Maqams. Badi' az-Zaman Abu-l-Fadl Ahmad ibn al-Hussein al-Hamadani. Translation by A.A. Dolinina and Z.M. Auezova. Preface and notes by A. A. Dolinina

Maqams are an unusual genre: these short short stories combine the properties of poetry and prose, refined literature and lively speech. A learned debate in them coexists with a story about a clever trickery trick, a soul-saving sermon with a frivolous anecdote. The first to introduce such an amazing form of storytelling into Arabic literature was Abu-l-Fadl al-Hamadani (969-1008), who received the nickname Badi al-Zaman (The Miracle of Time); he is considered one of the largest exponents of this genre. The main characters of his maqam cycle are Isa ibn Hisham and Abu-l-Fath the Alexandrian, their meetings, conversations, pranks, the very plot basis of the cycle reflected the characteristic features of the era in which the maqams were created. The book is the first to publish in Russian the full text of the maqam al- Hamadani, and the translators tried, as far as possible, to convey the features of the rhythmic and figurative structure of Arabic decorated prose.