Islamic law clearly plays a central role in the formation of distinctively Islamic societies and cultures. Yet the specific dynamics of this relationship between Islamic law and wider Islamic culture is not well understood. Recent scholarship has shown that Islamic law was followed qua law more than had previously been recognized, but how this fact shaped daily life and cultural activity remains unclear. Moreover, certain elements of Islamic law have at times been resisted by portions of Muslim societies--the ban on alcohol, for example, has been unevenly embraced in Islamic history. Yet even where not strictly observed, Islamic law has undoubtedly deeply influenced Muslim life. This paper strives to enhance our understanding of the specific ways Islamic law and Islamic cultures have interacted. Building on a strong foundation in the history and technical details of fiqh discourses, I explore representations of Islamic law (jurists, courts, legal terms, etc.) in a range of early, non-legal literary works. I begin with the towering figure of al-Jahiz (d. 255/868), whose eclectic work contains numerous references to laws, jurists, and judges (e.g., "The Qadi and the Fly" from Kitab al-Hayawan). I argue that the overall impression here is of ambivalence; this author, whose career spans the "formative" period of Islamic law, presents the law as a force of order aligned against social and even natural chaos, yet consistently implies that Muslims do well to avoid the law at nearly any cost: being miserly may be bad, but getting involved with the law is worse. Thus al-Jahiz promotes a more informal, even private moral order hedged in by law but at its best when operating more organically. The paper then turns to the maqamat works of al-Hamadhani (d. 398/1008) and al-Hariri (d. 516/1122), and again finds a marked ambivalence toward Islamic law. Like al-Jahiz, these two authors delight in deflating the pretentious and hypocritical, and more often than not law seems to be seen as an obstacle rather than an ally in this battle. Taken together, these early litterateurs suggest that their own biting prose and satirical saj` can not only counter the potentially corrosive and disingenuous influence of the law but even promote a rich and positive moral order of their own. The law appears as a blunt instrument of dubious moral value; a keen eye and rapier pen can best the law at its own game.