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 ).