A symbol of the fabled Orient, Harun al Rashid, the caliph portrayed in
The Thousand and One Nights, where we see him living grandly his palace
in Baghdad, surrounded by his wives, his concubines, musicians, and
learned men, is not merely a figure of legend. He was the son of a
Yemenite slave who cleared his path to power, very probably by poisoning
the reigning caliph, her older son. Harun reigned for a quarter-century,
and was the most famous caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. Through Arab
chronicles, the author corrects our vision of Harun the Good', and gives
a remarkable account of his development as a ruler. Though in Western
countries he is remembered for the presents he sent to
Charlemagne-notably the famous elephant, Abul Abbas-he was first and
foremost a successful soldier who made war on the Byzantines. His empire
was shaken by religious and social insurrections, and he did not shrink
from annihilating the Barmecides, a powerful family whose wealth and
influence he finally found unbearable. As a patron of pets and
intellectuals, Harun contributed greatly to the cultural supremacy of
Baghdad, whose merchants and navigators spread the name of the caliph
throughout the world.