Caliph


Iranian Nights
The Caliph's Splendor: Islam and the West in the Golden Age of Baghdad
The Lion of Cairo
After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam
The Voyages of Sindbad
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExupéryHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. RowlingA Little Princess by Frances Hodgson BurnettThe Princess Bride by William GoldmanPrince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Royalty
1,748 books — 180 voters

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
They say that Caliph Omar, when consulted about what had to be done with the library of Alexandria, answered as follows: 'If the books of this library contain matters opposed to the Koran, they are bad and must be burned. If they contain only the doctrine of the Koran, burn them anyway, for they are superfluous.' Our learned men have cited this reasoning as the height of absurdity. However, suppose Gregory the Great was there instead of Omar and the Gospel instead of the Koran. The library would ...more
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Sciences and Arts and Polemics