Maqamat al-Hariri
Amongst the most popular works of Arabic belles-lettres, the Maqamat (‘Assemblies’) are a collection of amusing stories told by the merchant al-Harith about a peripatetic rogue named Abu Zaid.The illustration shown here accompanies the 27th maqama, which recounts the loss and recapture of a camel by al-Harith. The scene depicts the moment in which al-Harith faces the Bedouin who took his camel and Abu Zaid, himself guilty of having stolen the horse he is riding.
