Tale of Ali bin Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar — cover of the LitLab illustrated edition
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Tale of Ali bin Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar

Anonymous · 1885 · Romance

In the Baghdad of Harun al-Rashid, a merchant’s invitation brings a Persian royal descendant together with the Caliph’s favourite. Letters, music and trusted intermediaries sustain a love that must move through guarded rooms and uncertain streets. This complete illustrated edition preserves Burton’s text and verse, with character studies, maps, connections, scenes and reading recaps.

Inside this edition

Every LitLab edition is illustrated from the text itself — the world of the book mapped, its people drawn, its scenes staged. 15 plates are open to everyone in this book; here are 8 of them.

This edition

Title
Tale of Ali bin Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar
Author
Anonymous
First published
1885
Illustrated plates
50 original artworks · 15 open to everyone
Chapters
9 · about 22,786 words
Reading time
1 h 31 min
Language
EN
Formats
Read online · EPUB and PDF download with a subscription
Publisher
LitLab — The Illustrated Classics
On LitLab since
September 2026
Rights
Text in the public domain. Illustrations and edition © LitLab.
Source text
Project Gutenberg #52564

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