This book is the first study of Persian literary riddles to appear in English. It translates and analyses a wide range of complex riddling poems from the tenth to the twelfth centuries, including the masters of the genre. It also analyses the relationship between metaphors and riddles and the genre of literary description.

Gog and Magog originate in the Bible and Quran as savage tribes threatening a settled people. The story has been elaborated in the traditions of diverse cultures. The figures are constantly reinterpreted as the figures of the enemies of order change: for the Persians of Ferdowsi's time they are Turks, for contemporary Israelis they are Arabs, and so on. This work deals with Gog and Magog in Indonesia, the Persian-speaking and Arabic-speaking worlds, and in the West, in classical and contemporary cultures.