The stories come from Arabia, Persia, India, even China. They tell not only of fearsome djinni and fantastical palaces, but also of profound spiritual insight and transformation. They reflect the enormous Islamic civilization during the ninth to thirteenth centuries, which stretched from Spain across North Africa to Cairo, across the Arabian peninsula, up to Damascus and Baghdad, further north to Samarkand, across what is now Afghanistan, down into India, and beyond. A traveler could wander across this vast region speaking Arabic, studying and praying in mosques, and trading with fellow Moslems. The stories are decadent, prejudiced, and fantastical, as well as redeeming, illuminating, and grounded. The stories are best known as the Thousand and One Arabian Nights.





hardcover, 256 pages, full color