Orality, Writing and the Image in the Maqamat: Arabic Illustrated Books in Context

The Illustrations of the Maqāmāt and the Shadow Play

“…A comical dimension becomes increasingly evident when one attempts to read the images alongside the text, as their original audiences would have done-and this, even in apparently emotionless manuscripts such as the Vienna Maqāmāt. 108 Occasionally, this jubilant mood takes an unexpected turn toward indecency, as in one mosque scene from the latter manuscript, in which Abu Zayd is shown facing two men in prayer with his genital parts in evidence. 109 Licentiousness was not a characteristic of al-Hariri's work, so that the rationale for most of these digressions then proclaims: "Natu, oh Natu, oh Natu Natu!…”

“…2 In their original context, these books and their images would have brought a visual dimension-and a touch of their own humor-to these essentially aural events. 3 By virtue of their narrative structure and content, the Maqāmāt also had a latent performative dimension that could be more or less fully brought out by different reciters. This linked the text to a broad range of genres that existed in the public place, such as storytelling (the qi a), live theater (the ikāya) and the shadow play (khayāl al-ill).…”

“…9718 (in the British Library) were the work of Ghazi ibn Abd al-Rahman (d. 1310), a renowned calligrapher in his hometown of Damascus who had ties to the world of theologians. 43 The images produced in this tradition were articulated, first by outlining figures and objects in a continuous solid line, typically drafted in red then partly or wholly finished in black, and by applying a uniform color fill to relevant surfaces. 44 A frequent additional ingredient was the patterning of textile surfaces with folds, scrolls, and geometrical forms.…”

“…43 The images produced in this tradition were articulated, first by outlining figures and objects in a continuous solid line, typically drafted in red then partly or wholly finished in black, and by applying a uniform color fill to relevant surfaces. 44 A frequent additional ingredient was the patterning of textile surfaces with folds, scrolls, and geometrical forms. The skills involved find a direct correspondence in the work of scribes.…”

“…1200, the iconographic ties with the shadow play are less prominent than in the rest of the corpus; these two manuscripts are also set apart by a comparatively small format and script. 81 This combination of text, size, and imagery makes them less adapted to the needs of oral performance than most illustrated versions of the Maqāmāt. manuscript often have more contained, less expressive limb movements, an impression reinforced by the tendency for their torsoes to overlap.…”