Ian.Plumb wrote:
It isn't my intention here to look at how to set a game in a real world, historical setting. Rather, I am interested in providing the sort of source material a referee would need to create an authentic-feeling but ultimately fantasy gaming environment, inspired by medieval Arabic/Islamic/Persian culture.
Aha, I had some doubts that it may be so, but the mention of Islam specifically (and the word "campaign" instead of "setting") made me think you might want to compile materials for a historical game. Nevertheless, I think it would be most useful to provide actual sources viable for a historical game and then explain how one could deviate from them to generate a fantasy setting... otherwise we'll fall into the pit every victorian era RPG has fallen... the market is full of victorian era games that are filled with dwarves, centaurs, magic, goblins, undead, space travel etc... but not a single one displays a historical setting where one could make the adjustments he likes. And this would be the best way to go IMO.

As of the sources... what I've bought recently (but not yet received) is
Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times. True, it focuses on modern times, but it gets good reviews all over the board and is considered a great introductory "course" to the culture. I'll elaborate on it further when I actually have the book in my hands. What I've also considered purchasing is
Arab Seafaring: In the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times.
Of RPG resources,
GURPS Arabian Nights is a good read, but as for all books in the GURPS historical line, it's probably just a fun book of trivia for anyone more familiar with the subject... And we all know how RPG books should be (dis)regarded when doing serious research.

Then there's
Tales of the Caliphate Nights which explains some of the concepts more clearly and in a different angle than the GURPS book but the actual quantity of information is much smaller than in the tightly-packed GURPS... and being a d20 book, it mostly consists of useless rules. I'm not familiar with
Al-Qadim.
P.S.
If I should happen to fall inactive, it's not because of me being uninterested (I've been fascinated by the subject too), but probably because of my current post-surgical state.
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"Brothels are a much sounder investment than ships, I've found. Whores seldom sink, and when they are boarded by pirates, why, the pirates pay good coin like everyone else
."
- Lord Petyr Baelish, A Game of Thrones