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Half a day's journey beyond Sura, on the Mesopotamian side of the river, are the extensive ruins of Haragla (Heraclea) and Rakka, once the capital of Harun al-Rashid (Nicephorium of Alexander; Callinicus of the Seleucids and Romans).
Depending on coloured tiles and gorgeous fabrics for their rich effects, nothing of the buildings of the times of Harun al-Rashid or Mamun, once counted so magnificent, have come down to us.
In the contest between the two sons of Harun al Rashid all Arabia sided with Mamun (812).
Before his coronation as emperor, Charles had entered into communications with the caliph of Bagdad, Harun-al-Rashid, probably in order to protect the eastern Christians, and in 801 he had received an embassy and presents from Harun.
Dicuil's knowledge of the islands north and west of Britain is evidently intimate; his references to Irish exploration and colonization, and to (more recent) Scandinavian devastation of the same, as far as the Faeroes, are noteworthy, like his notice of the elephant sent by Harun al-Rashid (in 801) to Charles the Great, the most curious item in a political and diplomatic intercourse of high importance.