Fifteen essays on literature, linguistics, history and
epigraphy. Contents include: Maysir-gambling in early Arabic poetry (N Jamil);
the Qu'ran as a source of law: the case of zakat (alms-tax) (Y Dutton);
On the difficulty of knowing mediaeval Arab authors: the case of Abu I-Faraj and
pseudo-Isfahani (H Kilpatrick); Mahfuz's urban battlegrounds (R Ostle);
Inscriptions of companions of the prophet in the Merv Oasis (V Porter);
Muslim jizya-payers in Christian Sicily (J Johns); The Mu'allaqat in the
west: a brief bibliographical survey (H Bleaney); Theomnestus of
Nicopolis, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, and the beginnings of Islamic veterinary science (R
Hoyland); Historians and the Arabic biographical dictionary (P
Auchterlonie).

Contents

1. Of Models and Amanuenses: The Remarks on the Qasida in Ibn Qutayba's Kitab al-Shi'r wa-l-shu'ara

2. Playing for Time: Maysir-Gambling in Early Arabic Poetry

3. Recognition and Metonymy in Early Isma'ili Memoirs: The Case of Ibn Hawshab Mansur al-Yaman

4. The Mu'allaqat in the West: A Brief Bibliographical Survey

5. Theomnestus of Nicopolis, Hunayn ibn Ishaq and the Beginnings of Islamic Veterinary Science

6. Verbs and Voices

7. Historians and the Arabic Biographical Dictionary: Some New Approaches

8. The Quran as a Source of Law: The Case of Zakat (Alms-Tax)

9. Ghirbib ibn Abd Allah al-Thaqafi and the Beginnings of Linguistic and Ethnic Accommodation to Arab Islam in al-Andalus

10. On the Difficulty of Knowing Mediaeval Arab Islam in al-Andalus

11. The Boys from Mezzoiuso: Muslim Jizya-Payers in Christian Sicily

12. Mahfuz's Urban Battlegrounds

13. An Overview of Ibadi Tafsir

14. Some Reflections on the Use of the Quran in Monumental Inscriptions in Syria and Palestine in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries

15. Inscriptions of Companions of the Prophet in the Merv Oasis