The Structures of Maqama and a Complete Maqama in Bustan

Saadi‘s knowledge of Arabic language and culture and his familiarity with Arabic poetries have had an impact on different aspects of his works. They are said to be influenced by “Badiee” and “Hariri’s maqamat. This is not limited just to Golestan, which appeared like maqama and scholars have written a lot about its maqama-like structures. Although merely poetic, in several places Bustan appeared to be like maqamat. In Bustan, anecdotes containing subjects like panhandle, journeys, feasts, poetic knowledge, mentoring and other subjects are frequently seen in the content of maqamat. Saadi, the narrator of anecdotes, is appeared some times as the writer (Badi al- Zaman or Harriri), the narrator (Isa Ibn Hisham or Harith Ibn Homam) or the heroes (Abolfath eskandari or Abu Zaid Saroji). In this article, examples of each above mentioned examples will be presented with their comparative instances in Bustan and Badi and Hariri’s maqamat. Finally, an independent maqama of Bustan will be introduced and its features will be explained using and comparing features seen in Badi al- Zaman and Hariri’s maqamat. In this way, we can determine to what extent Saadi has benefited from their works and even prove that in cases, his journeys, some claim that they are really made are in fact fictional like the journeys of heroes and the creators of maqamat.