LessonsThe Dīnārī Maqāmah: The Second Dinar and Abū Zayd’s UnmaskingQuiz

المقامة الثالثة الدينارية
The Third Maqāmah, Dīnārīyah.

1. A stranger appeals to a literary gathering through an elaborate account of hardship.
2. He wins a first coin by improvising its praise.
3. He wins another by improvising an equally clever attack on money.
4. Al-Ḥārith recognises Abū Zayd, prompting a humorous exchange.
5. The closing verses explain his affected limp and end with a pun.

The literary achievement is the double treatment of one coin; the ethical tension is the gap between speech, desire and conduct. The third maqāmah ends here, and the fourth, al-Dimyāṭīyah, begins on printed page 142.

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Closing the third maqāmah

The Dīnārī Maqāmah: The Second Dinar and Abū Zayd’s Unmasking

المقامة الثالثة الدينارية
The Third Maqāmah, Dīnārīyah.

1. A stranger appeals to a literary gathering through an elaborate account of hardship.
2. He wins a first coin by improvising its praise.
3. He wins another by improvising an equally clever attack on money.
4. Al-Ḥārith recognises Abū Zayd, prompting a humorous exchange.
5. The closing verses explain his affected limp and end with a pun.

The literary achievement is the double treatment of one coin; the ethical tension is the gap between speech, desire and conduct. The third maqāmah ends here, and the fourth, al-Dimyāṭīyah, begins on printed page 142.