Harun Al-Rashid and the World of the Thousand and One Nights A symbol of the fabled Orient, Harun al-Rashid, the caliph portrayed in The Thousand and One Nights, was the son of a Yemenite slave who cleared his path to power, very probably by poisoning the reigning caliph, her older son. Through Arab chronicles, the author gives a remarkable account of Harun"s development as a ruler. Full description