A unique Mamluk manuscript tells the story of a Damascene jurist. Ibn al-Zamlakani's story revolves around a dramatic episode in the life of his master, the great judge Taj al-Din al-Subki, who is the central figure (hero) of the tale. The composer justly names his document maqamah. In rhyming prose, it narrates several episodes. Transmitted by a narrator (or at least his voice), who distance himself from the event, it is a story about an escape from hardship of a hero who is supported by good characters and face some evil enemies. Yet, it is not a biography, but a dramatic plot that transmits a moral lesson. The maqamah illuminates the relations between the Mamluk ruling military aristocracy and the religious establishment, as well as the competition that divided the Damascene urban elite.

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Yehoshua Frenkel is Professor of Middle Eastern History at the University of Haifa. His research interests embrace popular culture, Islamic etiquette, communal practices, social history, and legal discourse in Middle and Late Caliphate Egypt and Syria (1055-1517).

A unique Mamlūk manuscript tells the story of a Damascene jurist. Ibn al-Zamlakānī composed a maqāma that narrate the imprisonment of his master, the great judge Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī and his return to power (in 758/1359).

Ibn al-Zamlakānī’s story revolves around a dramatic episode in the life of al-Subkī, who is the central figure (hero) of the tale. The composer justly names his document maqāmah. In rhyming prose, it narrates several episodes. Transmitted by a narrator (or at least his voice), who distance himself from the event, it is a story about an escape from hardship of a hero who is supported by good characters and face some evil enemies. Yet, it is not a biography, but a dramatic plot that transmits a moral lesson. The maqāmah illuminates the relations between the Mamlūk ruling military aristocracy and the religious establishment, as well as the competition that divided the Damascene urban elite.

Ibn al-Zamlakani's story revolves around a dramatic episode in the life of al-Subki, who is the central figure (hero) of the tale. The composer justly names his document maqamah. In rhyming prose, it narrates several episodes. Transmitted by a narrator (or at least his voice), who distance himself from the event, it is a story about an escape from hardship of a hero who is supported by good characters and face some evil enemies. Yet, it is not a biography, but a dramatic plot that transmits a moral lesson. The maqamah illuminates the relations between the Mamluk ruling military aristocracy and the religious establishment, as well as the competition that divided the Damascene urban elite.