History Literature / TheCityOfBrass

* ApocalypticLog: Both the people of the Black Castle and of the City of Brass knew they were going to die and their ruler had tablets with messages to future visitors set up. The tablets are all inside the Black Castle, but in case of the City of Brass, most tablets are set up on a hill nearby the city. This is because the city was sealed off and anyone looking to get in would likely climb the mountain for survey first. The final tablet was placed in the queen's throne room next to her flawlessly embalmed corpse. In both settlements, most of the tablets contain admonishments and warnings that in the face of death all is naught, but there are also those that explain what happened that no one alive resides there anymore.

** Most versions don't give a cause of death for the court of the Black Castle beyond divine will, but one version has King Kush ask if his wealth can buy him food instead of life. This sounds like hunger took down the Black Castle.

The first post-1700 translation of "The City of Brass" into an European language was by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall as "La ville d'airain". It concerns an 1806 French translation of the 1804 ''One Thousand and One Nights'' manuscript and while both the manuscript and Von Hammer-Purgstall's translation are lost, August Ernst Zinserling's 1824 German translation of the French translation is still around. "The City of Brass" opens Volume 2 of the translation as "Die eherne Stadt". "Die eherne Stadt" was further translated into English by George Lamb in 1828, preceding the vastly more influential English translations of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' by Edward Lane, John Payne, and Richard Burton based on the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions with the Breslau edition as backup. Lane included "The City of Brass" in Volume 3 of his translation in 1859, while Payne and Burton published their translations in the 1880s within which "The City of Brass" occupies a spot in respectively Volume 5 and Volume 6. ''One Hundred and One Nights'' was translated into French by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes in 1911 using four copies and other manuscripts kept by the BNF, relying mostly on BNF #3660. This manuscript contain "The City of Brass", which is therefore part of the translation.

At Damascus, Talib ibn Sahl tells Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan about an uncharted land to the west where bottles that Solomon used to imprison rebellious djinn in get netted up by fishermen daily. The locals tend to set them free, which makes for a spectacular sight. Wanting to see such for himself, Abd al-Malik sends Talib to Emir Musa ibn Nusayr in Egypt so that together they can fetch him some Solomonic bottles. Musa summons the elderly Sheik Abdussamad ibn Abd al-Kuddus as their guide because of his knowledge of the Maghreb. Getting lost still, the expedition finds a deserted castle made of black stone and have a look around inside. They come upon various Greek inscriptions that tell of the castle's last ruler, King Koush, whose life of earthly luxury ended when Allah had enough of his egotism. Every day, more of his court died and preparing for his own end, Koush had the inscriptions made to warn others not to repeat his mistakes. The expedition continues onwards and comes across a horseman of brass upon which is engraved the instruction to rub his hand to be directed to the City of Brass. Adjusting their course, the expedition discovers a pillar of brass keeping an ifrit captive. He tells them that he is Dahish ibn Amash, the leader of a revolt against Solomon's reign, who upon defeat was imprisoned to await the Day of Resurrection. He gives the expedition directions and they're back on their way. Last before their destination, they come upon the City of Brass. The expedition constructs a ladder to get in, but of those who climb it only Abdussamad survives the illusion-based trap atop the wall. He opens a nearby city gate to let the others in to discover that all-around the citizens have dropped dead, evidently from hunger, going about their daily lives. They make their way to the palace and enter the throne room of the dead Queen Tedmur. A nearby tablet in Greek gives permission to any visitor to take some treasures, but to leave the queen her garments. Talib wants them anyway and for that is killed by the two automata guarding the queen. The expedition leaves Talib's corpse and stocks up on treasure before continuing to and finally reaching their destination. They are warmly welcomed and given twelve bottles to return to Abd al-Malik with. The caliph is delighted while the journey has inspired Musa to hand his titles to his son and spend the rest of his life in religious devotion in Jerusalem.

During the next 500 years, the role of the djinn was passed on to the illusionary houris as the City of Brass came to be a city of the dead instead. The presence of a once-queen may be partially inspired by Dihya al-Kahina. She was a contemporary of Abd al-Malik and Musa, a Berber leader that effectively resisted Muslim conquest but was brought down by scorched earth tactics. Meanwhile, the name and setup of the seated dead woman appear to have been copied from that of the Tadmur mentioned in Yaqut al-Hamawi's ''Mu'jam al-buldan'' from the 1220s. Sometime hereafter, the legend underwent thematical tightening to lock arms with the legend of Iram as found in Surah 89 of Literature/TheQuran and in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' under the title "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah". The direct connection between the two stories is Koush, the king of the Black Castle in "The City of Brass" and also a descendent of Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar, who is the king of Iram. Sheddad had Iram built as paradise on Earth, but for his hubris was smited, much like Koush's egotism brings about his end. After his death, Sheddad's body was retrieved and hidden in a cavern, seated on a throne and clothed in expensive garments. This part of the story is alike to that of ''Mu'jam al-buldan'''s Tadmur, and the both of them may have influenced Queen Tedmur's post-mortem setup.

* AmbiguouslyRelated: King Koush and Queen Tedmur both were rulers of settlements of Greek origin. The both of them are divinely ended for caring more for earthly adornments than their spiritual growth. Koush is always identified as a descendant, be that son, grandson (through Kanan), or even great-grandson (through Kanan ibn Shirwan) of King Sheddad, who suffered a similar fate after building paradise on earth. Tedmur is not directly linked to Sheddad most of the time, but she is always the daughter of a king of the Amalekites and there is a legend that the Amalekites descend from Sheddad. The version of "The City of Brass" in BNF #3668 has an explicit connection in that the queen there is called Ramkiyah ibnat Amalaq ibn Kanan ibn Ad ibn Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Anyone who gets up on the walls of the City of Brass from outside is met with a vision of ten or twelve houris that beckon the invader to them. Very few can resist their loveliness, but as the houris stand quite a way from the city walls, walking to them means walking off the walls to fall to one's death inside the city.

* DwindlingParty: Whereas Queen Tedmur's people died all at once, King Koush's court died over several days. Koush had messages prepared for future visitors when he realized he too would end up joining the deaths.

** Most versions don't give a cause of death for the court of the Black Castle beyond divine will, but one version has King Koush ask if his wealth can buy him food instead of life. This sounds like hunger took down the Black Castle.

** Musa leaves his son in charge as Emir when he goes on the expedition. In Von Hammer's version, it is the caliph's brother, Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, who has his son Harun take over Musa's duties. Both historical figures had sons, but none were named Harun.

During the next 500 years, the role of the djinn was passed on to the illusionary houris as the City of Brass came to be a city of the dead instead. The presence of a once-queen may be partially inspired by Dihya al-Kahina. She was a contemporary of Abd al-Malik and Musa, a Berber leader that effectively resisted Muslim conquest but was brought down by scorched earth tactics. Meanwhile, the name and setup of the dead queen appear to have been copied from that of the Tadmur mentioned in Yaqut al-Hamawi's ''Mu'jam al-buldan'' from the 1220s. Sometime hereafter, the legend underwent thematical tightening to lock arms with the legend of Iram as found in Surah 89 of Literature/TheQuran and in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' under the title "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah". The direct connection between the two stories is Koush, the king of the Black Castle in "The City of Brass" and also a descendent of Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar, who is the king of Iram. Sheddad had Iram built as paradise on Earth, but for his hubris was smited, much like Koush's egotism brings about his end. After his death, a son of Sheddad retrieved Sheddad's body and hid it in a cavern seated on a throne and clothed in expensive garments. This too is Queen Tedmur's situation. All three monarchs have a tablet at their final resting place explaining their respective fates.

%%* it belonged aforetime to Darius the Greek, King of Alexandria:

%%* WritersCannotDoMath: In Egypt, Abdussamad is asked how long he thinks the expedition's journey will take. He estimates the needed time to be two years and some months one way and then that same time to get back home. To Musa's son he pretends that the journey only takes four months to and four months fro.

"The City of Brass", also rendered as "The Brazen City", is the legend surrounding the City of Brass. The oldest references to the legend's existence are dated to the late 9th Century while the oldest known surviving copy, a manuscript kept by the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the number 3118, existed by 1718. Although versions of the "The City of Brass" can be found in many independent compilations, it is best known for its inclusion in ''[[Literature/ArabianNights One Thousand and One Nights]]'', which the popular legend became part of on multiple separate occasions. It is likely that the ZER manuscript, composed around 1775, accounts for the oldest inclusion. Though lost today, ZER's contents were the basis of the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions, which both contain "The City of Brass", respectively within Volume 2 and in Volume 3, without significant differences between them. A second version of the legend made it into the Breslau edition, which combines stories found in various manuscripts mostly kept by the BNF. The version of "The City of Brass" found in Breslau's Volume 6, which was published in 1834, is copied from BNF #3118. A third version was present in a ''One Thousand and One Nights'' copy written before 1804. The original is lost but a secondary translation still exists. It was in the early 19th Century as well that yet another version of the legend was added to copies of ''One Hundred and One Nights''.

At Damascus, Talib ibn Sahl tells Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan about an uncharted land to the west where flasks that Solomon used to imprison rebellious djinn in get netted up by fishermen daily. The locals tend to set them free, which makes for a spectacular sight. Wanting to see such for himself, Abd al-Malik sends Talib to Emir Musa ibn Nusayr in Egypt so that together they can fetch him some Solomonic flasks. Musa summons the elderly Sheik Abdussamad ibn Abd al-Kuddus as their guide because of his knowledge of the Maghreb. Getting lost still, the expedition finds a deserted castle made of black stone and have a look around inside. They come upon various Greek inscriptions that tell of the castle's last ruler, King Koush, whose life of earthly luxury ended when Allah had enough of his egotism. Every day, more of his court died and preparing for his own end, Koush had the inscriptions made to warn others not to repeat his mistakes. The expedition continues onwards and comes across a horseman of brass upon which is engraved the instruction to rub his hand to be directed to the City of Brass. Adjusting their course, the expedition discovers a pillar of brass keeping an ifrit captive. He tells them that he is Dahish ibn Amash, the leader of a revolt against Solomon's reign, who upon defeat was imprisoned to await the Day of Resurrection. He gives the expedition directions and they're back on their way. Last before their destination, they come upon the City of Brass. The expedition constructs a ladder to get in, but of those who climb it only Abdussamad survives the illusion-based trap atop the wall. He opens a nearby city gate to let the others in to discover that all-around the citizens have dropped dead, evidently from hunger, going about their daily lives. They make their way to the palace and enter the throne room of the dead Queen Tedmur. A nearby tablet in Greek gives permission to any visitor to take some treasures, but to leave the queen her garments. Talib wants them anyway and for that is killed by the two automata guarding the queen. The expedition leaves Talib's corpse and stocks up on treasure before continuing to and finally reaching their destination. They are warmly welcomed and given twelve flasks to return to Abd al-Malik with. The caliph is delighted while the journey has inspired Musa to hand his titles to his son and spend the rest of his life in religious devotion in Jerusalem.

In the late 9th Century references to the legend, Musa ibn Nusayr pointedly fails to enter the City of Brass. The first versions that fill in the mystery of the city suggest it to belong to the djinn. There are no gates and disconcerting noises come from inside. In Abu Hamid al-Gharnati's ''Tuhfat al-albab wa-nukhbat al-ayab'', several men climb the city walls to see what's inside, but all jump to their evident death. One man has a rope tied around his waist so the others can pull him back if he jumps, which he does. However, his companions only get his lower half back and it's speculated that the man was torn apart when the djinn inside the city seized his upper half.

During the next 500 years, the role of the djinn was passed on to the illusionary houris as the City of Brass came to be a city of the dead instead. The presence of a once-queen may be partially inspired by Dihya al-Kahina. She was a contemporary of Abd al-Malik and Musa, a Berber leader that resisted Muslim conquest but was brought down by scorched earth tactics. Meanwhile, the name and narrative imposition of the queen appear to have been copied from that of the Tadmur mentioned in Yaqut al-Hamawi's ''Mu'jam al-buldan'' from the 1220s. Sometime hereafter, the legend underwent thematical tightening and at its core the theme retreads the legend of Iram as found in Surah 89 of Literature/TheQuran and in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah". The direct connection between the two stories is Koush, the king of the Black Castle in "The City of Brass" and also a descendent of Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar, who is the king of Iram. Sheddad had Iram built as paradise on Earth, but for his hubris was smited, much like Koush's egotism brings about his end. After his death, a son of Sheddad retrieved Sheddad's body and hid it in a cavern seated on a throne and clothed in expensive garments. This too is Queen Tedmur's situation. All three monarchs have a tablet at their final resting place explaining their respective fates.

Other than the legend of Iram, "The City of Brass", as part of an extensive folkloric tradition, shares traits with several more stories. A horseman of brass also features in "The Third Kalandar's Tale", although there it is a sign of danger rather than a fancy guidepost. The notion of a city in which the sinful residents have been left as husks plays a role in "The Eldest Lady's Tale" and "Abou Mohammed the Lazy", which instead of mummified people speaks of people turned into statues. And "The Fisherman and the Jinni" tells of the fate of Solomonic flask that ended up somewhere other than the Sea of Karkar. Most of the aforementioned tales are core stories of ''One Thousand and One Nights''.

* {{Foil}}: The two men at the head of the journey to retrieve the Solomonic flasks for the caliph are Talib ibn Sahl, who told the caliph about the flasks in the first place, and Musa ibn Nusayr, the caliph's emir in the Maghreb. Both men see the same sights and receive the same warnings not to let earthly adornments distract from decency and from Allah, but whereas Musa takes them to heart, Talib is hardly affected. On the offer of Queen Tedmur for the visitors to take whatever they want except for her garments, Talib insists they're too good for a dead woman and readies to take them. He is killed by two automatons for his vulgar greed. Musa has no pity for him and leaves Talib's body where it fell. Once the journey is at an end some years later, Musa himself, a changed man, hands his titles and wealth to his son and moves to Jerusalem to dedicate the rest of his life to religious contemplation.
* FreeingTheGenie: The people at the Sea of Karkar are used to fishing up flasks in which Solomon imprisoned rebellious djinn. Every time they open the flasks and every time the djinn come out begging forgiveness before disappearing. Caliph Abd al-Malik hears of this and sends out an expedition to retrieve some bottles so he may experience freeing some djinn himself.

* GoingToSeeTheElephant: The entire reason that some two thousand men go risk their lives traversing North Africa from one end to the other for years is because Caliph Abd al-Malik fancies to open some flasks Solomon imprisoned djinn in and to behold the repenting creatures for himself.

* AndIMustScream: If a djinni did not obey Solomon, his go-to choice of punishment was to solitarily seal them in a brass flask with lead, stamp the lead with his signet ring, and then cast the flask into the sea. Djinn have a high lifespan bordering on immortality, which potentially means an eternity of captivity. The ifrit Dahish, who led a rebellion, was instead locked in or against a brass pillar in the middle of nowhere. While any human can free a djinni from a flask, it isn't humanly possible to free Dahish from his particular prison.

* NoEntrance: In early versions of "The City of Brass", the city isn't one where humans dwell and therefore there are no city gates.

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: In most manuscripts, Talib is a wazir who just so happens to know about a place to the West where the Solomonic flasks can be found and who takes an interest in going on the journey himself for no clear reason, though possibly to earn the caliph's favor. In the Breslau edition, he is explicitly a treasure seeker in the possession of many books on lost riches just waiting to be found. Within this context, the fact that he immediately can present a plan of action to the caliph on how to retrieve some of these flasks suggests that he was angling to get the caliph's backing in launching an expedition. Talib's lust for treasure catches up with him when he ignores Queen Tedmur's instruction to take whatever one likes from her palace but to not touch her garments. He does so anyway because they are some of the finest treasures lying around and gets killed by the two automaton guards at the queen's side.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Many of the flasks Solomon imprisoned rebellious djinn in have ended up in the Sea of Karkar. The people living there fish them up very regularly and free the djinn, being greeted with the same sight always of a humongous creature floating out that begs forgiveness from the long-gone prophet before disappearing. They know what they're dealing with and that the djinn are harmless, so it's barely worth a shrug to them while to anyone else it's well above remarkable.

"The City of Brass", also rendered as "The Brazen City", is the legend surrounding the City of Brass. The oldest references to the legend's existence are dated to the 9th Century while the oldest known surviving copy, a manuscript kept by the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the number 3118, existed by 1718. Although versions of the "The City of Brass" can be found in many independent compilations, it is best known for its inclusion in ''[[Literature/ArabianNights One Thousand and One Nights]]'', which the popular legend became part of on multiple separate occasions. It is likely that the ZER manuscript, composed around 1775, accounts for the oldest inclusion. Though lost today, ZER's contents were the basis of the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions, which both contain "The City of Brass", respectively within Volume 2 and in Volume 3, without significant differences between them. A second version of the legend made it into the Breslau edition, which combines stories found in various manuscripts mostly kept by the BNF. The version of "The City of Brass" found in Breslau's Volume 6, which was published in 1834, is copied from BNF #3118. A third version was present in a ''One Thousand and One Nights'' copy written before 1804. The original is lost but a secondary translation still exists. It was in the early 19th Century as well that yet another version of the legend was added to copies of ''One Hundred and One Nights''.

In the 9th Century references to the legend, Musa ibn Nusayr pointedly fails to enter the City of Brass. The first versions that fill in the mystery of the city suggest it to belong to the djinn. There are no gates and disconcerting noises come from inside. In Abu Hamid al-Gharnati's ''Tuhfat al-albab wa-nukhbat al-ayab'', several men climb the city walls to see what's inside, but all jump to their evident death. One man has a rope tied around his waist so the others can pull him back if he jumps, which he does. However, his companions only get his lower half back and it's speculated that the man was torn apart when the djinn inside the city seized his upper half.

How and why the City of Brass came to be a city of the dead instead is a matter of speculation, but potential sources of inspiration are abundant. The presence of a queen may be partially inspired by Dihya al-Kahina. She was a contemporary of Abd al-Malik and Musa, a Berber leader that resisted Muslim conquest but was brought down by scorched earth tactics. Meanwhile, the name and narrative imposition of the queen appear to have been copied from that of the Tadmur mentioned in Yaqut al-Hamawi's ''Mu'jam al-buldaan'' from the 1220s. Sometime hereafter, the legend underwent thematical tightening and at its core the theme retreads the legend of Iram as found in Surah 89 of Literature/TheQuran and in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah". The direct connection between the two stories is Koush, the king of the Black Castle in "The City of Brass" and also a descendent of Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar, who is the king of Iram. Sheddad had Iram built as paradise on Earth, but for his hubris was smited, much like Koush's egotism brings about his end. After his death, a son of Sheddad retrieved Sheddad's body and hid it in a cavern seated on a throne and clothed in expensive garments. This too is Queen Tedmur's situation. All three monarchs have a tablet at their final resting place explaining their respective fates.

%%* AllAreEqualInDeath:
* AmbiguouslyRelated: King Koush and Queen Tedmur both were rulers of settlements of Greek origin. The both of them are divinely punished for caring more for the comforts of physical existence than their spiritual growth. Koush is always identified as a descendant, be that son, grandson (through Kanan), or even great-grandson (through Kanan and Shirwan) of King Sheddad, who suffered a similar fate after building paradise on earth. Tedmur is not directly linked to Sheddad most of the time, but she is always the daughter of a king of the Amalekites and there is a legend that the Amalekites descend from Sheddad. The version of "The City of Brass" in BNF #3668 has an explicit connection in that the queen there is called Ramkiyah ibnat Amalaq ibn Kanan ibn Ad ibn Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar.
* AmbiguousSituation: Not a version explains why Dahish told Solomon about al-Aziz's daughter. Was he made to or did he mean to manipulate the two kings to war with the expectation that his own side would emerge victorious?
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The poet al-Naabighah al-Dhubiyaan, who died around 604, is depicted as a contemporary of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and Emir Musa ibn Nusayr, who weren't even born until the 640s.

** In Von Hammer's version, the two guards that protect Tedmur's corpse are themselves embalmed corpses turned into automata.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Anyone who gets up on the walls of the City of Brass from outside is met with a vision of ten or twelve houris that beckon the invader to them. Very few can resist their loveliness, but as the houris stand quite a way from the city walls, walking to them means walking off the walls to fall to one's death.
* DualBoss: The automaton guards of Queen Tedmur kill Talib jointly. One of them smacks uses his club to smack him in the back and make Talib fall over, after which the other decapitates the thief with his sword.
* DwindlingParty: Whereas Queen Tedmur's people died all at once, King Koush's court died over several dies in roughly the same number each day. Koush had messages prepared for future visitors when he realized he too would end up dead eventually
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Once the people of the City of Brass realize death by starvation is all that awaits them, they lock up their city and go about their daily business until the end. The scenery that greets Abdussamad and the others when they make their way inside is eerily peaceful.
%%* TheFamine:
* {{Foil}}: The two men at the head of the journey to retrieve the Solomonic flasks for the caliph are Talib ibn Sahl, who told the caliph about the flasks in the first place, and Musa ibn Nusayr, the caliph's trusted emir. Both men see the same sights and receive the same warnings not to let earthly greed distract from decency and from Allah, but whereas Musa takes them to heart, Talib is hardly affected. On the offer of Queen Tedmur for the visitors to take whatever they want except for her garments, Talib insists they're too good for a dead woman and readies to take them. He is killed by two automatons for his vulgar greed. Musa has no pity for him and leaves Talib's body where it fell. Once the journey is at an end some years later, Musa himself, a changed man, hands his titles and wealth to his son and moves to Jerusalem to dedicate the rest of his life to the worship of Allah.
* FreeingTheGenie: The people at the Sea of Karkar are used to fishing up flasks in which Solomon imprisoned rebellious djinn. Every time they free the djinn and every time they come out begging forgiveness before disappearing. Caliph Abd al-Malik hears of this and sends out an expedition to retrieve some bottles so he may experience freeing some djinn himself.
* GhostCity: Both the court of the Black Castle and the population of the City of Brass have long ago been wiped out by Allah for their commitment to earthly wealth. But the castle and the city still stand as if life left it only shortly ago. In the castle, the dead are neatly arranged in a total of four hundred coffins, while in the city the people perished from hunger as they went about their day and the dry climate mummified them. The exception is Queen Tedmur and, depending on the version, the guards at her side. Those three are artificially preserved and the guards likely turned into automata.
* GoingToSeeTheElephant: The entire reason that some two thousand men go risk their lives traversing North Africa from one end to the other is because Caliph Abd al-Malik fancies to see the flasks Solomon imprisoned djinn in and to open them himself to witness the creatures escape as they beg Solomon for forgiveness. No one benefits from the caliph getting to see the flasks for himself and the whole journey takes two years and some months to and then that same time fro.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Musa doesn't do a whole lot to make the expedition a success, but usually it's because he can't do anything while the more experienced Abdussamad does know how to handle things. But when the group encounters Dahish, Musa explicitly shoves Abdussamad into into speaking with the fearsome ifrit. Musa is too frightened to do it himself, yet assures Abdussamad that he is safe because the ifrit is chained down.
%%* AndIMustScream: Solomon

* MultiArmedAndDangerous: The once fearsome ifrit Dahish has two humanoid arms, two bestial paws, and two wings. Regardless of whether Solomon had him imprisoned inside the pillar or chained to it, these six limbs of his are well-visible from afar and signal that Dahish is dangerous, while the imprisonment of such a monster speaks of Solomon's might.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: In almost all versions of "The City of Brass", the king against whom Solomon wages war goes unnamed. But in some, such as the one incorporated in Gaudefroy-Demombynes's translation of ''One Hundred and One Nights'', the king is named al-Aziz ibn Marrah.

* {{Omniglot}}: The elderly and well-travelled Abdussamad is said to be very learned and versed in all tongues. This is useful in the Black Castle and in the City of Brass because various instructions and warnings are written in an old form of Greek, hinted to be close to the language spoken by UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: In most manuscripts, Talib is a nobleman who just so happens to know about a place to the West where the Solomonic flasks can be found and who takes an interest in going on the journey himself for no clear reason, though possibly to earn the caliph's favor. In the Breslau edition, he is explicitly a treasure seeker in the possession of many books on lost riches just waiting to be found. Within this context, the fact that he immediately can present a plan of action to the caliph on how to retrieve some of these flasks suggests that he was angling to get the caliph's backing in launching an expedition. Talib's lust for treasure catches up with him when he ignores Queen Tedmur's instruction to take whatever one likes from her palace but to not touch her garments. He does so anyway because they are some of the finest treasures lying around and gets killed by the two automaton guards at the queen's side.

%%* RiddleForTheAges: All
* SacredHospitality: By means of a tablet, the dead Queen Tedmur explains to any visitors to her city what caused the entire population to perish. She warns the visitors against greed but, as her people no longer have use for it, she also gives permission for the visitors to take some of the remaining riches with them. The only thing she asks is that her burial clothes, which are some of the most valuable items to be found in the city, are left to her. Talib goes to take them anyway and for this insolence gets killed by the two automaton guards flanking the queen.
* ShamefulStrip: Queen Tedmur chooses to be embalmed and put on display in her throne dressed in her finest clothes. The tablet at her feet gives any visitor permission to take whatever they desire in her palace except for her garments, because those are the one possession she still uses. However, Tedmur's clothes are some of the valuable treasures around and therefore Talib wants them. Depending on the version, he's in particular interested in her belt studded with huge diamonds or her head scarf fully covered in pearls. When called out on it by the others, he argues that dead women have even less right than living women to protect their modesty with more than rags. When he grasps for the garments, though, the automaton guards flanking the throne spring into action and kill Talib.
* SundialWaypoint: Although not used to indicate any point of interest, in some versions, the room in which Caliph Abd al-Malik speaks with his court about the blessings of Solomon is a round structure with windows for each day of the year. Only once per year does the sun shine directly through a given window.
* TempleOfDoom: The security system of the City of Brass is still active, though the expedition encounters only two dangers. The first is the illusion of the beautiful women atop the city walls, which beckon all men climbing up on the walls to come to them. If a man takes the bait, he falls off the other side of the wall to his death. The second are the automaton guards flanking Queen Tedmur's corpse and throne. Would someone move to touch the queen or take her garments, the otherwise motionless constructions move to kill.
* UnknownCharacter: All of the inhabitants of the City of Brass are natural mummies, even if perhaps magically preserved. But Queen Tedmur is explicitly an artificial mummy, having been embalmed and her eyes treated with quicksilver. The scenery in the city implies that everyone perished of hunger around the same time, so who embalmed Tedmur and set her up on her throne to welcome future visitors?
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Many of the flasks Solomon imprisoned rebellious djinn in have ended up on the floor of the Sea of Karkar. The people living there fish them up very regularly and free the djinn, being greeted with the same sight always of a humongous creature floating out that begs forgiveness from the long-gone prophet before disappearing. They know what they're dealing with and that the djinn are harmless, so it's barely worth a shrug to them while to anyone else it's anything but an uninteresting sight.
* UselessProtagonist: Throughout the adventure, Emir Musa ibn Nusayr never does anything to bring about success. It's by and large Sheik Abdussamad who provides solutions. Yet Musa is the leader of the expedition for the Solomonic flasks and the character whose reactions are always focussed on. He's also the one who comes back from the expedition with a new outlook on what matters in life and who makes changes accordingly. All in all, the audience is supposed to care more about the lesson Musa learns than the adventure he partakes in.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: According to Dahish, King al-Aziz's daughter was the fairest woman of her day, as she excelled in beauty, loveliness, elegance, and grace. Word of this reached Solomon, who demanded her as his wife from al-Aziz and that the other king converted to Islam. Al-Aziz refused, which provoked Solomon into going to war against him.

"The City of Brass", also rendered as "The Brazen City", is the legend told about the City of Brass. The oldest references to the legend's existence are dated to the 9th Century while the oldest known surviving copy, a manuscript kept by the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the number 3118, existed by 1718. Although versions of the "The City of Brass" can be found in many independent compilations, it is best known for its inclusion in ''[[Literature/ArabianNights One Thousand and One Nights]]'', which the popular legend became part of on multiple separate occasions. It is likely that the ZER manuscript, composed around 1775, accounts for the oldest inclusion. Though lost today, ZER's contents were the basis of the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions, which both contain "The City of Brass", respectively within Volume 2 and in Volume 3, without significant differences between them. A second version of the legend made it into the Breslau edition, which combines stories found in various manuscripts mostly kept by the BNF. The version of "The City of Brass" found in Breslau's Volume 6, which was published in 1834, is copied from BNF #3118. A third version was present in a ''One Thousand and One Nights'' manuscript written before 1804. The original is lost but a secondary translation still exists. It was in the early 19th Century as well that another version of the legend was added to ''One Hundred and One Nights''.

The first post-1700 translation of "The City of Brass" into an European language was by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall as "La ville d'airain". It concerns an 1806 French translation of the 1804 ''One Thousand and One Nights'' manuscript and while both the manuscript and Von Hammer-Purgstall's translation are lost, August Ernst Zinserling's 1824 German translation of the French translation is still around as "Die eherne Stadt" in Volume 2. It was further translated into English by George Lamb in 1828, preceding the vastly more influential English translations of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' by Edward Lane, John Payne, and Richard Burton based on the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions with the Breslau edition as backup. Lane included "The City of Brass" in Volume 3 of his translation in 1859, while Payne and Burton published their translations in the 1880s within which "The City of Brass" occupies a spot in respectively Volume 5 and Volume 6. ''One Hundred and One Nights'' was translated into French by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes in 1911 using four copies and other manuscripts kept by the BNF, relying mostly on BNF #3660. This manuscript contain "The City of Brass", which is therefore part of the translation.

In Arabic, "The City of Brass" is "Madīnat al-Nuḥās" ("مـديـنـة الـنـحـاس") or, rarely, "Madīnat al-Ṣufr" ("مـديـنـة الصُفْر"). Neither "nuḥās" nor "ṣufr" historically necessarily means "brass". They're better understood as "copper and its alloys", which is why in English the story also is occasionally referred to as "The City of Copper". The legend takes place around 700 because two of its key characters are Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and Emir Musa ibn Nusayr and the legend likely is a fictionalized account of the conquest of North Africa, [[UsefulNotes/ArabWorld the Maghreb]], as finalized by Musa. With that in mind, the purely fictional figure of Queen Tedmur may be partially inspired by Dihya al-Kahina, the Berber queen that resisted Muslim conquest and was respected for it but who also, whether rightfully or falsely, was associated with scorched earth tactics that eventually became her downfall.

At Damascus, Talib ibn Sahl tells Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan about how his grandfather once stumbled upon an uncharted land to the west where he got to see flasks that Solomon imprisoned rebellious spirits in get netted up by fishermen. The locals assured him this is a regular occurrence and that they usually free the trapped spirits. Wanting to see such for himself, Abd al-Malik sends Talib to Emir Musa ibn Nusayr in Egypt so that together they can fetch him some Solomonic flasks. Musa summons the elderly Sheik Abdussamad ibn Abd al-Kuddus as their guide because of his knowledge of the Maghreb. Getting lost still, the group finds a deserted castle made of black stone and have a look around inside. They come upon various Greek inscriptions that tell of the castle's last ruler, King Koush, son of Sheddad, whose glamorous life ended when his self-centeredness earned him Allah's wrath. Every day, more of his court died and preparing for his own end, Koush had the inscriptions made to warn others not to repeat his mistakes. The group then continues onwards and comes across a horseman of brass upon which is engraved the instruction to rub his hand to be directed to the City of Brass. Adjusting their course, the group next discovers a pillar of brass keeping an ifrit. He tells them that he is Dahish ibn Amash, the leader of a revolt against Solomon's reign, who upon defeat was imprisoned to await the Day of Resurrection. He gives the group directions and they're back on their way. Last before their destination, they come upon the City of Brass with its black stone walls and iconic twin towers of brass that look like flames at a distance. The group constructs a ladder to get in, but of those who climb it only Abdussamad survives the security system. He opens a city gate to let the others in and together they discover that all around the citizens have dropped dead, evidently from hunger, going about their daily lives. They make their way to the palace, where again Greek inscriptions tell of splendor tamed by death, the last of which on a tablet at the throne of the dead Queen Tedmur. It gives permission to any visitor to take some treasures, but to leave the queen's possessions alone. Talib wants her garments anyway and for that is killed by the two automata guarding the queen. The group leaves Talib's corpse and stocks up on treasure before continuing to and finally reaching their destination. They are warmly welcomed and given twelve flasks to return to Abd al-Malik with. The caliph is delighted while the journey has inspired Musa to hand his titles to his son and dedicate the rest of his life to the worship of Allah in Jerusalem.

In the 9th Century references to the legend, Musa ibn Nusayr pointedly fails to enter the City of Brass. All things that occur within the city are therefore later additions; ones thematically inspired by the legend of Iram as found in Surah 89 of Literature/TheQuran and in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah". The direct connection between the two stories is Koush, the king of the black castle in "The City of Brass" and also a descendent of Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar, who is the king of Iram. Sheddad had Iram built as paradise on Earth, but for his hubris was smited before he reached it, much like Koush's self-centeredness ends his enviable life. A son of Sheddad retrieved Sheddad's body and hid it in a cavern seated on a luxurious throne and clothed in expensive garments. This too is Queen Tedmur's situation. All three monarchs have a tablet at their final resting place explaining their respective fates.

Other than the legend of Iram, "The City of Brass", as part of an extensive folkloric tradition, shares traits with several more stories. A horseman of brass also features in "The Third Kalandar's Tale", although there it is a sign of danger rather than a fancy guidepost. The notion of a city in which the sinful residents have been left as husks plays a role in "The Eldest Lady's Tale", which instead of mummified people speaks of people turned into statues. And "The Fisherman and the Jinni" tells of the fate of Solomonic flask that ended up somewhere other than the Sea of Karkar. All three aforementioned tales are core stories of ''One Thousand and One Nights''.

* AmbiguouslyRelated: King Koush and Queen Tedmur both are rulers of settlements of Greek origin and outer walls of black stone. The both of them are divinely punished for caring more for the comforts of physical existence than their spiritual growth. Koush is always identified as a descendant, be that son, grandson (through Kanan), or even great-grandson of King Sheddad, who suffered a similar fate after building paradise on earth. Tedmur is not directly linked to Sheddad most of the time, but she is always the daughter of a king of the Amalekites and there is a legend that the Amalekites descend from Sheddad. The version of "The City of Brass" in BNF #3668 has an explicit connection in that the queen there is called Ramkiyah ibnat Amalaq ibn Kanan ibn Ad ibn Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar.

* CoolOldGuy: Although he is the last named character to join the group on their journey through the Maghreb and the only one past his prime years, Abdussamad could've just as well made the trek alone because there's little contribution from anyone other than him. He is the one who guides the group, as he's the only one who made similar journeys before or was taught about the region by preceding travellers. It is he alone who can read the Ancient Greek inscriptions in the black castle and in the Castle of Brass. It is he whom Musa, too afraid to do it himself, shoves forward to talk with the ifrit Dahish. And again it's Abdussamad who, after several previous attempts led to the death of the volunteers, climbs upon the walls of the City of Brass and survives the trap laid there. He thereby also is the one who figures out how to open the gate to let his companions inside.

* GhostCity: Both the court of the black castle and the population of the City of Brass have long ago been wiped out by Allah for their commitment to earthly wealth. But the castle and the city still stand as if life left it only shortly ago. In the castle, the dead are neatly arranged in a total of four hundred coffins, while in the city the people perished from hunger as they went about their day and the dry climate mummified them. The exception is Queen Tedmur and, depending on the version, the guards at her side. Those three are artificially preserved and the guards likely turned into automata.
* GoingToSeeTheElephant: The entire reason that some two thousand men go risk their lives traversing North Africa from one end to the other is because Caliph Abd al-Malik fancies to see the flasks Solomon imprisoned spirits in and to open them himself to witness the creatures escape as they beg Solomon for forgiveness. No one benefits from the caliph getting to see the flasks for himself and the whole journey takes two years and some months to and then that same time fro.

* {{Omniglot}}: The elderly and well-travelled Abdussamad is said to be very learned and versed in all tongues. This is useful in the black castle and in the City of Brass because various instructions and warnings are written in an old form of Greek, possibly close to the language spoken by UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat.

* TempleOfDoom: The security system of the City of Brass is still active, though Musa's group encounters only two dangers. The first is the illusion of the beautiful women atop the city walls, which beckon all men climbing up on the walls to come to them. If a man takes the bait, he falls off the other side of the wall to his death. The second are the automaton guards flanking Queen Tedmur's corpse and throne. Would any move to touch the queen or take her garments, the otherwise motionless constructions move to kill.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Many of the flasks Solomon imprisoned rebellious spirits in have ended up on the floor of the Sea of Karkar. The people living there fish them up very regularly and free the spirits, being greeted with the same sight always of a humongous creature floating out that begs forgiveness from the long-gone prophet before disappearing. They know what they're dealing with and that the spirits are harmless, so it's barely worth a shrug to them while to anyone else it's anything but an uninteresting sight.
* UselessProtagonist: Throughout the adventure, Emir Musa ibn Nusayr never does anything to bring about success. It's by and large Sheik Abdussamad who provides solutions. Yet Musa is the leader of the expedition for the Solomonic flasks and the character whose reactions are always focussed on. He's also the one who comes back from the expedition with a new outlook on what matters in life and who makes changes accordingly. All in all, the audience is supposed to care more about the lesson Musa learns than the adventure he partakes in.
%%* WeAllDieSomeday:

"The City of Brass", also rendered as "The Brazen City", is the legend told about the City of Brass. The oldest references to the legend's existence are dated to the 9th Century while the oldest known surviving copy, a manuscript kept by the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the number 3118, existed by 1718. Although versions of the "The City of Brass" can be found in many independent compilations, it is best known for its inclusion in ''[[Literature/ArabianNights One Thousand and One Nights]]'', which the popular legend became part of on multiple separate occasions. It is likely that the ZER manuscript, composed around 1775, accounts for the oldest inclusion. Though lost today, ZER's contents were the basis of the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions, which both contain "The City of Brass", respectively within Volume 2 and in Volume 3, without significant differences between them. A second version of the legend made it into the Breslau edition, which combines stories found in various manuscripts mostly kept by the BNF. The version of "The City of Brass" found in Breslau's Volume 6, which was published in 1834, is copied from BNF #3118. A third version was present in a ''One Thousand and One Nights'' manuscript written before 1804. The original is lost but a secondary translation still exists. It was also in the early 19th Century that another version of the legend was added to ''One Hundred and One Nights''.

%%* ShamefulStrip:

* MultiArmedAndDangerous: The once fearsome ifrit Dahish has two humanoid arms, two bestial paws, and two wings. Regardless of whether Solomon had him imprisoned inside the pillar or chained to it, these six limbs of his are well-visible from afar and signal that Dahish is dangerous, while the imprisonment of such a monster speaks of Solomon's might.

The first post-1700 translation of "The City of Brass" into an European language was by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall as "La ville d'airain". It concerns an 1806 French translation of the 1804 ''One Thousand and One Nights'' manuscript and while both the manuscript and Von Hammer-Purgstall's translation are lost, August Ernst Zinserling's 1824 German translation of the French translation is still around as "Die eherne Stadt" in Volume 2. It was further translated into English by George Lamb in 1828, preceding the vastly more influential English translations of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' by Edward Lane, John Payne, and Richard Burton based on the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions with the Breslau edition as backup. Lane included "The City of Brass" in Volume 3 of his translation in 1859, while Payne and Burton published their translations in the 1880s within which "The City of Brass" occupies a spot in respectively Volume 5 and Volume 6. ''One Hundred and One Nights'' was translated into French by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes in 1911 using various copies kept by the BNF. Some of these contain "The City of Brass", which is therefore part of the translation.

In the 9th Century references to the legend, Musa ibn Nusayr pointedly fails to enter the City of Brass. All things that occur within the city are therefore later additions; ones thematically inspired by the legend of Iram as found in Surah 89 of Literature/TheQuran and in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah". The direct connection between the two stories is Koush, the king of the black castle in "The City of Brass" and also a son Sheddad, who is the king of Iram. Sheddad had Iram built as paradise on Earth, but for his hubris was smited before he reached it, much like Koush's self-centeredness ends his enviable life. A son of Sheddad, ostensibly not Koush, retrieved Sheddad's body and hid it in a cavern seated on a luxurious throne and clothed in expensive garments. This too is Queen Tedmur's situation. All three monarchs have a tablet at their final resting place explaining their respective fates.

"The City of Brass", also rendered as "The Brazen City", is the legend told about the City of Brass. The oldest references to the legend's existence are dated to the 9th Century while the oldest known surviving copy, a manuscript kept by the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the number 3118, existed by 1718. Although versions of the "The City of Brass" can be found in many independent compilations, it is best known for its inclusion in ''[[Literature/ArabianNights One Thousand and One Nights]]'', which the popular legend became part of on multiple separate occasions. It is likely that the ZER manuscript, composed around 1775, accounts for the oldest inclusion. Though lost today, ZER's contents were the basis of the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions, which both contain "The City of Brass", respectively within Volume 2 and in Volume 3, without significant differences between them. A second version of the legend made it into the Breslau edition, which combines stories found in various manuscripts mostly kept by the BNF. The version of "The City of Brass" found in Breslau's Volume 6, which was published in 1834, is copied from BNF #3118. A third version was present in a manuscript from 1804 at the latest. The original is lost but a secondary translation still exists. ''One Hundred and One Nights'' contains yet a fourth version of the legend, which was added in the early 19th Century.

The first post-1700 translation of "The City of Brass" into an European language was by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall as "La ville d'airain". It concerns an 1806 French translation of the 1804 ''One Thousand and One Nights'' manuscript and while both the manuscript and Von Hammer-Purgstall's translation no longer exist, August Ernst Zinserling's 1824 translation of the French translation as "Die eherne Stadt" in Volume 2 is still around. It was further translated into English by George Lamb in 1828, preceding the vastly more influential English translations of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' by Edward Lane, John Payne, and Richard Burton based on the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions with the Breslau edition as backup. Lane included "The City of Brass" in Volume 3 of his translation in 1859, while Payne and Burton published their translations in the 1880s within which "The City of Brass" occupies a spot in respectively Volume 5 and Volume 6. ''One Hundred and One Nights'' was translated into French by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes in 1911 using various manuscripts kept by the BNF and therefore "The City of Brass" is included.

In Arabic, "The City of Brass" is "Madīnat al-Nuḥās" ("مـديـنـة الـنـحـاس") or, rarely, "Madīnat al-Ṣufr" ("مـديـنـة الصُفْر"). Neither "nuḥās" nor "ṣufr" historically necessarily means "brass". They're better understood as "copper and all its alloys", with "brass" being the standard interpretation, but this is why in English the story also is occasionally referred to as "The City of Copper". The legend takes place around 700 because two of its key characters are Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and Emir Musa ibn Nusayr and the legend likely is a fictionalized account of the conquest of North Africa, [[UsefulNotes/ArabWorld the Maghreb]], as finalized by Musa. With that in mind, the purely fictional figure of Queen Tedmur may be partially inspired by Dihya al-Kahina, the Berber queen that resisted Muslim conquest and was respected for it but who also, whether rightfully or falsely, was associated with scorched earth tactics that eventually became her downfall.

At Damascus, Talib ibn Sahl tells Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan about how his grandfather once stumbled upon an uncharted land to the west where he got to see flasks that Solomon imprisoned rebellious spirits in get netted up by fishermen. The locals assured him this is a regular occurrence and that they usually free the trapped spirits. Wanting to see such for himself, Abd al-Malik sends Talib to Emir Musa ibn Nusayr in Egypt so that together they can fetch him some Solomonic flasks. Musa summons the elderly Sheik Abdussamad ibn Abd al-Kuddus as their guide because of his knowledge of the Maghreb. Getting lost still, the group finds a deserted castle made of black stone and have a look around inside. They come upon various Greek inscriptions that tell of the castle's last ruler, King Koush, son of Sheddad, whose glamorous life ended when his self-centeredness earned him Allah's wrath. Every day, two of his court died and preparing for his own end, Koush had the inscriptions made to warn others not to repeat his mistakes. The group then continues onwards and comes across a horseman of brass upon which is engraved the instruction to rub his hand to be directed to the City of Brass. Adjusting their course, the group next discovers a pillar of brass encasing an ifrit. He tells them that he is Dahish ibn Amash and that he was the leader of a revolt against Solomon's reign and upon defeat was imprisoned to await the Day of Resurrection. He gives the group directions and they're back on their way. Last before their destination, they come upon the City of Brass with its black stone walls and iconic twin towers of brass that look like flames at a distance. The group constructs a ladder to get in, but of those who climb it only Abdussamad survives the security system. He opens a city gate to let the others in and together they discover that all around the citizens have dropped dead, evidently from hunger, going about their daily lives. They make their way to the palace, where again Greek inscriptions tell of splendor tamed by death, the last of which on a tablet at the throne of the dead Queen Tedmur. It gives permission to any visitor to take some treasures, but to leave the queen's possessions alone. Talib wants her garments anyway and for that is killed by the brass automata guarding the queen. The group leaves Talib's corpse and stocks up on treasure before continuing to and finally reaching their destination. They are warmly welcomed and given twelve flasks to return to Abd al-Malik with. The caliph is delighted while the journey has inspired Musa to hand his titles to his son and dedicate the rest of his life to the worship of Allah in Jerusalem.

In the 9th Century references to the legend, Musa ibn Nusayr pointedly fails to enter the City of Brass. Everything that occurs within the city is therefore a later addition; ones thematically inspired by the legend of Iram of the Pillars as found in Surah 89 of Literature/TheQuran and in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah". The direct connection between the two stories is Koush, the king of the black castle in "The City of Brass" and also a son Sheddad, who is the king of Iram. Sheddad had Iram built as paradise on Earth, but for his hubris was killed before he reached it, much like Koush's self-centeredness ends his enviable life. A son of Sheddad, ostensibly not Koush, retrieved Sheddad's body and hid it in a cavern seated on a luxurious throne and clothed in expensive garments. This too is Queen Tedmur's situation. All three monarchs have a tablet at their final resting place explaining their respective fates.

Other than the legend of Iram of the Pillars, "The City of Brass", as part of an extensive folkloric tradition, shares traits with several more stories. A horseman of brass also features in "The Third Kalandar’s Tale", although there it is a sign of danger rather than a fancy guidepost. The notion of a city in which the sinful residents have been left as husks plays a role in "The Eldest Lady's Tale", which instead of mummified people speaks of people turned into statues. And "The Fisherman and the Jinni" tells of the fate of Solomonic flask that ended up somewhere other than the Sea of Karkar. All three aforementioned tales are core stories of ''One Thousand and One Nights''. As a little fun fact, the only other tale that has a recurring history with the ''Nights'' that is convoluted similar to "The City of Brass" is "Literature/TheEbonyHorse".

%%* DwindlingParty:

%%* FreeingTheGenie:

%%* HumanSubspecies: for their country was not reached by the Deluge and they are cut off there from the [other] sons of Adam
%%* {{Hypocrite}}:

"The City of Brass", also rendered as "The Brazen City", is the legend told about the City of Brass. The oldest references to the legend's existence are dated to the 9th Century while the oldest known surviving copy, a manuscript kept by the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the number 3118, existed by 1718. Although versions of the "The City of Brass" can be found in many independent compilations, it is best known for its inclusion in ''[[Literature/ArabianNights One Thousand and One Nights]]'', which the popular legend became part of on three separate occasions. It is likely that the oldest of these three occasions is the ZER manuscript composed around 1775. Though lost today, ZER's contents were the basis of the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions, which both contain "The City of Brass", respectively within Volume 2 and in Volume 3, without significant differences between them. The second occasion was in the Breslau edition, which combines stories found in various manuscripts mostly kept by the BNF. The version of "The City of Brass" found in Breslau's Volume 6, which was published in 1834, is copied from 3118. The third occasion is ''One Hundred and One Nights'', to which "The City of Brass" was added in the early 19th Century.

The first documented translations of "The City of Brass" into an European language were by Edward Lane, John Payne, and Richard Burton. These all three entail English translations of the whole of ''One Thousand and One Nights'', for which Lane used the Bulaq edition as basis and Payne and Burton primarily relied on the Calcutta II edition. All three men consulted the Breslau edition to fill in the gaps in "The City of Brass" as written down in their main texts. Lane included the legend in Volume 3 of his translation in 1859, while Payne and Burton published their translations in the 1880s within which "The City of Brass" occupies a spot in respectively Volume 5 and Volume 6. ''One Hundred and One Nights'' was translated into French by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes in 1911 using various manuscripts kept by the BNF and therefore "The City of Brass" is included.

At Damascus, Talib ibn Sahl tells Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan about how his grandfather once stumbled upon an uncharted land to the west where he got to see flasks that Solomon imprisoned rebellious spirits in get netted up by fishermen. The locals assured him this is a regular occurrence and that they usually free the trapped spirits. Wanting to see such for himself, Abd al-Malik sends Talib to Emir Musa ibn Nusayr in Egypt so that together they can fetch him some Solomonic flasks. Musa summons the elderly Sheik Abd al-Samad ibn Abd al-Kuddus as their guide because of his knowledge of the Maghreb. Getting lost still, the group finds a deserted castle made of black stone and have a look around inside. They come upon various Greek inscriptions that tell of the castle's last ruler, King Koush, son of Sheddad, whose glamorous life ended when his self-centeredness earned him Allah's wrath. Every day, two of his court died and preparing for his own end, Koush had the inscriptions made to warn others not to repeat his mistakes. The group then continues onwards and comes across a horseman of brass upon which is engraved the instruction to rub his hand to be directed to the City of Brass. Adjusting their course, the group next discovers a pillar of brass encasing an ifrit. He tells them that he is Dahish ibn Amash and that he was the leader of a revolt against Solomon's reign and upon defeat was imprisoned to await the Day of Resurrection. He gives the group directions and they're back on their way. Last before their destination, they come upon the City of Brass with its black stone walls and iconic twin towers of brass that look like flames at a distance. The group constructs a ladder to get in, but of those who climb it only Abd al-Samad survives the security system. He opens a city gate to let the others in and together they discover that all around the citizens have dropped dead, evidently from hunger, going about their daily lives. They make their way to the palace, where again Greek inscriptions tell of splendor tamed by death, the last of which on a tablet at the throne of the dead Queen Tedmur. It gives permission to any visitor to take some treasures, but to leave the queen's possessions alone. Talib wants her garments anyway and for that is killed by the brass automata guarding the queen. The group leaves Talib's corpse and stocks up on treasure before continuing to and finally reaching their destination. They are warmly welcomed and given twelve flasks to return to Abd al-Malik with. The caliph is delighted while the journey has inspired Musa to hand his titles to his son and dedicate the rest of his life to the worship of Allah in Jerusalem.

* CoolOldGuy: Although he is the last named character to join the group on their journey through the Maghreb and the only one past his prime years, Abd al-Samad could've just as well made the trek alone because there's little contribution from anyone other than him. He is the one who guides the group, as he's the only one who made similar journeys before or was taught about the region by his equally well-travelled grandfather. It is he alone who can read the Ancient Greek inscriptions in the black castle and in the Castle of Brass. It is he whom Musa, too afraid to do it himself, shoves forward to talk with the ifrit Dahish. And again it's Abd al-Samad who, after several previous attempts led to the death of the volunteers, climbs upon the walls of the City of Brass and survives the trap laid there. He thereby also is the one who figures out how to open the gate to let his companions inside.
* DeadGuyOnDisplay: Queen Tedmur has let herself be embalmed and the corpse dressed in her finest clothes to be placed upon her throne to last as long as the procedure protects her from the ravages of time. She sits there next to a slab that welcomes visitors, gives them permission to take some of the castle's treasures, and warns them not to ever let materialism eat away at spirituality.

%%* {{Hypocrite}}

* MagicCarpet: In the long-gone past, Solomon went to war seated on a flying carpet. The carpet itself is not specifically noted to be magical, but Solomon does say that the wind obeys him as per Allah's will. Therefore, the carpet may be ordinary and it Solomon who makes the wind move it.
* {{Omniglot}}: The elderly and well-travelled Abd al-Samad is said to be very learned and versed in all tongues. This is useful in the black castle and in the City of Brass because various instructions and warnings are written in an old form of Greek, possibly close to the language spoken by UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat.

%%* SacredHospitality:
%%* TempleOfDoom:

%%* UselessProtagonist: Despite being

%% Image by Léon Carré for ''Histoire de la ville d’airain'' in Volume 5 of J.C. Mardrus's edition of ''Le livre des mille et une nuits''.

[[caption-width-right:350:Makes you wonder... what deadly traps will it hold?]]

"The City of Brass" is the legend told about the City of Brass. The oldest references to the legend's existence are dated to the 9th Century while the oldest known surviving copy, a manuscript kept by the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the number 3118, existed by 1718. Although versions of the "The City of Brass" can be found in many independent compilations, it is best known for its inclusion in ''[[Literature/ArabianNights One Thousand and One Nights]]'', which the popular legend became part of on three separate occasions. It is likely that the oldest of these three occasions is the ZER manuscript composed around 1775. Though lost today, ZER's contents were the basis of the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions, which both contain "The City of Brass", respectively within Volume 2 and in Volume 3, without significant differences between them. The second occasion was in the Breslau edition, which combines stories found in various manuscripts mostly kept by the BNF. The version of "The City of Brass" found in Breslau's Volume 6, which was published in 1834, is copied from 3118. The third occasion is ''One Hundred and One Nights'', to which "The City of Brass" was added in the early 19th Century.

%%* GhostCity:

[[redirect:Literature/TheDaevabadTrilogy]]

placeholder

[[redirect:Literature/TheDaevabadTrilogy]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thecityofbrass.jpg]]
%%
%% Zero-context examples are not allowed on wiki pages; all such examples have been commented out.
%% Please add proper context before uncommenting them -- a good example should explain *how* it's an example.
%%
''The City of Brass'', by S.A. Chakraborty, is the first book in the Daevabad trilogy, a series that breaks with the tradition of MedievalEuropeanFantasy novels by being distinctly Middle Eastern. Most of the characters, even nonhuman ones, are devout Muslims, and much of the story takes place in a hidden magical city in the highlands of central Asia.

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she's a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by— palm readings, zars, healings —are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles.

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she's forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

The second book in the trilogy, ''The Kingdom of Copper'', was released in early 2019.

The third and final book, ''The Empire of Gold'', was released in June 2020.

----
!!This work contains examples of:

* AbandonedHospital: Daevabad used to have a place of healing that was run by the Nahids. Nahri puts considerable time and effort into restoring it as a good faith gesture.
* AbusiveParents:
** Ghassan is a complicated example. He loves his children, but it doesn't stop him from ruthlessly manipulating and coercing them whenever he thinks the city's interests are at stake. The first book ends with him exiling Ali to an almost-certain death because he can't bring himself to directly order his execution.
** [[spoiler:Manizheh]] proves to be worse than Ghassan. She's far from a model parent to her long-lost daughter and son, completely ignores their wishes, and uses the safety of one to manipulate the other.
* AlienBlood: Full-blooded daeva have distinctive black blood, while human-deva hybrids bleed red.
* AllMythsAreTrue: Those tales of genies and magic that Nahri thought were just fantasy? Yeah, turns out they're the real deal.
* AndIMustScream: What enslavement by the ifrit is like for a djinn. It is widely regarded as a fate worse than death. Most go insane after a few centuries.
* AnimalMotifs: Comparisons to cats seem to pop up a lot regarding the various otherworldly beings--Dara is likened to a tiger a couple of times, and the Djinn's and Ghoul's actions are sometimes described as cat-like. The Nahids are even said to have ridden winged lions into battle.
* AntiMagic: One of the basic powers of Suleiman's Seal is shutting down the magic of everyone but the holder, which Ghassan is only too happy to demonstrate.
* ArabianNightsDays: Despite being a story filled with genies, magic carpets, and the like, this trope is averted. It takes place in Egypt in the late 18th century.
* ArcherArchetype: The Daeva tribe pride themselves on their traditional skill with bow and arrow.
* ArrangedMarriage: Ghassan plans to unite the Qahtanis and Nahids by marrying Muntadhir to Nahri.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Ifrit delight in picking humans to give enslaved djinn to in the hopes that the humans will create as much self-inflicted misery as possible through their wishes.
* BerserkButton: Go ahead, taunt Dara about his sister's death. I dare you.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Muntadhir towards Zaynab and [[SiblingRivalry sometimes]] Ali.
** Dara is haunted by his little sister Tamima's brutal death. The mention of it serves as a BerserkButton for him.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Qahtanis, royal family of modern Daevabad. The siblings Muntadhir (heir to the throne), Ali (slated to be Muntadhir's [[NumberTwo Qaid]]), and Zaynab (only daughter, dreading a seemingly inevitable [[AltarDiplomacy political marriage]]) get along well enough at the start of the series, but after Dara returns things get ''complicated''. [[spoiler: By the end of the first book, Ghassan is willing to have his own son killed.]]
** Then in the later books, the [[spoiler: Nahids]] make the Qahtanis look like an absolute model of family harmony.
* BloodMagic: The ifrit specialize in blood magic. Nahid blood in particular is revealed to have numerous magical properties, including being poisonous to the ifrit. [[spoiler: Manizheh learns blood magic from the ifrit & uses the bodies of her ancestors from the palace crypt to resurrect Dara & re-enslave him.]]
* BodyguardCrush:
** Dara's job as Afshin is to protect the Nahids. He and Nahri fall for each other during their trip to Daevabad.
** [[spoiler: Muntadhir is in love with Jamshid, who is the captain of his guard.]]
* BrainyBrunette: Economics nerds Ali and Nahri.
* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: Dara was raised to serve the Nahids & revere them as gods. His loyalty persists even after they use him to commit atrocities on their behalf. It takes Manizheh's mass executions of Daeva nobles & re-enslavement of him for him to finally turn against her, & even then he can't yet bring himself to kill her.]]
* CameBackStrong:
** Djinn revived as slaves (usually by the ifrit) have powerful magic at their disposal.
** [[spoiler:When Manizheh revives Dara, he comes back with all the power of an original daeva.]]
* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler: When Manizheh revives Dara ''again'' using the remains of past Nahids as a magical catalyst, it does not go so well. Not only is he re-enslaved (to Manizheh this time), but his magic has been tainted by the process.]]
* CassandraTruth: Nahri quickly learned to hide her healing powers when growing up in Ottoman orphanages in Cairo.
* CelibateHero: Ali, much to his brother's amusement. As the king's second son, he's expected to not marry and stay celibate so the line of succession is clear.
* ClothingConcealedInjury: In the second book, [[spoiler:Prince Ali]] dresses to hide the fact that he's CoveredInScars from the neck down from a [[ElementalEmbodiment marid]] attack, which he only survived because he [[spoiler:let the marid [[PowersViaPossession possess his body]].]]
* CoolChair: The Shedu Throne, located in the palace of Daevabad, carved to resemble its namesake winged lion and encrusted with jewels, serves as the seat for the ruler of the magical world; first the Nahids, and then the Qahtanis.
* CrapsackWorld: Eighteenth century Cairo was subject to a series of foreign powers cycling through with varying levels of brutality, and Daevabad, secret capital city of the magical world, honestly isn't much better if you're [[HalfBreedDiscrimination shafit]], poor, or on King Ghassan's shit list.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: The Qahtanis' treatment of Manizheh, controlling her life, keeping her as a virtual prisoner in the infirmary, and punishing her brother if she ever stepped out of line caused a deep hatred and resentment in her [[spoiler: which ultimately lead to her faking her own death & plotting to overthrow the Qahtanis.]]
* CycleOfRevenge: The trilogy explores this concept as a recurring theme. The Nahid clan of the Daeva tribe used to rule the magical world, and treated partially human shafit ''quite'' badly, [[spoiler:culminating in the events that earned Dara his title, the Scourge.]] Then Zaydi al Qahtani led a rebellion to oust the Nahids and protect the shafit. This led to lasting resentment from the Daeva tribe as a whole, many of whom are still angry that the "jumped-up [[FantasticSlurs sandflies]]" are sitting on the throne of Daevabad centuries later. [[spoiler:And then Manizheh, one of the last Nahids, leads an attack on Daevabad to take back the city she thinks belongs to her.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler: Dara was sent to Qui-Zi by the Nahid Council to send a message that breaking their laws would be dealt with harshly. They chose him specifically because he was young & not likely to question his orders. After he returned, the Council pinned the atrocity entirely on him & exiled him as punishment. As a result, Dara was not in Daevabad when it fell to Zaydi al-Qahtani & his family was massacred. He organized & led a rebellion against al-Qahtani that came very close to succeeding. Just as he was preparing to retake Daevabad al-Qahtani made a deal with the ifrit, who killed Dara & enslaved him. He remained enslaved for over a thousand years, forced to do horrible things for a succession of human masters. It's also implied that some of those masters used him as a sex slave. Unsurprisingly, he's not willing to talk about his past.]]
* DeadlyScratch: The [[PoisonedWeapons magical poison]] of ''zulfiqar'' swords is universally deadly and [[AntiRegeneration defeats even Nahid healing]], so the Geziri fighting style emphasizes mobility and shallow slashes. At the end of ''Kingdom of Copper'', [[spoiler:Muntadhir is cut, but the Seal of Suleiman disables the magic before it can finish him off.]]
* DealWithTheDevil:
** Among the djinn, there are stories of making arrangements with the water-spirit marid that fit the general vibe of trafficking with ineffable malicious powers for personal gain.
** [[spoiler:Manizheh cuts a deal with the ifrit to have them on-side when conquering Daevabad.]]
* DecadentCourt: Ghassan's court is a minefield. The man himself is an unabashed tyrant with a fondness for lethal force and messy public executions, the established noble houses have held power for millennia at this point and are ''not'' interested in sharing, and each tribe is convinced the others are plotting something. They're, ah, not wrong.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobek Sobek]], the crocodilian god of the Nile, appears in ''Empire of Gold'' and horrifies Nahri and Ali by reminiscing about how his followers used to practice HumanSacrifice for him. Ali reflects a couple of times that it's a good thing his ancestors ended that kind of worship.
* {{Depower}}: [[spoiler: Manizheh hid Jamshid's Nahid abilities shortly after his birth so Ghassan wouldn't discover his true identity. When the spell is later removed, his Nahid abilities return.]]
* DisappearedDad: [[spoiler: Rustam dies shortly after Nahri is born.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Dara tricks Manizheh by luring her into a false sense of security & killing her before she realizes what's going on. She really should've paid more attention to his slave tattoo.]]
* TheDreaded: Darayavahoush e-Afshin, a.k.a. Dara. Even centuries after the war he fought against the Geziri tribe and their allies he's regarded as a fierce warrior of legend, known throughout the magical world as [[RedBaron The Scourge]] of Qui-zi. [[spoiler: We find out why near the end of the first book, and the first time we see it in action is terrifying.]]
* ElementalMotifs: Whether supernatural or not, living beings in the setting are associated with one of the classical elements. Humans are considered earth-based (adding an extra layer to calling the shafit [[FantasticSlurs dirtblooded]]), djinn are associated with fire, marid with water, and the peris with air.
* EvilChancellor: Kaveh, from the Geziri perspective. [[spoiler: He actively plots to restore the Nahids to power & is the one who releases the poison that kills Ghassan & many other Geziris.]]
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Turns out Banu Manizheh, one of the last Nahids, did not die with her brother Rustam.]]
* FamedInStory: Dara. To the djinn he's the monstrous Scourge of Qui-Zi & TheDreaded, while to the Daevas he's a heroic & romantic figure who fought to free their tribe from foreign rule.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath:
** The shafit who are executed by placing them on a bronze boat that is enchanted to melt, burning them alive. [[spoiler:Ali tries to perform a MercyKill on one of the victims, and it goes badly.]]
** The third book has Dara relate secondhand that [[spoiler:a mob literally tore Kaveh into pieces]].
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: [[spoiler: Manizheh reveals to Nahri that she's actually Rustam's daughter, making Manizheh her aunt and Jamshid her cousin.]]
* FantasticRacism:
** By djinn law, shafit (those with human blood) are not allowed to leave Daevabad. Once we see the City of Brass, we discover that there's a huge divide between pureblooded Djinn nobility and the shafit, with the former believing that the latter are incapable of powerful magic.
** Dara isn't too fond of humans either, and there is intense animosity between some of the Djinn tribes.
* FantasticSlurs: Several examples: "Dirtbloods" for shafit, "sand flies" for Geziris, "crocodiles" for Ayaanle. Daevas are derided as "fire worshipers" by djinn for continuing to practice Zoroastrianism.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Jinn are universally terrified of being enslaved by the ifrit, to the point they wear relics containing a piece of the their body, such as a tooth, so they'll stand even a chance of being freed if they end up enslaved. [[spoiler:When Dara ends up re-enslaved, his first response is multiple suicide attempts.]]
* FisherKing: The palace of Daevabad was founded by Nahids and still responds to their emotions, shifting stones and restoring the wall art when Nahri comes to the city. It's also booby-trapped; historically, djinn who tried to remove the Nahid carvings melted into puddles of brass.
* FlamingBlade: The Geziri tribe's [[NationalWeapon signature]] zulfiqars are ''poisoned'' flaming blades.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Muntadhir, the elder, is the foolish sibling, and his devout younger brother Ali is the responsible sibling. [[spoiler: Played with, in that Ali is completely unprepared for court life, and Muntadhir is more clever than he seems.]]
* ForbiddenLove: [[spoiler: Between Rustam e-Nahid & Duriya, an Egyptian shafit servant working in the palace. Such a relationship between a Nahid & a shafit was unprecedented. Manizheh & Kaveh count as well, since they were unable to be together openly due to Ghassan wanting Manizheh for himself.]]
* FortuneTeller: Nahri plays this up in order to make a living.
* FromASingleCell: The process of freeing an enslaved djinn requires part of their former body. Djinn wear relics containing a tooth or lock of hair so they can be resurrected if they're enslaved.
* GodGuise: One of the things the ifrit did to earn Suleiman's ire was convincing humans to worship them.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: [[spoiler: Manizheh]] is terrible at being a queen.
* GrandVizier: Kaveh is Daevabad's Grand Wazir and happily fits into the scheming manipulator mold.
* HealingHands: The Nahids are known for powerful healing magic and advanced medical knowledge. Nahids themselves even have a HealingFactor.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Ali -- he's torn between a family that he loves very much, and the atrocities that they allow (and encourage) towards those of mixed blood. And ''no one'' in Daevabad ever tells the whole truth.
* HorseArcher: The Daevas are known for these. Dara in particular is a very skilled horse archer.
* IKnowYourTrueName: Knowing a djinn's name gives you power over them, especially if you're an ifrit or marid. Ali was never taught this, and answering the marid when asked allows them to use him as a weapon in the first book. [[spoiler: Manizheh invokes this when she gives the ifrit Nahri's birth name, allowing them to bind her.]]
* InherentInTheSystem: One major obstacle Nahri and Ali realize in the third book is that Ghassan and Manizheh are the cleverest, most experienced, and most determined people they know--and ''neither'' of them have been able to make Daevabad a peaceful place to live, even after spending decades trying to do so.
* InsistentTerminology: The Daeva tribe claim the ancient name for the whole djinn race as their own; the other tribes think it makes them look arrogant.
* JackassGenie: Jinn ''slaves'' are expected to kill their human masters, and get their victims' names written down their arm. Dara's arm is nearly full. [[spoiler:Manizheh's final mistake is forgetting this.]]
* JustFollowingOrders: Dara justifies his actions at Qui-Zi by claiming that he was just following orders. He did follow the Nahids' orders almost exactly, only disobeying their command to leave no survivors.
* KingOfBeasts: The Nahids once rode winged lions into battle, and still use a winged lion as their symbol.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Dara's excuse for [[spoiler:his multiple war crimes]] is that as an Afshin, he is [[JustFollowingOrders a weapon for the Nahid]]. In the third book, [[spoiler:Manizheh re-enslaves him, making him the perfectly obedient weapon he'd always claimed to be.]]
* LastOfTheirKind:
** Nahri is, as far as anyone knows, the only living member of the Nahid family.
** Dara, in turn, is the last of the Afshin line.
* LegacyOfService: The Afshin clan of warriors served as the Nahid's strong right hand for generations. When Dara, their last and most well-known member, returns with a living Nahid (i.e., Nahri), many of the Daeva tribe see it as a miracle.
* LikeAGodToMe: The Daeva tribe holds the Nahid clan in high esteem as the descendants of Anahid, the woman who laid the foundations for both Daevabad and the modern magical world. [[spoiler:The marid, by contrast, hate her guts for stealing their sacred lake.]]
* LongLostRelative:
** In ''The Kingdom of Copper'', we find out that [[spoiler:Nahri and Jamshid]] are [[spoiler:siblings.]]
** The epilogue for the trilogy also reveals [[spoiler:the Egyptian shafit working in the palace kitchens was Nahri's grandfather.]]
* TheLostLenore: Ghassan had unrequited feelings for Nahri's mother Manizheh and there are hints that he sees Nahri as a replacement. However, [[spoiler:Manizheh considered Ghassan an AbhorrentAdmirer.]] [[spoiler: And is still [[FakingTheDead very much alive.]]]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Nahri]] gets this from [[spoiler:Manizheh. Though it turns out she was lying.]]
* MagicCarpet: Dara can turn any carpet into one of these.
* MakingASplash:
** Marid magic is largely water-themed and quite versatile.
** [[spoiler:Ali]] gains this power after the battle at the lake.
* ManipulativeBastard: This is Ghassan's chief skill. When dealing with any given person, he knows exactly what is important to them and uses that to twist them into doing his bidding. Every time Ali tries to stand up to him in the first book, Ghassan reveals that he knows ''everything'' Ali has been up to and threatens the people Ali wants to save to force his compliance. When con-woman Nahri goes up against Ghassan, she quickly realizes she's in the presence of a master, and it takes all her skill to survive life in his palace.
* MasterArcher: Dara, full stop. No one else is in his league, though Jamshid also deserves mention as a skilled archer.
* MedicalMonarch: The Nahids.
* MemoryJar: A slave vessel functions as this. Nahids have the ability to see the memories of the djinn trapped inside the vessel. Dara's ring contains his missing memories of his time as a slave, & Nahri is able to see them on two separate occasions.
* MissingMom: [[spoiler: Nahri's mother Duriya died when she was very young. She lost all memories of her mother after Sobek wiped her memory & only regains them at the end of the series. Manizheh is also a missing mom to Jamshid, who was told his mother died when he was born.]]
* MurderWater: Daevabad's lake was cursed by the Marid to rip apart anyone who so much dips a toe in. The monarchy uses it for executions.
* NationalWeapon: Zulfiqars for the Geziris & bows for the Daevas.
* {{Omniglot}}: The other signature Nahid power. It doesn't work for reading, though, or for Geziriyya, which only Geziri can understand.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: One of Ali's major struggles is that his good intentions have all sorts of unintended consequences for the people he's trying to help. The first two books have him struggle a lot with passionate but reckless displays of idealism and then going too far in the other direction and becoming complicit with wrongdoing.
* OneDropRule: A djinn with the slightest amount of human ancestry is considered a shafit and oppressed in djinn society.
* OneHitKill: A single cut from a zulfiqar is enough to kill due to the poisoned blade. Not even the Nahids can heal zulfiqar wounds.
* OurGeniesAreDifferent: And HOW.
** The ''Djinn'' in this series are a race of obscenely powerful magical beings who live in a world separate from humanity, and exhibit extreme FantasticRacism towards those who mix with humans.
** The ''Daevas'' from whom modern djinn are descended were nigh-legendary figures, riding the winds and living for thousands of years. They were punished by Suleiman for tormenting humanity, though, resulting in the loss of most of their power.
** ''Ifrit'' are those daevas who refused to submit to Suleiman's judgment. They're all quite ancient at this point, not to mention vindictive and crafty.
** The classic "[[GenieInABottle trapped in a lamp]]" type of djinni is here known as a ''slave'', reduced to such a miserable existence by the ifrit. It's a process that involves ritualistically murdering the djinn and reviving them in thrall to whomever holds their slave vessel (rings and necklaces being common).
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They're called ghouls here, and they're of a pre-Romero variety, primarily being dried out corpses of people who made contracts with the Ifrit in death. They can be very fast, however.
* PlayingWithFire: Djinn have fire-based powers, with most able to at least conjure flames.
* PowersViaPossession: [[spoiler: Ali gains marid powers when he allows them to possess him. Some powers linger after the possession ends, which he's none too pleased about.]]
* ProudScholarRace: The bird-like peris are quite knowledgeable about most subjects, but getting them to act is usually an exercise in frustration.
* RagsToRoyalty: Nahri starts out as a thief & con-artist, then learns she's actually djinn royalty.
* ReallyGetsAround: Beyond a certain point, it's easier to list which members of Muntadhir's party circuit he ''hasn't'' slept with.
* ReallyRoyaltyReveal: Nahri is quite surprised to learn that she's actually the last surviving member of an ancient and revered lineage. [[spoiler: Jamshid gets one as well when he learns Manizheh is his mother.]]
* ReassignedToAntarctica: [[spoiler: Ali is sent into exile in Am Gezira at the end of the first book.]]
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized:
** In ''The Kingdom of Copper'', [[spoiler: Manizheh]] is willing to wipe out an entire clan of djinn to [[spoiler: overthrow Ghassan.]]
** The shafit rebels bomb [[spoiler:a peaceful Daeva celebration that includes [[WouldHurtAChild children]]]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething:
** Ali, the Djinn prince who sponsors an Imam of the often put upon mixed blood peoples and [[spoiler: joins him in his efforts to stop the enslavement and trafficking of his people by the nobility.]]
** Ghassan is introduced doing the tedious but necessary bureaucratic work of kingship. He takes the responsibility of ruling the multitribal city extremely seriously; unfortunately, that makes him totally ruthless in dealing with any perceived threat to the public order.
* SandBlaster: Dara and later Nahri.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Ali faces several of these from both his family and his revolutionary contacts. [[spoiler: He fails most of them miserably.]]
* SettleForSibling: A rare double example when [[spoiler: Muntadhir and Nahri are forced to marry.]] She's attracted to his brother, and he's in love with hers.
* {{Shapeshifting}}: Once a common magical ability, now limited to more powerful Djinn.
* SheduAndLammasu: The shedu are winged lions and the emblem of the Nahid dynasty, who were the original rulers of the djinn. The Nahid trained them and brought them to their capital city, but they slowly vanished from the world alongside other magical creatures and haven't been seen for centuries by the time of the series.
* ShownTheirWork: The author put in a lot of research regarding Islamic folklore, and it shows.
* SiblingYinYang: Ali is diligent, responsible, socially awkward, and as tightly wound as a spring. His older brother Muntadhir is relaxed, jovial, charming, and gives an air of sybaritic indulgence. Both have [[HiddenDepths a lot more going on]], though.
* SlaveMarket: During the second book, Ali is outraged and disgusted to find shafit being auctioned off in public under the paper-thin excuse of helping djinn find their shafit relatives.
* ThereIsAnother: [[spoiler:Two more Nahid, in fact.]]
* TheyDiedBecauseOfYou: Dara's sister Tamima was brutally murdered in revenge for his actions at Qui-Zi. This is a major source of guilt for him.
* WalkingTheEarth: At the end of the third book, [[spoiler:Dara embarks on a quest to find all the djinn relics stolen by the ifrit and return them to the city so that they can be freed of enslavement. He fully expects this to take millenia.]]
* WhamLine: The last line of ''The City of Brass'' reveals that [[spoiler: Nahri's mother is still alive.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Ghassan and [[spoiler:Manizheh]] will both murder children if it helps them.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Ghassan is a master of it. [[spoiler: Near the end of the first book, he comes up with two possible cover-up stories for the incident at the lake, implicating completely different people.]]
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: There's an organization called the Tanzeem which seeks to support and protect the shafit against the (many) excesses of the djinn nobility. To the shafit, they're the nearest thing to heroes; Ghassan, however, would like them all dead.
----

* AbusiveParents: A mild(ish) example in Ghassan, and a considerably less mild example in [[spoiler: Manizheh]]. [[spoiler: Subverted in Manizheh's case when it turns out that Nahri's her niece, not her daughter, though granted she's still far from a model parent to Jamshid.]]

* IKnowYourTrueName: Knowing a djinn's name gives you power over them, especially if you're an ifrit or marid. [[spoiler: Manizheh invokes this when she gives the ifrit Nahri's birth name, allowing them to bind her.]]

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Ali, the Djinn prince who sponsors an Imam of the often put upon mixed blood peoples and [[spoiler: joins him in his efforts to stop the enslavement and trafficking of his people by the nobility.]]