Throughout his distinguished career devoted to the study of Arabic language and literature, Geert Jan van Gelder sustained a particular interest in humour and irreverence: in muj n, broadly understood as literary expressions of indecency, encompassing the obscene, the profane, the impudent, and the taboo. Contributors to this honorific compilation tackle this subject from a wide variety of perspectives beyond the merely prurient in studies detailing the ways in which indecency has been signified, signalled, evaluated, and preserved, and including translations and commentaries of exemplarily...

Tucked away in a rundown quarter, just out of sight of downtown Cairo, a group of intellectuals gather regularly to smoke hashish in Hakeem's den. The den is the center of their lives, both a refuge and a stimulus, and at the center of the den is the remarkable man who keeps their hashish bowls topped up--Rowdy Salih.alih.