"This book gives an insight into panegyrics (madih), a genre central to understanding medieval Near Eastern Society. Poets in this arabophone multi-ethnic society would address the majority of their verse to rulers, generals, officials and the urban upper classes, its tone ranging from celebration to reprimand and even to threat." "Beatrice Gruendler discusses this panegyric genre as represented by Ibn al-Rumi, who dedicated many of his poems to the last Tahirid governor of Baghdad. Ibn al-Rumi's work is ideally suited to this study, as it addresses the issue of literary patronage and provides a self-portrait of the artist and his social position." "This book will be of interest to scholars of comparative literature, anthropology, linguistics, medieval studies and Near Eastern Studies."--Jacket.