The Perfumed Garden — Part 2 (201–220), Mapped
Twenty more positions from al-Nafzawi's 15th-century manual — arranged into four postural families, each rated for intensity, so you can see the shape of the catalogue rather than just the list.
Where Part 1 Left Off
Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nafzawi wrote The Perfumed Garden between roughly 1410 and 1434, and Sir Richard Burton brought it to English readers in 1886. Part 1 of our guide covers positions 183–200; this continues from 201 through 220.
Read in sequence, the second half reveals the author's method clearly: he varies one element at a time. Positions 212 through 215 are all rear entry, differing only in her posture — kneeling, seated, rocking, squatting — and he catalogues each separately because the angle, depth and effort genuinely differ. That is a systematic mind at work, not a list-maker.
The four acts below group the twenty by what they actually have in common, which the original numbering obscures.
Two Positions Worth Skipping
The Courageous Position (203) and Downward Motion (216) both invert the body with sustained arm support — al-Nafzawi himself notes the latter isn't suitable for all couples. Inversion raises blood pressure to the head quickly, so hold briefly if at all, come out slowly, and skip them entirely without a second thought.
The Raised Postures
Six arrangements built on lifting or angling her legs. Al-Nafzawi opens the second half of his catalogue here because the raised-leg geometry is the foundation everything else varies from.
Al-Nafzawi opens the second half of his catalogue with a deep-contact arrangement: she lies back and rests her legs against his chest while he kneels, supporting her hips and lower back on his thighs. Raising the legs shortens the effective angle considerably, which is the mechanical reason this posture recurs across every classical tradition. Her feet near his shoulders give her a surprising amount of leverage to adjust the angle herself.
📖 Read Part 1 of the Perfumed Garden →
Named for the pedalled cart, and the metaphor is exact: he sits behind and does nothing while she does all the moving. She positions herself and works in a rhythmic motion she controls completely. The text's instruction to him is unusually blunt — remain a mute participant. Of the woman-led positions in this half of the catalogue, this is the slowest and the most sustainable.
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The most demanding entry in this section and one al-Nafzawi flags as requiring real strength. She inverts with hands on the floor and legs braced against a wall; he stands between them, holding her thighs. The wall carries most of her weight but not all of it, and inverted positions raise blood pressure to the head quickly. Brief holds only, and come out of it slowly rather than suddenly.
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A named posture in al-Nafzawi's numbered sequence: she lies with legs stretched, one lifted and resting against him; he lies above with one knee bent. The asymmetry opens the angle on one side while the extended leg keeps everything stable. What the text singles out is how much room this leaves for talking and laughing — of the deep-contact positions, it's the one that stays most conversational.
She lies back with one leg over his shoulder; he supports himself on one elbow, leaving her upper body raised and — crucially — one of her hands entirely free. The text notes she can use it for her own stimulation while he moves. That detail is worth pausing on: a 15th-century manual explicitly building a position around the woman's self-stimulation is not what most readers expect.
She lies on her back with one leg slightly lifted; he lies on his side against her, holding her raised thigh. The side approach means his weight rests on the bed rather than on her, making this among the most sustainable deep-contact positions in the catalogue. Faces stay close throughout, so kissing and conversation continue uninterrupted.
Angles & Crossings
Five positions defined by the angle between two bodies rather than by who is above. The perpendicular arrangement is al-Nafzawi's signature — he treats the angle itself as a variable worth cataloguing.
Both partners kneel upright facing each other, each with one leg extended, bodies pressed close in a mutual embrace. The mirroring is the design — neither is above or behind the other, and movement comes from both hip regions at once. Al-Nafzawi recommends outdoor settings for this one, which makes practical sense: it needs no furniture at all.
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She lies on her side with legs open; he approaches from a different direction entirely, his legs between hers, one of her legs over his body and one beneath. The arch of his hips gives the position its name. It is genuinely unusual geometry — the text calls it a freak position — and produces contact patterns nothing else in the catalogue replicates.
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Bodies at right angles: she lies with one leg lifted, arching on her elbows; he lies sideways on his elbow, holding her extended leg. Movement comes entirely from the hips. The perpendicular arrangement is one of al-Nafzawi's signatures — he catalogues several variations on it, treating the angle between bodies as a variable worth exploring in its own right.
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The classic scissor: both partners lying with legs interlaced at the point of contact, forming the shape the name describes. He rests on one elbow with one leg over her body between hers, holding her folded leg. Her free hand reaches his chest. The interlocking makes it stable without either partner holding position, which is the appeal.
A gentler perpendicular variation: she lies with knees bent, he enters from the side at right angles, resting on one elbow. Neither partner's hands are occupied and neither is working hard — the text presents it as something that emerges from a long conversation in bed rather than a position you set out to try. Eye contact throughout.
📖 Read the Love & Intimacy Dictionary →
The Rear Approaches
Five variations on rear entry, from the classical kneeling posture through seated, rocking and squatting forms — plus one inverted standing position the text itself warns is not for everyone.
The classical rear-entry arrangement: she on all fours, he kneeling upright behind, holding her hips. Named in al-Nafzawi's numbered sequence and the anchor of this section — the four postures that follow are all variations on it. The kneeling upright position gives him leverage, and her hip height determines the angle entirely, so cushions under her knees are worth having.
She leans back into his lap rather than kneeling forward, with rear entry from a seated arrangement. The difference from the Sixth Posture is significant: her weight rests against him, both his hands are free, and the angle shallows considerably. Better suited to sustained sessions than the more athletic rear-entry variations.
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A variation of the Sixth Posture emphasising a back-and-forth rocking motion rather than thrusting, with him holding and lifting her hips to maintain height. Al-Nafzawi catalogues it separately because the movement pattern genuinely differs — rocking distributes effort across the whole body rather than concentrating it, so it lasts longer.
The squatting variation — she squats on her toes with hips raised rather than kneeling, he kneels upright behind. The text is candid that getting the fit right matters more here than in any other rear-entry position, since the squat is less stable than kneeling. Best in shorter intervals, and her thigh strength is the limiting factor.
📖 Read the Quickie positions guide →
The second inverted standing position and the hardest entry in this catalogue. She supports herself on her hands with legs encircling his thighs; he stands between them. Al-Nafzawi says plainly it isn't for all couples — inversion plus sustained arm support is beyond most people, and there's no shame whatsoever in reading past it.
Prone & Pressed
Four closing entries built on lying flat, including a non-penetrative one. The catalogue ends on weight, pressure and closeness rather than on athletics.
A non-penetrative entry, and notable for that: he rests on all fours while she drapes over his back from behind and reaches around, her body pressed along his. Al-Nafzawi's framing is a point worth keeping — couples who move to penetrative sex often abandon other forms entirely, and the text treats that as a loss rather than a progression.
She lies flat on her front with legs extended; he lies fully along her, arms beneath her shoulders so the position doubles as an embrace. Full body contact from shoulder to ankle, with his weight distributed across her back. The text notes many women particularly enjoy the sensation of being covered and held this way — closeness rather than depth is the appeal.
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A pillow beneath her hips raises the angle while he lies over her, holding her hands. The text describes alternating pressure — periods of full weight punctuated by brief relief — which is genuinely unusual guidance for a manual of this era. Faces stay close enough to talk throughout. Communicate about the weight; comfort varies enormously.
The catalogue's closing position: she lies prone with hips slightly raised while he supports himself in a push-up position above, hands braced near her hips. Unlike The Squeezer, his weight is on his arms rather than on her, which changes the entire character — the same geometry, opposite sensation. A fitting closer for a text so attentive to how small variations change everything.
⭐ The Atlas Table
| # | Position | Intensity | Act | Pairs With |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | The Erotic Conquest | ●●●●○ | Act 1 | KamaSutra Superthin → |
| 202 | The Rickshaw | ●●○○○ | Act 1 | Moods Ultrathin → |
| 203 | The Courageous Position | ●●●●● | Act 1 | Okamoto 0.02 Ultra Thin → |
| 204 | The Fifth Posture | ●●●○○ | Act 1 | KamaSutra Ribbed → |
| 205 | Lighting the Lamp | ●●●○○ | Act 1 | Moods Premium Ribbed → |
| 206 | Love's Fusion | ●●●○○ | Act 1 | Skore Dots Condoms → |
| 207 | Mirrored Upright Position | ●●●○○ | Act 2 | KamaSutra Dotted → |
| 208 | Rainbow Arch | ●●●●○ | Act 2 | Moods Premium Dotted → |
| 209 | The Perpendicular Position | ●●●○○ | Act 2 | KamaSutra Longlast → |
| 210 | Entanglement of Limbs | ●●●●○ | Act 2 | Moods All Night (Delay) → |
| 211 | The Quencher | ●●○○○ | Act 2 | Skore Not Out (Delay) → |
| 212 | The Sixth Posture | ●●●●○ | Act 3 | Manforce StayLong Gel → |
| 213 | The Hot Iron | ●●●○○ | Act 3 | Manforce Stay Long Spray → |
| 214 | The Mover | ●●●●○ | Act 3 | Manforce Epic Lube → |
| 215 | The Magnetic One | ●●●●○ | Act 3 | Moods Natural Lube → |
| 216 | Downward Motion | ●●●●● | Act 3 | Manforce Litchi Flavoured → |
| 217 | Handling the Lingam | ●●○○○ | Act 4 | Manforce Bubblegum → |
| 218 | Coitus From the Back | ●●●○○ | Act 4 | Okamoto Skinless Skin → |
| 219 | The Squeezer | ●●●●○ | Act 4 | Okamoto 0.02 Ultra Thin → |
| 220 | The Exciter | ●●●○○ | Act 4 | KamaSutra Superthin → |
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What the Second Half Reveals
Part 1 reads like a catalogue; Part 2 reads like a method. Watching al-Nafzawi hold a posture constant and change one variable — her knees, the angle between bodies, where the weight rests — shows a fifteenth-century author doing something recognisably systematic. The practical payoff for a modern reader is the same one the text implies: you don't need twenty new positions, you need to understand that small adjustments to one you already use will change it completely.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Part 2 differ from Part 1?
Part 1 covers al-Nafzawi's positions 183–200, weighted toward supine and standing arrangements. Part 2 continues from 201 to 220 and shifts markedly toward rear-entry and prone postures — five consecutive variations on rear entry, then four built on lying flat. The catalogue gets more systematic as it goes.
Which positions here are al-Nafzawi's named postures?
The Fifth Posture (204) and The Sixth Posture (212) belong to his numbered sequence, continuing from the First through Fourth in Part 1. The rest carry descriptive names — The Rickshaw, The Hot Iron, The Squeezer — several of which are translator's renderings rather than literal Arabic.
Why are there so many rear-entry variations?
Because al-Nafzawi treated small mechanical changes as producing genuinely different experiences, and catalogued accordingly. Positions 212 to 215 differ only in her posture — kneeling, seated, rocking, squatting — but the angle, depth and effort each demands are meaningfully distinct.
Which should we skip?
The Courageous Position (203) and Downward Motion (216) both require inverting the body with sustained arm support, and the text itself says the latter isn't suitable for all couples. Inversion raises blood pressure to the head quickly. Skipping them costs you nothing.
What's the most useful position here for everyday use?
Love's Fusion (206) and The Quencher (211) ask almost nothing of either partner physically while allowing conversation throughout — the two most sustainable entries in this half. The Fifth Posture (204) is the best of the deeper-contact options for regular use.
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