Baghdad

The biggest city in modern-day Iraq, Baghdad is one of the great historic centers of Islam. The hoopoe sets one of his stories there: as a Sufi tries to get merchandise for free, God tells him that He gives him everything he can want, including the Prophet Muhammad as a "sign of clemency" for sinners and blasphemers. Another story features Shebli, who disappears into the part of town when male prostitutes, grown and boy, operate. He talks about laying aside all praise and blame, for these are forms of idolatry. In Baghdad, eloquent Junaid is lecturing when a gang beheads his beloved son, but he says that is fated from eternity.

Blasphemy

In normal parlance, "blasphemy" denotes an act of contempt towards God. The term, however, is used in The Conference of the Birds as a synonym (or perhaps euphemism) for Christianity in contradistinction to Islam, the...