Arabian Nights

Omar Khayyam

 

Rubaiyat
by Omar Khayyam

Literature

 

The adventurous legend, "Aladdin," "Sinbad the Sailor," and "Ali Baba." (700-1200) are direct reflection of the enormous culture of trade of the Golden Web and the importance of the two cities, Baghdad and Busra to this maritime.

These adventurous legend are only few of the many Arabian Nights that were the main entertainment media then and continued to be so well into our modern times.

Abbasid writers also developed new a genres of literature such as adab, the embodiment of sensible counsel, sometimes in the form of animal fables; a typical example is Kalilah wa-Dimnah, translated by Ibn al-Muqaffa' from a Pahlavi version of an Indian work. Writers of this period also studied tribal traditions and wrote the first systematic Arabic grammars.

 

Omar Khayyam