Three great Abbasid names, roughly during the period 750-850, that brought renown to the Muslim pride and triumph stand out distinctly: al-Mansur, Harun al-Rashid and his son al-Mamun. Al-Mansur—“tall, slender, bearded, dark, austere, no slave to woman’s beauty, no friend of wine or song,”—was an excellent orator and administrator. His empire stretched from western China to northern Africa. The Caliph of the Arabian Nights, al-Harun—“a gay and cultured monarch, occasionally despotic and violent, often generous and humane”—brought wider cultural horizons that also included scientific works. And then al-Mamun—“though capable at times of the fury and cruelty that had disgraced Harun, was usually a man of mild and lenient temper”—set up an institute, the House of Wisdom, to promote learning and render into Arabic ancient manuscripts. Amongst translations from Greek writings one of the first was Ptolemy's astronomy founded on the geocentric system. Based on this foundation we have three centuries that mark the zenith of Islam’s golden age when there was an unrivalled intellectual activity in several fields such as science, mathematics, technology, art, literature including biography, history and linguistics. Along with these also prospered agriculture and trade…   more »