Abd al-Rahman, the Wandering Prince

In these two novellas about the harmony between Jews and Arabs in medieval Spain, Uziel recreates the exotic caliphates of the time with their luxuriant courts, bustling bazaars, and desert bandits. Prince Abd al-Rahman, the last heir to the murdered Umayyad caliph, must flee for his life. Crossing the desert alone on a camel, he rescues Jewish Rahia and her blind brother. The three become friends, and together they outwit the prince`s pursuers and survive the desert. Finally, in a stunning campaign, Abd al-Rahman’s bravery and brains carry him from the gallows to the seat of the caliphate he had lost.

Seventy years later, the Umayyad dynasty has flowered again and is based in Cordoba, the commercial and intellectual center of the day. Yehuda, a rabbinical student, goes to study there and is mesmerized. He eventually becomes a renaissance man and a fine physician instead of a rabbi. Well-respected among Jews and Muslims, he is called on to save the Caliph’s son from a rare disease, and when he succeeds, he becomes famous throughout the Muslim empire.