Mashallah Khan in the Court of Harun al-Rashid

Mashallah Khan in the Court of Harun al-Rashid is a satirical novel by Iraj Pezeshkzad. The main character, Mashallah Khan, is a history enthusiast who believes the golden age to live in was the era of Harun al-Rashid. One day, he visits an Indian yogi in Tehran and asks him to send his spirit back to the caliphate period of Harun al-Rashid. When the yogi agrees, Mashallah Khan awakens in that era. Iraj Pezeshkzad uses satire to critique the Abbasid caliphate, portraying its violence and oppression. Mashallah Khan witnesses firsthand the cruelty of the time and even tries to prevent the killing of Ja’far al-Barmaki. In his real life, Mashallah Khan was a bank doorman who always felt born in the wrong era, dissatisfied with his life. However, after traveling to his favorite historical period, he realizes his assumptions were wrong. Through this storytelling technique, Pezeshkzad not only socializes the critique of that era but also shows readers that such longings for the past stem from a perpetual human nostalgia and that historical periods are not as flawless as they seem.