Blessings of God be upon you oh great caliph Harun al-Rashid, leader of the pious Arabian people! The Muslim empire, the Caliphate was born in the turbulent years after the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 AD, as his followers sought to extend the rule of God to all of the people of the earth. The caliphate grew mighty indeed at the height of its power, ruling Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, Anatolia, the Balkans and Persia. An empire as great as or even greater than that of Rome. The arts and sciences flourished in Arabia during the Middle Ages, even as the countries of Europe descended into ignorance and chaos. The Caliphate survived for six hundred years, until finally succumbing to attack from the Mongols, those destroyers of Empires.