Pt. I. Setting in stage -- 1. The background: Poetry and poets in early Abbasid society -- 2. The form: The Abbasid praise qasida -- 3. The approach: Madih and pragmatics -- 4. The protagonists: Ibn al-Rumi and his patron 'Ubaydallah b. 'Abdallah -- 5. The madih exchanged between Ibn al-Rumi and 'Ubaydallah -- pt. II. Speech and characterization -- 6. Speech as action -- 7. The dramatis personae -- pt. III. The dramaturgy -- 8. The scene -- 9. The episode and its witnesses -- 10. 'The passion of him whose parting has grayed is affectation' (L191) -- 11. 'They aimed at my heart from the gaps of veils' (L1042) -- pt. IV. Verbal ornament -- 12. Supporting figures of speech -- 13. Phantasmagoria -- pt. V. Ibn al-Rumi's ethics of patronage -- 14. In the mirror of madih -- 15. Mutual duties and rights of benefactor and protege -- 16. Acts and words between panegyrist and model -- Conclusion: Dramaturgy as a rhetoric of ethics -- App. A. Themes of the qasa'id -- App. B. Speech acts in the qasa'id -- App. C. Witnesses in the episodes -- App. D. Poetry dedicated to 'Ubaydallah b. 'Abdallah -- App. E. Concordance with Boustany