al-Hamadhānī, Badīʿ al-Zamān - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
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[Article]
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Orfali, Bilal
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
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Leiden
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Brill
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(1,732 words)
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Badīʿ al-Zamān Abū l-Faḍl Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Hamadhānī (358-98/959-1008) was an important literary figure of the fourth/tenth century. While he was known throughout his life mainly as a composer of poetry and letters, he is famed for his invention of the maqāma genre-short narratives written in ornate rhymed prose ( sajʿ) often featuring picaresque themes. Born in Hamadhān, in western Iran, he spent much of his life in the cities of eastern Iran, including Nīshāpūr, Sarakhs, Ṭūs, and Marw. 1. Life Al-