Pre-Islamic tales of poetry were very popular in the Abbasid kingdom and poets from all over gathered in Baghdad to write new epic tales of their ancestors.
These poets included:
Bashar ibn Burd- an erotic poet of sorts
Abbas ibn Ahnaf- wrote "Power of Love" to debase lewd poetry.
Abu Nuwas- The greatest bacchic poet and had an infatuation with love, scandal, and blasphemies.



The most well known book from the Abbasid period was, "The book of 1001 Nights. (Arabian Nights) This book was a collection of Arabian folk tales and includes such famous characters as Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad the Sailor. Stories from the arabian nights book have been included in film, book form, television, and video games.
For example, the early 1990's Aladdan films and 1001 Rabbit tales of Looney toons fame are loosley based upon the Arabian Nights tales of Aladdin and Ali-Baba.




1001 Nights tales include:
Aladdin and the wonderful lamp
The seven voyages of sinbad the sailor
Ali-baba and the fourty thieves: famous for the words "Open simsim" or also translated as open sesame.
The fisherman and the jenni
1001 Nights
The Angel of death with the proud and the devout man
Story of Larrikin and the cook
The sleeper and the walker
The Three Calanders tales,
and many more...

Matthew Morton