houseofwisdom

Monarchs are usually associated with luxurious lives of lavishness, pomp and ceremony. One immediately imagines immaculate gold halls and sophisticated thrones flanked to either side by attendants waving fans or otherwise arms outstretched with plates filled to the brim with grapes and venison. And I wouldn't blame you. Monarchs ought not be spiriting themselves away into the night clad all in black, hooded and clinging to the shadows as though common brigands. This is the misconception an old greybeard is seeking to clear to his bewildered grandchildren, reminiscing his past as a cupbearer to the noble Harun in this shortstory inspired by the time of the Abbasids.…

houseofwisdom

As the dust settles in the capital of the Caliphate following the murder of the Khalifa, the nascent state braces itself for a trial it has never experienced in its short lifetime. Civil war.As the flames of discord consume a once prosperous community, it is up to Hanthalah - with a newfound life philosophy he is struggling to implement - and his children to find their places in this new world that is forming around them. Or face the consequences .…

houseofwisdom

*book 1 of THE SLAVE ELITE*In a world where kings are trampled beneath hooves, where hardened warriors are cut down like flies, and a once prosperous land is now fractured into a million nations ravaged by merciless horsemen from the east and faceless knights from the west, what hope can there be?Thrown into a world plagued by Crusaders, Mongols, Romans and avaricious princes from all Muslim lands seeking to add to their wealth, it is up to three slaves to carve out their paths in life.And save their world from the enemies pouncing at them from all directions.…

houseofwisdom

With the conclusion of the previous Khalifa's reign, and his asylum in Damascus, Hanthalah ibn Ka'b believes that the only turbulence left to trouble him is within his head. But unbeknownst to him, the newly conquered lands are set to erupt with new feuds. Trouble unfamiliar to him, the sort in palace hallways rather than the field of battle. And in every corner of this new state, the children of Hanthalah set out to carve out their own reputations in the world. Their own unique paths find them discovering what it is to be human through love, deceit, betrayal, religion, violence and all things that are life, in a manner reminiscent of their own father.Seeing that their individual opinions over him differ, what happens when their paths converge finally with that of the man who gave them birth?…

houseofwisdom

Hanthalah ibn Ka'b's fighting days are over. His is a future of bliss where he grows soft and fat among those he loves, away from the ghosts of Arabia. Or so he believes. After the death of the Prophet, the Arabs have found themselves in an era of politics unprecedented. In the city that had once been Yathrib, conflict is brewing that shakes the world to its very core. Hanthalah ibn Ka'b will fight again.…

houseofwisdom

WINNER - EC AWARDS HISTORICAL FICTION SECOND PLACE - KOHINOOR AWARDS HISTORICAL FICTION For centuries, the Arab tribes occupying the windswept plains of Arabia have known only bickering and conflict; they have clung to their traditions and gods for time immemorial.However, this is all about to change with the advent of one man to the city of Yathrib. The Prophet's camel kicks up clods of sand that will send ripples through time to change the course of history.And at the center of it all is Hanthalah ibn Ka'b - a simple yet mischievous merchant's son from the Jewish Banu Qurayza tribe that finds himself embroiled in the rising political entity of Islam.#grandcafecommunity #thewinnerawards2020 #twilightawards2020…