According to the Qur’an, God created two parallel species, man and the jinn, the former from clay and the latter from fire. Beliefs regarding the jinn are deeply integrated into Muslim culture and religion, and have a constant presence in legends, myths, poetry, and literature. In Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn, Amira El-Zein explores the integral role these mythological figures play, revealing that the concept of jinn is fundamental to understanding Muslim culture and tradition.

"Certain elements of digital artistry and formatting, asdepicted in the hardcover and paperback editions of this book, cannot be replicated in the ebook version due to device limitations." The sixteenth century was rife with turmoil throughout Europe. The Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (Konstantiniyye), the seat of the Ottoman Empire, was not immune to the strife and chaos. The imperial court of Suleyman the Magnificent was a focal point for recondite, multilayered mysteries, and a breeding ground for plots Topkapi officials who may be conflicit. Suleyman summons Conte Vincenzo Lupo de Venezia (II Lupo the Wolf) to assist in the resolution of the proliferating intrigues and thwart assassination attempts against the sultan and his favored harem concubine, Roxelana. II Lupo is renowned as a master swordsman and for his remarkable investigation skills and acumen, having foiled recent plots against the French king, Francis I, and Albert, Duke of Prussia. II Lupo established a martial arts academy in Venice where the finest fighters from around the world seek his expert tutelage, including his seventeen-year-old daughter, Francesca. Having lost his wife during childbirth, II Lupo has raised Francesca as a single father. A master of the martial arts and disguise, Francesca travels with her father disguised as a boy. Arriving in Istanbul, they are escorted by Kemal, Suleymans personal bodyguard and captain of the palace guard, the Elite Beyliks. Born a Palestine Jew, Kemal was torn from his home at age eleven, enslaved by the Ottomans, and educated in the palace school as a janissary. He rose to his esteemed status at the age of twenty-six. His public persona of a handsome and fearsome warrior is juxtaposed against that of a brilliant, sensitive poet with deeply suppressed longings for his homeland. A romance between Francesca and Kemal blossoms as they join forces with II Lupo and Aziz, Roxelanas formidable and favored black eunuch, to quash assassination attempts and solve mysteries surroundings the theft of sacred relics of Muhammad from their Topkapi respository. Theft masterminded by a seemingly supernatural Shaitan are accompanied by gruesome murders committed by a demonic jinn, dwelling in labyrinthine secret passagewaysa subterranean maze running through the ancient Byzantine acropolis upon which the Topkapi Palace was built. Although filled with intrigue, action, and suspense as its heart, the book is a story of love, yearning, awakening and beneficence that touches the human spirit. This verisimilar story is presented with a visual richness evocative of the times and the tale and artistry reminiscent of the illuminated manuscripts and calligraphy of the era.

Aru Shah and the End of Time meets Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away in this mesmerizing portal fantasy that takes readers into the little-known world of Jinn. Nura longs for the simple pleasure of many things—to wear a beautiful red dupatta or to bite into a sweet gulab. But with her mom hard at work in a run-down sweatshop and three younger siblings to feed, Nura must spend her days earning money by mica mining. But it’s not just the extra rupees in her pocket Nura is after. Local rumor says there’s buried treasure in the mine, and Nura knows that finding it could change the course of her family’s life forever. Her plan backfires when the mines collapse and four kids, including her best friend, Faisal, are claimed dead. Nura refuses to believe it and shovels her way through the dirt hoping to find him. Instead, she finds herself at the entrance to a strange world of purple skies and pink seas—a portal to the opulent realm of jinn, inhabited by the trickster creatures from her mother’s cautionary tales. Yet they aren’t nearly as treacherous as her mother made them out to be, because Nura is invited to a luxury jinn hotel, where she’s given everything she could ever imagine and more. But there’s a dark truth lurking beneath all that glitter and gold, and when Nura crosses the owner’s son and is banished to the working quarters, she realizes she isn’t the only human who’s ended up in the hotel’s clutches. Faisal and the other missing children are there, too, and if Nura can’t find a way to help them all escape, they’ll be bound to work for the hotel forever. Set in a rural industrial town in Pakistan and full of hope, heart, and humor, Nura and the Immortal Palace is inspired by M.T. Khan’s own Pakistani Muslim heritage.

The hero cycles of Arabic belong to the literary tradition of The Arabian Nights and can be seen as the popular epics of their civilisation. The Arabian epic covers ten of the main representatives of this genre. Each of these has been developed through the processes of accretive oral story-telling by means of an accumulation of narrative and folklore motifs, many of which belong to what can be seen as a universal tradition. The work is published in three volumes. The first volume introduces the background and the dimensions in which the cycles are set, while the second volume analyses their contents and the literary formulae used in their construction, as well as listing analogues found in other literatures. The epitomes surveyed in the final volume provide non-Arabists with a more immediate insight into the contents of the cycles, drawing attention to their narrative colouring and texture.

Notorious for the delight he took in tweaking the sexual taboos of the Victorian age-as well as the delight he took in the resulting shock of his bashful peers-British adventurer, linguist, and author CAPTAIN SIR RICHARD FRANCIS BURTON (1821-1890) is perhaps best remembered for his unexpurgated translation of the Eastern classic The One Thousand and One Nights, more famously known today as The Arabian Nights. Originating in Persian, Indian, and Arabic sources as far back as the ninth century AD, this collection of bawdy tales-which Burton was the first to bring to English readers in uncensored form-has exerted incalculable influence on modern literature. It represents one of the earliest examples of a framing story, as young Shahrazad, under threat of execution by the King, postpones her death by regaling him with these wildly entertaining stories over the course of 1,001 nights. The stories themselves feature early instances of sexual humor, satire and parody, murder mystery, horror, and even science fiction. Burton's annotated 16-volume collection, as infamous as it is important, was first published between 1885 and 1888, and remains an entertainingly naughty read. Volume VII includes: [ "Harun Al-Rashid and the Arab Girl" [ "Al-Asma'i and the Three Girls of Bassorah" [ "Ibrahim of Mosul and the Devil" [ "The Badawi and His Wife" [ "The Lovers of Bassorah" [ "Ishak of Mosul and His Mistress and the Devil" [ "Story of Prince Sayf Al-Muluk and the Princess Badi'a Al-Jamal" [ and others.

Most vols. for 1890- contain list of members of the Folk-lore Society.

The deep forest and broad savannah, the campsites, kraals, and villages—from this immense area south of the Sahara Desert the distinguished American folklorist Roger D. Abrahams has selected ninety-five tales that suggest both the diversity and the interconnectedness of the people who live there. The storytellers weave imaginative myths of creation and tales of epic deeds, chilling ghost stories, and ribald tales of mischief and magic in the animal and human realms. Abrahams renders these stories in a narrative voice that reverberates with the rhythms of tribal song and dance and the emotional language of universal concerns. With black-and-white drawings throughout Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

The African continent is home to a fascinating and strong tradition of myth, due in part to the long history of human habitation in Africa; the diversity of its geography, flora, and fauna; and the variety of its cultural beliefs. African Mythology A to Z is a readable reference to the deities, places, events, animals, beliefs, and other subjects that appear in the myths of various African peoples. For the first time, this edition features full-color photographs and illustrations.Coverage includes: