The Caliph's House - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Caliph's House write by Tahir Shah. This book was released on 2006-01-31. The Caliph's House available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. In the tradition of A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, acclaimed English travel writer Tahir Shah shares a highly entertaining account of making an exotic dream come true. By turns hilarious and harrowing, here is the story of his family’s move from the gray skies of London to the sun-drenched city of Casablanca, where Islamic tradition and African folklore converge–and nothing is as easy as it seems…. Inspired by the Moroccan vacations of his childhood, Tahir Shah dreamed of making a home in that astonishing country. At age thirty-six he got his chance. Investing what money he and his wife, Rachana, had, Tahir packed up his growing family and bought Dar Khalifa, a crumbling ruin of a mansion by the sea in Casablanca that once belonged to the city’s caliph, or spiritual leader. With its lush grounds, cool, secluded courtyards, and relaxed pace, life at Dar Khalifa seems sure to fulfill Tahir’s fantasy–until he discovers that in many ways he is farther from home than he imagined. For in Morocco an empty house is thought to attract jinns, invisible spirits unique to the Islamic world. The ardent belief in their presence greatly hampers sleep and renovation plans, but that is just the beginning. From elaborate exorcism rituals involving sacrificial goats to dealing with gangster neighbors intent on stealing their property, the Shahs must cope with a new culture and all that comes with it. Endlessly enthralling, The Caliph’s House charts a year in the life of one family who takes a tremendous gamble. As we follow Tahir on his travels throughout the kingdom, from Tangier to Marrakech to the Sahara, we discover a world of fierce contrasts that any true adventurer would be thrilled to call home.
In Arabian Nights
In Arabian Nights - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook In Arabian Nights write by Tahir Shah. This book was released on 2007-12-26. In Arabian Nights available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Tahir Shah’s The Caliph’s House, describing his first year in Casablanca, was hailed by critics and compared to such travel classics as A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun. Now Shah takes us deeper into the heart of this exotic and magical land to uncover mysteries that have been hidden from Western eyes for centuries.… In this entertaining and penetrating book, Tahir sets out on a bold new journey across Morocco that becomes an adventure worthy of the mythical Arabian Nights. As he wends his way through the labyrinthine medinas of Fez and Marrakesh, traverses the Sahara sands, and tastes the hospitality of ordinary Moroccans, Tahir collects a dazzling treasury of traditional stories, gleaned from the heritage of A Thousand and One Nights. The tales, recounted by a vivid cast of characters, reveal fragments of wisdom and an oriental way of thinking that is both enthralling and fresh. A link in the chain of scholars and teachers who have passed these stories down for centuries like a baton in a relay race, Shah reaches layers of culture that most visitors hardly realize exist, and eventually discovers the story living in his own heart. Along the way he describes the colors, characters, and the passion of Morocco, and comes to understand why it is such an enchanting land. From master masons who labor only at night to Sufi wise men who write for soap operas, and Tuareg guides afflicted by reality TV, In Arabian Nights takes us on an unforgettable journey, shining a light on facets of a society that are normally left in darkness.
The Caliph's Splendor
The Caliph's Splendor - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Caliph's Splendor write by Benson Bobrick. This book was released on 2012-08-14. The Caliph's Splendor available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Traces the story of the celebrated late-eighth and early ninth-century caliph from "The Thousand and One Nights" against a backdrop of Baghdad's cosmopolitan culture and its complex influence on the Byzantine Empire and Frankish kingdom of Charlemagne.
The House of Wisdom
The House of Wisdom - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The House of Wisdom write by Jim Al-Khalili. This book was released on 2011-03-31. The House of Wisdom available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A myth-shattering view of the Islamic world's myriad scientific innovations and the role they played in sparking the European Renaissance. Many of the innovations that we think of as hallmarks of Western science had their roots in the Arab world of the middle ages, a period when much of Western Christendom lay in intellectual darkness. Jim al- Khalili, a leading British-Iraqi physicist, resurrects this lost chapter of history, and given current East-West tensions, his book could not be timelier. With transporting detail, al-Khalili places readers in the hothouses of the Arabic Enlightenment, shows how they led to Europe's cultural awakening, and poses the question: Why did the Islamic world enter its own dark age after such a dazzling flowering?
Sorcerer's Apprentice
Sorcerer's Apprentice - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Sorcerer's Apprentice write by Tahir Shah. This book was released on 2011-07. Sorcerer's Apprentice available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Tahir Shah has a genius for surreal travelling, finding or creating situations and people. Doris...
