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Timeline of Publication History: The Arabian Nights
10th century,Baghdad, Iraq Ibn al Nadim (ca. 932-990) in the Fihrist, or Catalogue of Books, mentions a book of Persian stories entitled Hazār Afsān, a tale of 200 stories in which Sheherezade tells a thousand nights of stories to…
Paper as a New Technology in Muslim Lands
Al-Jahiz, “The Disadvantages of Parchment” What is it to you that all my books are written on China paper or Khurasan paper? Explain why you have pressed on me the advantages of using parchment and urged me to write on hide, when you…
Al-Hamadhání, "The Maqama of Fresh Butter”
Ísá ibn Hishám related to us and said: “I turned aside with a few of my friends to the front of a tent to ask hospitality from its occupants, and there came out to us a portly little man and asked: 'Who are you?' We…
Jokes from Juha, the Everyman Character
Goha Gives Thanks to Allah Goha once lost his donkey. He couldn’t find it anywhere. As he went around the town searching for it, he kept on saying, “Thanks be to Allah! Thanks be to Allah!” People were surprised to find him giving…
From Kalila and Dimna, The Crane and the Crab
“The Crane and the Crab” A crane once dwelt upon a pleasant lake placed among little hills spread over with herbs and flowers. He lived upon such fish as he could catch, and for many years got plenty. But at length, becoming old and…
The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States
Edward E. Curtis IV places a treasure trove of information about Islam in the United States at the reader’s fingertips. The primary sources that make up this collection are arranged chronologically: from the early nineteenth century to World…
