I stand by the fact that Aladdin the disney tv series is an easy source of generating a plot hook.
Literally point at a random episode, and bamo, instant plot line.
So using that as a basis, what can we do with it?
1. There are ancient empires lost to time in the desert regions. Are related to places like the imaskar, mulhourand or are they their own beast?
2. a good chunk of the seven wonders of the world were in the middle east in our world. Which ones survived and where? How do they differ from our own?
3. One of the undergoing themes of Al-qadim is tolerance in the name of the lawgiver. Which races demographics have changed over a 200 year period because of said tolerance?