Harun al-Rashid (766-809) was the fifth caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. During his reign the power and prosperity of the dynasty was at its height, though it has also been argued that its decline began at that time. In 750 the Abbasid dynasty replaced...

Harun al-Rashid succeeded his elder brother Musa al-Hadi to the caliphate in confused circumstances. It is clear that Musa had not wanted his brother to succeed him, but not whether in his short caliphate Musa had formally replaced Harun as heir apparent with...

Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the [Abbasid.sup.[subset]] Caliphate. By TAYEB EL-HIBRI. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIV. PRESS, 1999. Pp. x + 236. $64.95. The caliphs, finally, have become texts. For all that modern scholarship has...