Ahmad Badi al-Zaman al-Hamadhani (968-1008) was the originator of the literary form known as maqamat (assemblies; singular: maqama) for literary gatherings in which eloquence and wit in Arabic was prized. Maqamat anecdotes consist of prose passages often combined with poetry and feature a rogue hero whose exploits reveal much about Muslim life of the time. "The Maqama of the Yellow One" is a riddle whose solution is "a pair of gold coins"; their child is "a reputation for generosity":

'Isa ibn Hisham tells the following story. When I was about to start for home after the Pilgrimage, a man came to me saying, "I have with me a lad of yellow paternity, who'd tempt me to join the ungodly fraternity; he dances on the fingertips, and much travel has polished him up. Charity impels me to come to you, to...