Jurji Zaidan

It was quite unsuitable for a man from outside the family to be admitted to the company of a young woman, but Harun found a way to arrange things; he decided to marry them in what the French call a "mariage blanc." As he explained to Ja'far, "You see her only in my company, your body never approaches hers and you have no conjugal relations with her. You may thus share our evenings of pleasure without risk." Ja'far accepted and swore solemnly never to stay with his young wife alone. The charismatic Ja'far controlled many of the levers of power while 'Abbasa was a strong-willed woman whose beauty was second to none. And the close friendship between Harun and Ja'far spawned jealousies among the caliph's entourage. Nor did Zubayda, Harun's favorite Hashemite wife, like Ja'far. He had been a tutor to al-Ma'mun, the son of a Persian slave girl, her son's rival.

Harun Al-Rashid and the Fall of the Persians

The Caliph's Sister

Available in English for the first time, a classic from Arabic fiction. First published in Lebanon in 1897, Jurji Zaidan's The Girl of Ghassan will delight readers of all ages with its sweeping story and message of steadfastness and determination, and offers a glimpse into the world that saw the end of the Roman Empire.

The Girl of Ghassan

Michael Cooperson

It is 809 AD in Baghdad, the capital of the 'Abbasid Empire. The famed Caliph Harun al-Rashid has died. His successor, al-Amin, son of his Hashemite Arab wife, had promised the Caliph that he would appoint his half-brother al-Ma'mun, born to a slave mother, as his heir apparent. But al-Amin appoints his own son instead. This betrayal provides an opening for the Persians to help the statesmanlike and brilliant al-Ma'mun, whom they consider one of their own, to challenge his fickle brother. Against the backdrop of this war of succession, the novel weaves parallel love stories, political intrigue and machinations, nobility and treachery, spies and counterspies. Behzad, a famous doctor with an agenda all his own, is deeply in love with the beautiful Maymuna: both are members of Persian families persecuted by the 'Abbasid house. But the son of al-Amin's vizier is also enamored with Maymuna and wants to marry her. At the center of these tangled webs is al-Amin's mysterious Chief Astrologer, whose true identity and loyalties remain unknown even to the Caliph and his court. He not only divines the future but also shapes it by changing the course of the war between the brothers-a war from which the 'Abbasid Empire never recovered. What will become of the lovers? Who will survive and who will perish? The fast-paced action and suspense leave us guessing to the very end.

Jurji Zaidan

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