Harun Al-Rashid

Ahmed Amin says about this enjoyable book: I was asked to write a book about Harun al-Rashid, so I was pleased with this request because I love him, and perhaps the reason for my love for him is that he is an emotional connoisseur man, subject to temporary influences, so he prays one hundred rak'ahs every day and travels on foot to Hajj, and he is passionate — on the other hand — about beauty, singing, and drinking gatherings. Abu al-Atahiya talks to him about asceticism, and he cries until his beard is wet, and Ibn Abi Maryam tells him a joke that makes him laugh until he falls on his back, and he is satisfied with the Barmakids, giving them free rein, and he gets angry with them and punishes them severely. And a man like this is usually frank and truthful... I also love him because he elevates the status of the East in the West. Whenever Harun al-Rashid is mentioned, Westerners imagine the East with its wondrous temptations and enchanting appeal, and the reason for that is the book "One Thousand and One Nights" and the grandeur and reverence associated with his relationship with Charlemagne, the delegations that came and went, and the trade movement between the East and West in his days, among other things. All this and similar factors made him beloved, highly praised, and far-reaching in fame. I have written about him in a modern, easy style suitable for the general readership, without going into depth that would make it heavy, nor overwhelming it with sources as academics and those like them do. May God grant him the same favor that He granted to al-Rashid.