Elite) .
Contemporary and later scholars lauded his eloquence; the grammarian al-Zamakhshari composed verses asserting that al-Hariri's assemblies deserved to be written in gold . His work attracted numerous commentaries, though it also drew scholarly critique: Ibn al-Khashshab compiled strictures against certain grammatical and lexical usages in the Maqamat, which were subsequently defended by commentators such as Ibn Barri and al-Mas'udi .
Death
Al-Hariri died in Basra on 6 Rajab 516 AH / 1122 CE at around seventy years of age during the caliphate of al-Mustarshid; an alternate report places his death in 515 AH .
Answer updated
List of Works
Maqamat al-Hariri (The Assemblies of al-Hariri) is a collection of fifty Arabic literary tales modeled on the earlier Maqamat of Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani. The work is composed in elaborate rhymed prose and features linguistic virtuosity alongside depictions of mendicancy and wit.
Milhat al-Irab (The Witticism of Inflection) is a didactic versification of Arabic grammar. Also known as Milhat al-Irab fi Sina'at al-Irab or Milhat al-Irab wa-Subhat al-Adab, it is a concise poem composed in the rajaz metre (urjuzah) designed primarily for introductory learners.
Durrat al-Ghawwas fi Awham al-Khawas (The Diver's Pearl on the Delusions of the Elite) is a classical Arabic treatise on linguistic correctness. The work focuses specifically on identifying and correcting misused vocabulary, morphological patterns, and syntactic constructions prevalent among the educated elite.