Word: caliphate
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...Rahman III (891-961), caliph of Côrdoba: "I have now reigned above 50 years in victory or peace, beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot : they amount to Fourteen: O man, place not thy confidence in this present world...
...Egyptian. Tartar, and Park Avenue highrise. Cauldrons boil, priests prophesy, volcanoes belch, lava pours, mountains move, buildings crumble, tidal waves tumble, and death-ray guns pulverize people and ships. The slaves in the House of Fear are turned into beasts of burden at the behest of a crystal-twirling caliph: "Now you will close your eyes. When you are commanded to open them, you will be a bull"-or a boar, a bear, a dog or an ox, depending on how George mixes the colors on his ingenious Palette...
...Martha was "my sweet princess," "highly esteemed princess," "dearest highly esteemed little princess," and "Your Sigmund" sent her "100,000 kisses, all of which are to be cashed." A penniless knight-errant, Freud was quite a gallant: "What can it be that you want ... a tooth out of the Caliph's jaw, a jewel from Queen Victoria's crown, a giant's autograph, or something equally fantastic which would mean putting on my armor at once and setting out for the Orient?" Into such hyperbolic reveries crept the unaffected but affecting confession: "I was in love with...
...these imams incorruptible, infallible and immortal; since the disappearance of the last known successor of the house of Ali in 878, the Shiites wait for the "Hidden Imam" to make his earthly return. The Sunnis, on the other hand, refuse to accept divine inspiration by inheritance, recognize first the caliph as the "commander of the community," then turn to the "consensus," made up of the learned and the wise...
...lightweight, gold-anodized aluminum shell (cost: $364,000). Too modern, cried some citizens; too ignoble, said others. "It will look like an ad for an orange drink." snapped one traditionalist. The builders pressed on with their work, hoping to have it finished this fall. Historians pointed out that the Caliph of Damascus had melted down 100,000 gold dinars to gild the original dome. The new aluminum one will look the same, and at a fraction of the price...