Princess Amat’s grandfather was Caliph al Mansur, magnificent ruler of the Muslim empire from A.D. 754 to A.D. 755. He called the princess Subaidah, which means “butterball” in Arabic, because she was such a plump and cuddly baby.  She used this name all her life.

Zubaidah lived in the royal palace in Baghdad.  She could have anything she wanted.  She liked jewelled slippers and clothes embroidered with gold.  She had delicious food, including fruit cooled with ice brought by runners from faraway mountains.

Zubaidah married Prince Harun al-Rashid, who became caliph in A.D. 785.  Zubaidah was wise, and the caliph valued her advice.  She encouraged music and painting, and paid for drinking-water fountains and rest houses along the pilgrim routes to the holy city of Mecca, in Arabia.

One Baghdad poet wrote, “She had the deepest desire to do good.”