This volume is a Festschrift in honour of the distinguished scholar of Syriac and Christian Arabic, Professor Sidney H. Griffith. It contains ten contributions by students, colleagues and friends, focusing on themes pertaining to asceticism, liturgy and spirituality. The opening essay, by Joseph P. Amar, entitled ‘Syriac strophic poetry: intercalated Psalms’ (pp. 3–22), highlights the ongoing importance of poetry to the Syriac tradition and presents in English translation a part of the Maronite Divine Office, namely the liturgy of ramsho (Vespers) for the Feast of the Annunciation. Francisco Javier Martínez next introduces the reader, in Spanish, to Ephrem's Hymns on virginity and the role of consecrated virgins in the early Syriac Church; he also presents an annotated Spanish translation of the first three hymns of this collection (pp. 23–53). Gary A. Anderson reflects on the proper rendering of the terms ṣidqa and peruq in Daniel iv.24, weighing in on a long-standing debate on whether ṣidqa is better translated as ‘almsgiving’ or ‘righteousness’, and peruq as ‘redeem’ or ‘break off’. His essay's title, ‘Redeem your sins through works of charity’, anticipates the results of his research (pp. 57–65). Alexander Golitzin argues convincingly that the seventh-century Syriac apocalypse of Daniel originated within a monastic context and that this Sitz im Leben can help to explain certain peculiarities of the text (pp. 66–98). For instance, the Apocalypse's apparent lack of interest in the momentous historical changes of this age – which, by contrast, are interpreted as signs of the end times in the contemporaneous Apocalypse of Ps-Methodius – reflect the conviction that it is the monk's task to embody the eschaton rather than to ‘give himself over to the alarms and agitations of the perishing world’ (p. 94). Michael J. Hollerich examines ‘A Syriac Life of Athanasius of Alexandria’ (pp. 99–121), showing its dependence upon the Syriac version of Theodoret's Church history, but maintaining that despite much overlap it is independent of the Byzantine vitae. Whereas the Syriac Life has little value as a historical source for Athanasius, it reflects ‘a well-developed Athanasius mystique’ (p. 105) in the Syriac milieu. Sebastian P. Brock expertly explores the range and depth of the Syriac term msarrquta, charting its use in the Liber graduum, John of Apamea, Philoxenus, Dadisho and Isaac of Nineveh (pp. 122–33). The expression msarrquta can refer to the radical renunciation of possessions or to the self-emptying of passions; it is also associated (especially by Isaac) with that purity of heart that can lead the contemplative to achieve a state of stillness. Peculiar to the Syriac tradition is the term's connection with the imitatio Christi. Susan Ashbrook Harvey discusses with considerable insight the function of metaphors related to the theme of housekeeping (rather than house building) in Greek and Syriac ascetic literature (pp. 134–54), showing that increasing use by male authors of imagery relating to traditionally female duties such as cleaning, laundry, food preservation and protection against vermin, reflects the rise of single-sex households and monasteries, and marks ‘a societal shift in the gendered roles of the household’ (p. 142). Spiritually, housekeeping metaphors serve to encourage and strengthen the ascetic's ongoing commitment. Robin Darling Young discusses the impact which Evagrius of Pontus’ understanding of the imitation of Christ had upon Philoxenus, bishop of Mabbug: Philoxenus draws upon Evagrian soteriology even as he repudiates the radical interpretation of Evagrius advocated by the Edessan monk Patricius (pp. 157–75). Monica J. Blanchard introduces the reader to the still unpublished spiritual discourses of the eighth-century East Syrian monk Beh Isho‛ Kamulaya and translates passages pertaining to his understanding of purity of heart (pp. 176–88). The final contribution by Shawqi Talia celebrates the honoree with an original Ode to joy, composed in the Neo-Aramaic dialect of Mosul (pp. 189–204).