16 stories
دَرْسُ أَدَوَاتِ الجَزْمِ | The Lesson of Jussive Particles
A commander in the Abbasid army learns the grammar of commands and conditions through أدوات الجزم, as orders become intertwined with desire.
دَرْسُ الحَالِ | The Lesson of the Circumstantial State
A spy in Abbasid Baghdad learns to describe actions in their precise state, as she decodes messages hidden in the grammar of whispered secrets.
The Astrologer of Samarra | مُنَجِّمُ سامَرّاء
Under the spiral minaret of Samarra, an astrologer reads the stars and discovers his fate intertwined with a voluptuous servant girl who holds secrets of her own.
The Caliph's Concubine | جارِيَةُ الخَليفَة
In the golden age of the Abbasid Caliphate, a Persian concubine discovers forbidden passion with the Caliph's trusted vizier.
The Coppersmith of Mosul | صانِعُ النُّحاسِ في المَوْصِل
In the ancient workshops of Mosul, a master coppersmith and a wealthy merchant's wife forge a passion as hot as his furnace, hammering out desire between hammer strikes.
The Forbidden Garden of Samarra | الحَديقَةُ المُحَرَّمَةُ في سامَرّاء
In the secret gardens of the Abbasid palace in Samarra, a prince's neglected wife discovers ecstasy with the mysterious gardener who tends the roses by day and her desires by night.
The Hammam Attendant | خادِمَةُ الحَمّام
In the steamy chambers of a Baghdad hammam, a wealthy widow finds unexpected pleasure in the skilled hands of an attendant who knows all the secrets of the body.
The Harem's Secret | سِرُّ الحَريم
Within the forbidden walls of the royal harem, a eunuch guard discovers he is not as he seems, and the Sultan's favorite wife awakens desires long thought impossible.
The Pearl Diver's Secret of Bahrain | سِرُّ غَوَّاصِ اللُّؤْلُؤِ في البَحْرَيْن
A legendary pearl diver discovers forbidden passion in the depths of the Arabian Gulf, where treasures of the sea pale beside the treasures of the heart.
The Perfumer's Apprentice of Basra | مُتَدَرِّبُ العَطَّارِ في البَصْرَة
A young man apprenticed to a master perfumer discovers that the rarest essence is distilled from forbidden passion with his master's voluptuous wife.
The Poet's Muse of Baghdad | مُلْهِمَةُ الشّاعِرِ في بَغْداد
In the golden age of Baghdad, a renowned poet discovers his greatest inspiration in the arms of a palace courtesan whose body becomes the canvas for his most passionate verses.
The Qadi's Secret | سِرُّ القاضي
A respected judge in Abbasid Basra finds himself entangled with a voluptuous petitioner whose case awakens desires he has suppressed for decades.
The Scholar of Baghdad | عالِمُ بَغْداد
A tale of forbidden knowledge and desire in the House of Wisdom, where a young scribe discovers more than ancient texts in the arms of a mysterious scholar.
The Ship Captain of Basra | رُبّانُ سَفينَةِ البَصْرَة
A wealthy widow boards a merchant vessel to India, and finds herself drawn to its rugged captain on a voyage of sensual discovery across the Arabian Sea.
The Vizier's Forbidden Love | حُبُّ الوَزيرِ المُحَرَّم
In the palace of the Abbasid caliphs, a powerful vizier risks everything for a night of passion with the Sultan's neglected favorite, knowing that discovery means death.
The Wine Merchant's Cellar | قَبْوُ تاجِرِ الخَمْر
In the hidden cellars of a Christian merchant in Abbasid Baghdad, forbidden wine flows freely, and so does passion between a Muslim nobleman and the merchant's voluptuous daughter.