Maqamat Badi al-Zaman al-Hamadhani - by Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadani

Composed in the late 10th century by the Persian polymath Abu'l-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Hamadhānī, this pioneering Arabic collection of 52 rhymed prose vignettes (maqamat) features the roguish wanderer Abu al-Fath al-Iskandari tricking the naive narrator Isḥāq. Blending satire, linguistic virtuosity, and social commentary on urban life, hypocrisy, and eloquence, it established the maqama genre, influencing Arabic literature's stylistic innovation.