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forty thousand dirhams to be given to him.[1] Al‐Rashid was too fond of slave girls that he went
too far in acquiring them, to the extent that their number was two thousands. His slave girls were
from different countries: Some were from Rome, some were from al‐Sind, and some were from
Persia.[2] Al‐Rashid bought a slave girl from al‐Mousil for thirty‐six thousand dinars.[3] The
inhabitants of Baghdad talked about a slave girl called Kheneth. The slave girl was given the
nickname of Dhat al‐Khal (the possessors of the beauty spots). She charmed the poets and the
singers. Yet al‐Rashid bought her for seventy thousand dinars and made her live in his palace.[4]
He bought all those beautiful slave girls offered for sale. His palace had no slave girl bought for
less than ten thousand dirhams or dinars.[5] These salve girls required too much expenses such as
ornaments, clothes, and decoration. It is worth mentioning that these too much expenses were
not of his private properties; rather they were of the Islamic Public Treasury, and that Islam made
it for bidden to spend anything of it on such affairs.
His Fondness of Jewels
Harun was too fond of jewels and precious stones that he spent a lot of money on buying them.
He bought a ring for a hundred thousand dinars.[6] He had an emerald bar longer than a cubit. He
wore a very precious bird‐like ruby crown. The value of the crown was a hundred thousand
dinars.[7] As Harun was fond of jewels, he sent al‐Jewheri, al‐Kindi’s grandfather, to the leader of
Sarandib to buy jewels from him.[8]
He scattered jewels over his slave girls with out reckoning. He had a very beautiful slave girl. The
slave girl refused her share when Harun gave her jewels similar to that of his slave girls. So he was
displeased with that. One day he scattered jewels on his slaves, and they picked them, but that
slave girl did not stretch her hand out to them. Then he ordered better jewels to be brought. They
chose, and he said to that slave girl: “Why do you not choose as your friends do?” She answered:
“If the thing I choose is available, I will do.” Then she took him by the hand and said to him: “This
is my choice from among the jewels of the world.” So he admired her and called her Khalisa (the
pure one).[9]
[1] Nisa' al‐Khulafa', pp. 54‐55.
[2] Harun al‐Rashid, p. 85.
[3] Abu al‐Farajj al‐Asfahani, al‐Aghani, vol.5, p. 7.
[4] Ibid., vol. 15, p. 85.
[5] Harun al‐Rashid, vol. 1, p. 264.
[6] Ibn al‐Athir, Tarikh, vol. 6, p. 44.
[7] Mattla' al‐Budur, vol. 2, p. 138.
[8] Bayna al‐Khulafa' wa al‐Khula'a', p. 54.
[9] Ibid.
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