was
revived, occurring almost simultaneously in the _Sermons_ of Ibn Nubata
(946-984) and the _Letters_ of Abu Bakr ul-Khwarizmi. Both have been
published several times in the East. The epistolary style was further
cultivated by Hamadhani (q.v.) and carried to perfection by Abu-l'Ala
ul-Ma'arri. Hamadhini was also the first to write in this rhymed prose a
new form of work, the _Maqama_ ("assembly"). The name arose from the
fact that scholars were accustomed to assemble for the purpose of
rivalling one another in orations showing their knowledge of Arabic
language, proverb and verse. In the _Maqamas_ of Hamadhani a narrator
describes how in various places he met a wandering scholar who in these
assemblies puts all his rivals to shame by his eloquence. Each oration
forms the substance of a _Maqama_, while the _Maqamas_ themselves are
united to one another by the constant meetings of narrator and scholar.
Hariri (q.v.) quite eclipsed the fame of his predecessor in this
department, and his _Maqamas_ retain their influence over Arabian
literature to the present day. As late as the 19th century the sheik
Nasif ul Yaziji (1800-1871) distinguished himself by writing sixty
clever _Maqamas_ in the style of Hariri (ed. Beirut, 1856, 1872). While
this class of literature had devoted itself chiefly to the finesses of
the language, another set of works was given to meeting the requirements
of moral education and the training of a gentleman. This, which is known
as "Adab literature," is anecdotic in style with much quotation of early
poetry and proverb. Thus government, war, friendship, morality, piety,
eloquence, are some of the titles under which Ibn Qutaiba groups his
stories and verses in the _'Uyun ul Akhbar_. _Jahiz_ (q.v.) in the 9th
century and Baihaqi (_The Kitab al-Mahasin val-Masawi_, ed. F. Schwally,
Giessen, 1900-1902) early in the 10th, wrote works of this class. A
little later a Spaniard, Ibn 'Abdrabbihi (Abdi-r-Rabbihi), wrote his
_'Iqd ul-Farid_ (see section _Anthologies_). The growth of city life in
the Abbasid capital led to the desire for a new form of story, differing
from the old tales of desert life. This was met in the first place by
borrowing. In the 8th century Ibn Muqaffa', a convert from Mazdaism to
Islam, translated the Pahlavi version of Bidpai's fables (itself a
version of the Indian _Panchatantra_) into Arabic with the title _Kalila
wa Dimna_ (ed. Beirut, various years). Owing to the purity of its
langua