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 medieval 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).