The Adventures Of Harun Al Rashid Caliph Of Baghdad

Caliph Harun al-Rashid goes disguised through the markets of Baghdad where he chances upon various strange encounters: a beggar who implores the caliph to strike him; a youth who spurs cruelly a mare upon which he rides. Bewildered, the caliph orders them to attend his palace so he might uncover what lies behind their odd behaviour. Back at the palace two more strangers arrive: a merchant with a mystery to solve regarding some olives; a young man with a beautiful falcon. The Adventures of Harun al-Rashid, Caliph of Baghdad is a collection of four tales from The Arabian Nights - four unfortunate souls, victims of folly and misfortune, seek justice and redemption. Here are their stories. The Arabian Nights (also known as The One Thousand and One Nights) is an ancient collection of tales that have existed for thousands of years. Harpendore's Arabian Nights Adventures are beautifully retold versions of these ancient classics that are specially designed to appeal to children aged seven years and above. They are written in a warm and accessible style and include wonderful illustrations inside. With mischief and magic in equal measure, this series is sure to captivate readers everywhere. The Arabian Nights Adventures series continues to be released throughout 2018. Stories included in the series are: The Adventures of Prince Camar & Princess Badoura Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp Gulnare of the Sea Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor The Enchanted Horse The Talking Bird, the Singing Tree and the Golden Water The Merchant and the Genie The Tale of Zubaidah and the Three Qalandars The Adventures of Harun al-Rashid, Caliph of Baghdad The Three Princes, the Princess and the Jinni Pari Banou The Fisherman and the Genie The King's Jester (also known as The Little Hunchback)

Haroun-al-Raschid is the Commander of the Faithful, the Caliph of Bagdad – and nearly dying of boredom. Looking for amusement, Haroun and his vizir Giafar (a kinder figure than in Disney’s Aladdin films) disguise themselves as foreign merchants, and go out to explore the city. The people they find in its streets and squares baffle and intrigue the Caliph no less than they will the reader of this, the twenty-ninth of the 34 tales in the classic Arabian Nights collection, translated into English by Andrew Lang. A treasure-trove of timeless stories, the One Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Nights have been loved, imitated, and added to over many centuries. Similar to the fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm, the Arabian Nights are drawn from the folklore of India, Iran and the Middle East, and were collected in Arabic versions throughout the medieval period; others were added as recently as the eighteenth century. These stories of the exotic East have been popularised for new generations by film adaptations such as Disney’s Aladdin, starring Robin Williams and Gilbert Gottfried in 1992, and Will Smith in 2019, and Dreamworks’ Sinbad, starring Brad Pitt and Michelle Pfeiffer. They continue to inspire writers as varied as Salman Rushdie and Neil Gaiman, while numerous Bollywood and manga versions attest to their popularity around the world. These stories of magic, adventure and romance have shaped readers’ imaginations for generations, and are sure to be retold for years to come. This selection was translated by Andrew Lang from the French versions by Antoine Galland, who was the first to include the stories of Aladdin and Ali Baba. Born in Scotland in 1844, Lang was a scholar of ancient Greek, a journalist, historian, novelist and poet, and the author of 25 popular collections of fairy tales; his edition of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainment was published in 1898. He became a Fellow of the British Academy in 1906, and died in 1912.

The Caliph’s Splendor is a revelation: a history of a civilization we barely know that had a profound effect on our own culture. While the West declined following the collapse of the Roman Empire, a new Arab civilization arose to the east, reaching an early peak in Baghdad under the caliph Harun al-Rashid. Harun is the legendary caliph of The Thousand and One Nights, but his actual court was nearly as magnificent as the fictional one. In The Caliph’s Splendor, Benson Bobrick eloquently tells the little-known and remarkable story of Harun’s rise to power and his rivalries with the neighboring Byzantines and the new Frankish kingdom under the leadership of Charlemagne. When Harun came to power, Islam stretched from the Atlantic to India. The Islamic empire was the mightiest on earth and the largest ever seen. Although Islam spread largely through war, its cultural achievements were immense. Harun’s court at Baghdad outshone the independent Islamic emirate in Spain and all the courts of Europe, for that matter. In Baghdad, great works from Greece and Rome were preserved and studied, and new learning enhanced civilization. Over the following centuries Arab and Persian civilizations made a lasting impact on the West in astronomy, geometry, algebra (an Arabic word), medicine, and chemistry, among other fields of science. The alchemy (another Arabic word) of the Middle Ages originated with the Arabs. From engineering to jewelry to fashion to weaponry, Arab influences would shape life in the West, as they did in the fields of law, music, and literature. But for centuries Arabs and Byzantines contended fiercely on land and sea. Bobrick tells how Harun defeated attempts by the Byzantines to advance into Asia at his expense. He contemplated an alliance with the much weaker Charlemagne in order to contain the Byzantines, and in time Arabs and Byzantines reached an accommodation that permitted both to prosper. Harun’s caliphate would weaken from within as his two sons quarreled and formed factions; eventually Arabs would give way to Turks in the Islamic empire. Empires rise, weaken, and fall, but during its golden age, the caliphate of Baghdad made a permanent contribution to civilization, as Benson Bobrick so splendidly reminds us.

Set against the backdrop of the Muslim world in the 9th century, Geber tells the story of a young alchemist named Geber who is taken in by the Caliph of Baghdad, Harun al Raschid. Through his experiments and discoveries, Geber becomes a trusted advisor to the Caliph and a renowned figure in the world of science and alchemy. With its rich historical detail and engaging characters, Geber is a thrilling tale of adventure, science, and intrigue. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

THE CHRONICLE OF SWORD & SAND: Baghdad, AD 790. Caliph Harun al-Rashid presides over the greatest metropolis on Earth, ruler of an empire stretches from China to Byzantium. His exploits will be recorded in Alf Layla or, as we know it, The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. But The Thousand and One Nights are silent on the deeds and adventures that befell two of the Caliph's subjects: the renowned scholar Dabir ibn Kahlil, and his shield and right hand, Asim el Abbas. For their story, we must turn to the Chronicle of Sand and Sword... THE DESERT OF SOULS: Amid the trackless sands of ancient Arabia, two companions – a swordsman and a scholar – search for the ruins of the lost city of Ubar. Before their quest is over, they will battle necromancers and animated corpses, they will confront a creature that has traded wisdom for the souls of men since the dawn of time and they will fight to save a city's soul.