As taken from the Arabian Nights, the land of Ali Baba, genies, ghouls, Sultry Belly Dancers, sheikhs, sultans, evil Grand Viziers (as well as some good ones), dashing thieves and harem girls. When Western Europe was having its Dark Age, the Islamic world was living it up in a Golden Age, both preserving and enhancing humanity's store of knowledge.
This trope depicts the Middle East as a wondrous region full of magic and mystery, inspired by the artistic and scientific legacies of Golden Age figures such as caliph Harun al-Rashid, revolutionary surgeon al-Zahrawi, and "father of algebra" Muhammad al-Khwarizmi. Expect to see glittering cities crowded with secrets and intrigue, striking figures who practice distinct customs, and exotic landscapes foreign to most Western audiences.
Primarily based on the early caliphates, which stretched from Southern Europe and North Africa all the way to South Asia during the Middle Ages. Expect sprawling deserts to be omnipresent, despite the fact that some regions (ex. the Iberian Peninsula, Turkey, and Bangladesh) were not deserts at all. Maritime Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia), while a bastion of Islam nowadays, is excluded as it wasn't part of the Muslim world during the Middle Ages.note
As noted above, this time period is analogous to the Dark Age Europe - roughly the 7th to the 11th century - though this is rarely referenced (and sometimes outright contradicted) unless characters from outside cultures make an appearance. They tend to be portrayed in The Dung Ages fashion to make a contrast, even although this is historically inaccurate.
Sometimes this trope is based on the Ottoman Empire of the 16th-19th centuries, although in real life the situation had reversed by this point, with Europe being in midst of The Renaissance, the Baroque and The Enlightenment while the Muslim countries fell behind in most of the traits this trope highlights. This type of Arabian Nights Days tends to put less emphasis on magic and mystery and more on harem girls and political intrigue.
Can be a form of Cultural Blending, as the "Islamic world" was (and is) home to many different cultures and languages, such as Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and many others.
A popular trope for this setting is Genie in a Bottle, traditionally a Literal Genie. Flying Carpets are popular too, as are rubies and sapphires bigger than your fist. The look and feel of a Bazaar of the Bizarre often draws heavily on this period as well. Expect at least one reference to the "sands of time."
See also Mystical India and Far East, which treat India and East Asia in a similar way, respectively. Compare Orientalism, wherein non-Western cultures are stereotyped to be inherently strange and exotic. Compare and contrast Qurac, a modern-day counterpart to this trope with far more negative connotations.
