Ahab The Arab (pron. /'eiræb/) is a song sung by Ray Stevens. It portrays a "sheik of the burning sands" named Ahab. He is highly decorated with jewelry, and every night he would hop on Clyde, his camel, on his way to see Fatima, who is the best dancer in the Sultan's whole harem. When he finds Fatima in her tent, she is "eating on a raisin, and a grape, and an apricot, and a pomegranate, a bowl of chitterlings, two bananas, three Hershey bars and sipping on an RC cola, listening to her transistor, watching the Grand Ole Opry, and reading Mad Magazine while she sang "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor"." Ahab loves Fatima, which apparently doesn't sit too well with the Sultan, and later prompts an escape attempt. Ray Stevens was born Harold Ray Ragsdale on January 24, 1939 in Clarkdale, Georgia, now part of Decatur. ... Shaikh (Arabic: شيخ ),(also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh or Sheikh) is a word in the Arabic language meaning elder of tribe, lord or a revered old man. ... The Sultan in Disneys Aladdin A Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ... In the Arab tradition, imitated by other Muslim cultures, the harîm حريم (compare haram) is the part of the household forbidden to male strangers. ... The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly Saturday night country music radio program broadcast live on WSM radio in Nashville, Tennessee. ... Harvey Kurtzmans cover for the first issue of the comic book Mad Mad is an American humor magazine founded by publisher William Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952. ...

Along with "The Streak," it was one of Stevens' biggest hits and contributed greatly to his popularity.

Stevens has said that Clyde the camel was named after rhythm-and-blues singer Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead singer of the Drifters. Clyde McPhatter (November 15, 1932 _ June 13, 1972) was an influential American R&B singer, born in Durham, North Carolina. ... This article is about the American band. ...

A cover version of Stevens' song was released in July 1962, by Jimmy Savile, backed by the English pop group the Tremoloes, featuring Brian Poole.