The 鈥楳aqama' are a collection of picaresque Arabic tales written in the form of rhymed prose in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The style was invented in the 10th century by Badi al-Zaman al-Hamadhani and extended by Abu Muhammed al-Qasim ibn Ali al-Hariri of Basra the following century.

The protagonists in the tales are invariably silver-tongued hustlers; especially the roguish Abu Zaid al-Saruji; who trick the narrator and who live on their wits and dazzle onlookers with displays of acrobatics; acting and by reciting poetry.