Table of Contents

Courtly Riddles - 2 Table of Contents - 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - 10 PART ONE - 11 Chapter One The Eloquent Mute - 12 Chapter Two Inimitable Simplicity - 21 PART TWO - 71 Chapter Three "Words Covered in Veils" - 72 Chapter Four 'A Nightingale without feathers': Riddlers of the Late Ghaznavid and the Early Seljuq Periods - 86 Chapter Five The Virtues of the King: Riddles in Mukhtorn's Hunar-noma - 146 Conclusion - 201 References - 204 Index - 216

About the Author

Dr. A.A. Seyed-Gohrab is track-leader of the Persian Studies Programme Leiden University and Vice-Chairman of the Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).