Historical reference: Do not rely on this information. It is very old. About this collection
Hariri, Abu Mohammed al Kasim ben Ali, a celebrated Arabian fabulist, was born at Basra, about the middle of the 11th century. He wrote poems and treatises on grammar, but his chief work was his Makamat, a series of highly humorous stories in rhymed verse, which is celebrated for the beauty of its style.