Yahy? ibn Mahm?d al-W?sit? was a 13th-century Arab Islamic artist. Al-Wasiti was born in Wasit in southern Iraq. He was noted for his illustrations of the Maqam of al-Hariri. Maq?ma (literally 'assemblies') are an (originally) Arabic literary genre of rhymed prose with intervals of poetry in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The 10th century author Bad?' al-Zaman al-Hamadh?ni is said to have invented the form, which was extended by al-Hariri of Basra in the next century. Both authors' maq?m?t center on trickster figures whose wanderings and exploits in speaking to assemblies of the powerful are conveyed by a narrator. Manuscripts of al-Har?r?'s Maq?m?t, anecdotes of a roguish wanderer Abu Zayd from Saruj, were frequently illustrated with miniatures.