With this volume, I began wading my way through the many-volumed English translation of the History of Prophets, Kings, and Caliphs by Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, a famed medieval Muslim exegete and historian who attempted to synthesize a history of the world up to his time, drawing on traditions narrated from earlier Muslim authorities as well as Persian traditions and some Jewish and Christian ones as well.
The result is a bit stylistically bizarre but also produces a striking window into world history as conceived by tenth-century Muslims. This particular volume covers the creation of the world (with digressions on the supposed age of the earth as well as the projected duration of human history, and debates on whether God's throne or God's pen was first to be created), to many legends concerning the prehistory of Satan, the jinn, the angels, and Adam (who appears as a giant who initially, after the fall, stands on an earthly mountain with his head brushing heaven), down to Noah and the implementation of chronological eras among Jews, Persians, Christians, and Muslims.
Again, the style of presenting these stories through reporting different traditions (and tracing the chains of narrators) means that it can be repetitive, and yet also offer multiple versions, embracing a wider range of medieval Muslim historical imagination than any one man's straightforward synthesis otherwise would. (Also, the general introduction included in this volume is quite substantial - one might say almost too informative.)