Courtly Riddles

Asghar Seyed-Gohrab is Professor of Iranian and Persian Studies at Utrecht University in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, and member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). He has published extensively on Persian literature, mysticism and religion. His publications range from Persian poetry to Sufism and the role of religious and mystical motifs and metaphors in Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and how peaceful religious injunctions are used to justify violence. Currently, he is the Principal Investigator (PI) of an ERC-Advanced Grant entitled Beyond Sharia: The Role of Sufism in Shaping Islam (www.beyondsharia.nl), examining Islamic non-conformist movements.

• Table of Contents Acknowledgments PART ONE Chapter One: The Eloquent Mute Chapter Two: Inimitable Simplicity PART TWO Chapter Three: "Words Covered in Veils" Chapter Four: "A Nightingale without feathers". Riddlers of the Late Ghaznavid and Early Seljuq Periods Chapter Five: The Virtues of the King. Riddles in Mukhtærñ's Hunar-næma Conclusion References Index

"Courtly Riddles demonstrates how the taste for riddles lies at the core of the development of Persian poetry. It proposes a careful, learned and systematic analysis of this hitherto little-studied and puzzling poetical game." -  Christine van Ruymbeke, University of Cambridge