Al-Khayzuran
Al-Khayzuran bint Atta (;
ca. ?â€"
789) , was the wife of the
Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi and mother of both
Caliphs
Al-Hadi and the most famous Abbasid Caliph
Harun al-Rashid. She was from
Jorash,
Yemen.
She was kidnapped from her home by a bedouin who then sold her in a slave market near
Mecca to the caliph
Al-Mahdi during his pilgrimage. Later the caliph fell in love with her and married her. Al-Khayzuran was a woman of strong personality. She was able to persuade her husband to appoint her sons as the next caliphs among his sons from other wives. At the court, she was an ally of the
Barmakids.
She greatly influenced both her sons and the affairs of the empire to the extent that her son
Al-Hadi tried to kill her by poisoning her. She was suspected of involvement in his death.
Al-Khayzuran and her strong personality is believed by many literary historians to be a key influence of
Shahrazad, the main character in
Arabian Nights, which
Harun al-Rashid contributed to greatly.
*
Ibn Kathir,
Al Bidayah wa al-Nihayah * Al-Thahbi,
Sirat Alam al-nubala * Al-Zarkali,
Al-Alam * Ahmad khalil Juma,
Nesaa min al-tarikh * Zaynab husayan,
Majaam Alam ak-nesaa 
