Although cities and mercantile centers dotted the entire Islamic world, the cities of Baghdad and Córdoba, at their peak in the tenth century, stand out as the finest examples of cosmopolitan Muslim civilization. On Baghdad’s streets thronged representatives of a kaleidoscope of races, creeds, and cultures. Shops and marketplaces offered a dazzling and exotic array of goods from all over the world.

The caliph Harun al-Rashid presided over a glamorous court. He invited writers, dancers, musicians, poets, and artists to live in Baghdad. This brilliant era provided the background for the tales that appear in The Thousand and One Nights.

Córdoba in southern Spain competed with Baghdad for the cultural leadership of the Islamic world. Córdoba’s scholars made contributions in chemistry, medicine and surgery, music, philosophy, and mathematics. In the tenth century no city in Asia or Europe could equal dazzling Córdoba. It’s streets were well paved and lighted, and the city had an abundant supply of fresh water. The contemporary Saxon nun Hrosthwita of Gandersheim (d. 1000) described Córdoba as the “ornament of the world.”3