Introductory Summary
The Zaidan Foundation is sponsoring the translation into English of five of Zaidan’s twenty two historical novels. Since they were written over a century ago, there were over one hundred translations of the novels into more than nine languages but none into English. The five English translations sponsored by the Foundation, listed in chronological order, are as follows.
The Conquest of Andalusia
(Fath al-Andalus)
This novel describes the history of Spain and its circumstances before the Muslim conquest, the conquest itself under the command of Tariq ibn Ziyad, and the death of Roderic, the King of the Visigoths.
Translated with an Afterword and Study Guide by Roger Allen and an introduction by the Zaidan Foundation.
The Battle of Poitiers or Charles Martel and ‘Abd al-Rahman
The Caliph’s Sister —
Harun al-Rashid and the Fall
of the Persians
(al-‘Abbasa Ukht al-Rashid)
This romantic novel takes place during the reign of the ‘Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid describing the processions, lavish gatherings, lifestyles and social mores in an extraordinary setting of pomp, splendor and learning in the golden age of Islamic civilization; and depicts the fall of the Barmakis, the Persian administrators of the ‘Abbasid Empire. Translated by Issa J. Boullata with an introduction and Study Guide by the Zaidan Foundation.
The Caliph’s Heirs — Brothers at War: the Fall of Baghdad
(al-‘Amin wal-Ma’mun)
In this novel al-Amin and al-Ma’mun quarrel after the death of their father al-Rashid. The Persians rally around al-Ma’mun, capture Baghdad, and kill al-Amin, restoring the caliphate to al-Ma’mun, ‘their sister’s son’. The story is interspersed with an account of political machinations by the Arabs and Persians, and descriptions of such manners, morals, and customs as follow upon the telling of the tale
Translated with an Afterword and Study Guide by Michael Cooperson and Introduction by the Zaidan Foundation.
Saladin and the Assassins
(Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi)
The novel narrates the transition of Egypt from the Shi‘ite rule of the Fatimids to the Sunni rule of the Ayyubites at the hands of Sultan Saladin with a description of the Isma‘ili sect known as the Assassins
Translated by Paul Starkey with an introduction and Study Guide by the Zaidan Foundation.