вЂњArabic is the language of sexвЂќ, her passionate protagonist declares in her novel The Proof of the Honey (2009). Should non-Arab audiences be surprised at the very existence of such titles, both historical and contemporary? According to Syrian scholar and writer Salwa Al Neimi, not at all. And, while not necessarily falling under the umbrella of erotica, one can nonetheless point to classics replete with risquГ© moments like Tayeb SalihвЂ™s Season of Migration to the North (1966), Turki al-HamadвЂ™s Hisham al-Abir trilogy of novels (banned in his native Saudi Arabia), and the autobiographical writings of MoroccoвЂ™s Mohamed Choukri, brimming with detailed passages about prostitutes and venereal diseases. In 2005 The Almond, penned under the pseudonym вЂNedjmaвЂ™ was published and which was referred to at the time as the вЂfirst erotic account written by an Arab womanвЂ™. Similarly, Ammar AbdulhamidвЂ™s Menstruation (2001) relates the story of the son of an imam with a unique olfactory talent who becomes embroiled in a racy affair with a married woman. LeГЇla MarouaneвЂ™s The Sexual Life of an Islamist in Paris (2010), for instance, tells of the humorous misadventures of an Algerian virgin and his interrupted sexual encounters. In addition, while Persian and not Arab, the 13th-Century polymath Nasireddin TusiвЂ™s Arabic-language writings on sexual stimulants and various positions have recently become available to English readers as The SultanвЂ™s Sex Potions.ДЄrabic literary erotica is, however, by no means confined to the Middle Ages if anything, new generations of Arab writers have been pushing its boundaries and keeping it aflame. Indeed, beyond the garden and the nights of Shahrzad, one can point to other works dealing with erotica, such as the writings of Abbasid scholar Al-Jahiz on the ways of young men and women, Al-KatibвЂ™s 10th-Century Encyclopaedia of Pleasure, and even the Assemblies of al-Hariri, a text from the Seljuk empire with passages on homosexuality. вЂњIt is clear that the strong, sensual, even pornographic, content of the Nights can be paralleled elsewhere in Arabic literatureвЂќ, writes scholar Robert Irwin in his 2010 commentary on the One Thousand and One Nights. Such books вЂ“ вЂњfilled with joyous and highly explicit descriptions of sexвЂќ вЂ“ even had heavenвЂ™s blessings, according to the academic Sarah Irving: вЂњFar from being some kind of underground medieval Arab porn,вЂќ she writes on the ArabLit blog, вЂњthese erotic books were religiously approved, their advice seen as part of GodвЂ™s gifts to humankindвЂќ. Today, in an Arab world that is often portrayed as a sex-free zone and where the very subject of sex is taboo, works such as The Perfumed Garden may appear as freaks of nature or one-offs at best. According to various accounts, Burton intended to include it in a revised edition, titled The Scented Garden however, he died before being able to do so, and this unadulterated edition вЂ“ along with many of BurtonвЂ™s other writings вЂ“ were later burned by his wife Isabel.

The French manuscript Burton referenced contained a twenty-first chapter on homosexuality and pederasty absent in the extant edition, which Petronius would have doubtless relished. The stories are narrated in a lively manner akin to those of the One Thousand and One Nights and one might argue that its explicit descriptions of all manners of sexual intercourse could put even VГЈtsyГЈyana to shame. Unlike the Kama Sutra, which some might look at as largely educational, The Perfumed Garden, while edifying readers on various subjects, such as alternatives for the enlargement of male genitals and вЂњeverything that is favourableвЂќ regarding sex, also places a heavy emphasis on entertainment.

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