Explanation of Al-Hariri's Maqamat by Al-Wasiti's: A Critical Study of its Revision Methodology

Abstract

This research discusses the explanation of Al-Hariri’s Maqamat by Al-Wasiti's. The importance of this explanation lies in its inclusion of a large collection of Arab poetry, news, stories, proverbs, days, historical events, and the opinions of scholars, writers, and critics. Therefore, critics and scholars have directed their attention to the Maqamat and their various explanations, which highlights the importance of this explanation.

By reading the explanation, it became clear that the honorable  reviser had committed major faults. These faults include her failure to collect the multiple copies of the book (amounting to five, yet she obtained only one copy claiming that she had done her best to obtain another copy), in addition to methodological errors in poetry and prose, including proverbs, stories, and historical events, which the reviser failed to deal with. Also,  her methodology differed from one paper to another. In addition to that, the book was revised at the University of Damascus in 2016 in a master’s thesis which the reviser overlooked. All of this prompted me to study the explanation and evaluate it critically to reach an image close to what the author wanted, contenting myself with some examples.

 Addressing all these points required a comprehensive plan; the study is thus structured into an introduction, two sections, and a conclusion, followed by the sources and references consulted. While I am aware of other points that warrant discussion, my commitment to research methodology necessitated conciseness; I have therefore noted within the study that this issue is addressed briefly—to avoid undue length—while alerting the reader to the existence of further observations.