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Geert Jan van Gelder is Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford. He is a specialist in mediaeval Arabic belles-lettres and has published several books and many articles on Arabic poetry, poetics and prose genres.

Van Gelder's erudite and entertaining study is an important contrbution not only to our knowledge of classical Arabic literature but also to our understanding of the history of human sexuality.' - Everett Rowson, author of 'Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature' 'Professor van Gelder has brought together a truly remarkable amount of information on a subject almost wholly unexamined previously. ' - C.Edmund Bosworth, Fellow of the British Academy, Professor Emeritus of Arabic Studies, Univeristy of Manchester 'Geert Jan van Gelder's book is an erudite and highly readable tour de force of Islamic civilisation, and the aspect he explores, even though it might be lesser know, is vital for understanding the traditonal working of the genealogical system in the Islamic world, which continues to hold its importance until the present day.' - Ulrich Marzolph, Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Gottingen' DIE WELT DES ISLAMS 'a scholarly masterpiece'