The author is a well-regarded scholar of Near Eastern poetry from Yale University
It is original and in-depth scholarly research into medieval and social contexts
The book puts Arabic praise poetry into its historical and social contexts
It focuses primarily on one point: Ibn al-Rumi, living in medieval Baghdad
Part 1: Setting the Stage 1. Background 2. The Form: The Abbasid Praise Qasida 3. The Approach: Mad'ih and Pragmatics 4. The Protagonists: Ibn al-Rum'i and His Patron, Ubaydall'ah b. Abdall'ah 5. The Mah'ih Exchanged between Ibn al-Rum'i and Ubaydall Part 2: Speech and Characterization 6. Speech as Action 7. The Dramatis Personae Part 3: The Dramaturgy 8. The Scene 9. The Episode and its Witnesses 10. 'The Passion of Him Whose Parting Has Grayed its Affection' Translation of GBP191 11. 'They Aimed at My Heart From the Gaps of Veils' Translation of GBP1042 x Preliminaries Part 4: Verbal Ornament 12. Supporting Figures of Speech 13. Phantasmagoria Part 5: Ibn al-Rum'i's Ethics of Patronage 14. On the Mirror of Mad'ih 15. Mutual Duties and Rights of Benefactor and Protege 16. Acts and Words between Panegyrist and Model Conclusion: Dramaturgy as a Rhetoric of Ethics