Thousand And One Nights
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''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of
Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the
Islamic Golden Age The Islamic Golden Age was a period of scientific, economic, and cultural flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign o ...
. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition (), which rendered the title as ''The Arabian Nights' Entertainments''. The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across
West Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...
,
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
,
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
, and
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
. Some tales trace their roots back to ancient and medieval
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, and
Mesopotamian Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary o ...
literature. Most tales, however, were originally folk stories from the
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
and Mamluk eras, while others, especially the frame story, are probably drawn from the Pahlavi Persian work (, ), which in turn may be translations of older Indian texts. Common to all the editions of the ''Nights'' is the
framing device A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...
of the story of the ruler Shahryar being narrated the tales by his wife
Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...
, with one tale told over each night of storytelling. The stories proceed from this original tale; some are framed within other tales, while some are self-contained. Some editions contain only a few hundred nights of storytelling, while others include 1001 or more. The bulk of the text is in
prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...
, although
verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse (poetry), a line or lines in a poetic composition * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict meter or rhyme, but still re ...
is occasionally used for songs and riddles and to express heightened emotion. Most of the poems are single
couplet In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...
s or
quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...
s, although some are longer. Some of the stories commonly associated with the ''Arabian Nights''—particularly " Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" and "
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" () is a folk tale in Arabic added to the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popul ...
"—were not part of the collection in the original Arabic versions, but were instead added to the collection by French translator
Antoine Galland Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of ''One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called '' Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the ta ...
after he heard them from
Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
writer
Hanna Diyab Antun Yusuf Hanna Diyab (; born ''circa'' 1688) was a Syrian Maronite writer and storyteller. He originated the best-known versions of the tales of ''Aladdin'' and ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' which have been added to the ''One Thousand and ...
during the latter's visit to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Other stories, such as " The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor", had an independent existence before being added to the collection.


Synopsis

The main
frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...
concerns Shahryār, a king who ruled an empire that stretched from Persia to India. Shahryār is shocked to learn that his brother's wife is unfaithful. Discovering that his own wife's infidelity has been even more flagrant, he has her killed. In his bitterness and grief, he decides that all women are the same. Shahryār begins to marry a succession of
virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
s only to execute each one the next morning, before she has a chance to dishonor him. Eventually the
Vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
(Wazir), whose duty it is to provide them, cannot find any more virgins.
Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...
, the vizier's daughter, offers herself as the next bride and her father reluctantly agrees. On the night of their marriage, Scheherazade begins to tell the king a tale, but does not end it. The king, curious about how the story ends, is thus forced to postpone her execution in order to hear the conclusion. The next night, as soon as she finishes the tale, she begins another one, and the king, eager to hear the conclusion of that tale as well, postpones her execution once again. This goes on for one thousand and one nights, hence the name. The tales vary widely: they include historical tales, love stories, tragedies, comedies, poems,
burlesques A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
, and various forms of
erotica Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erot ...
. Numerous stories depict
jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
,
ghoul In folklore, a ghoul (from , ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid, often associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. In the legends or tales in which they appear, a ghoul is far more ill-mannered and foul than go ...
s, ape people, sorcerers,
magicians Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...
, and legendary places, which are often intermingled with real people and geography, not always rationally. Common
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
s include the historical
Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came ...
Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...
, his
Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...
, Jafar al-Barmaki, and the famous poet
Abu Nuwas Abu Nuwas () (756-8) was a classical Arabic poet, and the foremost representative of the modern (''muhdath'') poetry that developed during the first years of the Abbasid Caliphate. He also entered the folkloric tradition, appearing several ...
, despite the fact that these figures lived some 200 years after the fall of the
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...
, in which the frame tale of Scheherazade is set. Sometimes a character in Scheherazade's tale will begin telling other characters a story of their own, and that story may have another one told within it, resulting in a richly layered narrative texture. Versions differ, at least in detail, as to final endings (in some Scheherazade asks for a pardon, in some the king sees their children and decides not to execute his wife, in some other things happen that make the king distracted) but they all end with the king giving his wife a pardon and sparing her life. The narrator's standards for what constitutes a
cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...
seem broader than in modern literature. While in many cases a story is cut off with the hero in danger of losing their life or another kind of deep trouble, in some parts of the full text Scheherazade stops her narration in the middle of an exposition of abstract philosophical principles or complex points of
Islamic philosophy Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—''falsafa'' (), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, mathematics, and p ...
, and in one case during a detailed description of
human anatomy Human anatomy (gr. ἀνατομία, "dissection", from ἀνά, "up", and τέμνειν, "cut") is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the human body. Anatomy is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross ...
according to
Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...
—and in all of these cases she turns out to be justified in her belief that the king's curiosity about the sequel would buy her another day of life. A number of stories within the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' also feature
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
elements. One example is "The Adventures of Bulukiya", where the protagonist Bulukiya's quest for the herb of immortality leads him to explore the seas, journey to the
Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...
and to
Jahannam In Islam, Jahannam () is the place of punishment for Islamic views on sin, evildoers in the afterlife, or hell. This notion is an integral part of Islamic theology,#ETISN2009, Thomassen, "Islamic Hell", ''Numen'', 56, 2009: p.401 and has occupied ...
, and travel across the
cosmos The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering ...
to different worlds much larger than his own world, anticipating elements of
galactic Galactic is an American funk band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...
science fiction; along the way, he encounters societies of
jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
s,
mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...
s, talking serpents, talking
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
s, and other forms of life. In another ''Arabian Nights'' tale, the protagonist Abdullah the Fisherman gains the ability to breathe underwater and discovers an underwater
submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
society that is portrayed as an inverted reflection of society on land, in that the underwater society follows a form of
primitive communism Primitive communism is a way of describing the gift economies of hunter-gatherers throughout history, where resources and property hunted or gathered are shared with all members of a group in accordance with individual needs. In political sociolo ...
where concepts like money and clothing do not exist. Other ''Arabian Nights'' tales deal with lost ancient technologies, advanced ancient civilizations that went astray, and catastrophes which overwhelmed them. "The City of Brass" features a group of travellers on an
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
expedition across the
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
to find an ancient lost city and attempt to recover a brass vessel that
Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
once used to trap a
jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
, and, along the way, encounter a
mummified A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furthe ...
queen,
petrified In geology, petrifaction or petrification () is the process by which organic material becomes a fossil through the replacement of the original material and the filling of the original pore spaces with minerals. Petrified wood typifies this proce ...
inhabitants, life-like
humanoid robot A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments and working alongside humans, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipeda ...
s and
automata An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...
, seductive
marionette A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...
s dancing without strings, and a brass horseman
robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...
who directs the party towards the ancient city. "The Ebony Horse" features a robot in the form of a flying mechanical horse controlled using keys that could fly into outer space and towards the Sun, while the "Third Qalandar's Tale" also features a robot in the form of an uncanny boatman. "The City of Brass" and "The Ebony Horse" can be considered early examples of proto-science fiction.


History, versions and translations

The history of the ''Nights'' is extremely complex and modern scholars have made many attempts to untangle the story of how the collection as it currently exists came about. Robert Irwin summarises their findings:


Possible Indian influence

Devices found in Sanskrit literature such as frame stories and animal fables are seen by some scholars as lying at the root of the conception of the ''Nights''.Reynolds p. 271 The motif of the wise young woman who delays and finally removes an impending danger by telling stories has been traced back to Indian sources. Indian folklore is represented in the ''Nights'' by certain animal stories, which reflect influence from ancient Sanskrit fables. The influence of the ''
Panchatantra The ''Panchatantra'' ( IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, , "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.
'' and ''
Baital Pachisi The ''Vetala Panchavimshati'' (, IAST: ), or ''Betal Pachisi'' ("''Twenty-five (tales) of Betal''"), is a collection of tales and legends within a frame story, from India. Internationally, it is also known as Vikram-Vetala. It was originally wri ...
'' is particularly notable. It is possible that the influence of the ''Panchatantra'' is via a Sanskrit adaptation called the ''Tantropakhyana''. Only fragments of the original Sanskrit form of the ''Tantropakhyana'' survive, but translations or adaptations exist in Tamil, Lao, Thai, and
Old Javanese Old Javanese or Kawi is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language and the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was natively spoken in the central and eastern part of Java Island, what is now Central Java, Special Region o ...
. The frame story follows the broad outline of a concubine telling stories in order to maintain the interest and favour of a king—although the basis of the collection of stories is from the ''Panchatantra''—with its original Indian setting. The ''Panchatantra'' and various tales from ''Jatakas'' were first translated into Persian by
Borzūya Borzuya (or Burzōē or Burzōy or Borzouyeh, ) was a Persian physician in the late Sasanian era, at the time of Khosrow I. He translated the Indian ''Panchatantra'' from Sanskrit into Pahlavi (Middle Persian). Both his translation and the or ...
in 570 CE; they were later translated into Arabic by
Ibn al-Muqaffa Abū Muhammad ʿAbd Allāh Rūzbih ibn Dādūya (), born Rōzbih pūr-i Dādōē (), more commonly known as Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (; ), was a Persian translator, philosopher, author and thinker who wrote in the Arabic language. He bore the name Rōzb ...
in 750 CE. The Arabic version was translated into several languages, including Syriac, Greek, Hebrew and Spanish.


Persian prototype:

The earliest mentions of the ''Nights'' refer to it as an Arabic translation from a Persian book, (also known as ''Afsaneh'' or ''Afsana''), meaning 'The Thousand Stories'. In the tenth century,
Ibn al-Nadim Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq an-Nadīm (), also Ibn Abī Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Warrāq, and commonly known by the '' nasab'' (patronymic) Ibn an-Nadīm (; died 17 September 995 or 998), was an important Muslim ...
compiled a catalogue of books (the "
Fihrist The () (''The Book Catalogue'') is a compendium of the knowledge and literature of tenth-century Islam compiled by Ibn al-Nadim (d. 998). It references approx. 10,000 books and 2,000 authors.''The Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the ...
") in Baghdad. He noted that the
Sassanid The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...
kings of Iran enjoyed "evening tales and fables". Al-Nadim then writes about the Persian , explaining the frame story it employs: a bloodthirsty king kills off a succession of wives after their wedding night. Eventually one has the intelligence to save herself by telling him a story every evening, leaving each tale unfinished until the next night so that the king will delay her execution. However, according to al-Nadim, the book contains only 200 stories. He also writes disparagingly of the collection's literary quality, observing that "it is truly a coarse book, without warmth in the telling". In the same century
Al-Masudi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...
also refers to the , saying the Arabic translation is called ('A Thousand Entertaining Tales'), but is generally known as ('A Thousand Nights'). He mentions the characters Shirāzd (Scheherazade) and Dināzād. No physical evidence of the has survived, so its exact relationship with the existing later Arabic versions remains a mystery. Apart from the Scheherazade frame story, several other tales have Persian origins, although it is unclear how they entered the collection. These stories include the cycle of "King Jali'ad and his Wazir Shimas" and "The Ten Wazirs or the History of King Azadbakht and his Son" (derived from the seventh-century Persian ). In the 1950s, the Iraqi scholar
Safa Khulusi Safa Abdul-Aziz Khulusi (; 1917–1995) was an Iraqi historian, novelist, poet, journalist and broadcaster. He is known for mediating between Arabic- and English-language cultures, and for his scholarship of modern Iraqi literature. Apart from ...
suggested (on internal rather than historical evidence) that the Persian writer
Ibn al-Muqaffa' Abū Muhammad ʿAbd Allāh Rūzbih ibn Dādūya (), born Rōzbih pūr-i Dādōē (), more commonly known as Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (; ), was a Persian translator, philosopher, author and thinker who wrote in the Arabic language. He bore the name Rōz ...
was responsible for the first Arabic translation of the frame story and some of the Persian stories later incorporated into the Nights. This would place genesis of the collection in the eighth century.


Evolving Arabic versions

In the mid-20th century, the scholar
Nabia Abbott Nabia Abbott (31 January 1897 – 15 October 1981) was an American scholar of Islam, papyrologist and paleographer. She was the first woman professor at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. She gained worldwide recognition for her ...
found a document with a few lines of an Arabic work with the title ''The Book of the Tale of a Thousand Nights'', dating from the ninth century. This is the earliest known surviving fragment of the ''Nights''. The first reference to the Arabic version under its full title ''The One Thousand and One Nights'' appears in Cairo in the 12th century. Professor Dwight Reynolds describes the subsequent transformations of the Arabic version: Two main Arabic manuscript traditions of the Nights are known: the Syrian and the Egyptian. The Syrian tradition is primarily represented by the earliest extensive manuscript of the ''Nights'', a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Syrian manuscript now known as the
Galland Manuscript The three-volume Galland Manuscript (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MSS arabes 3609, 3610 and 3611), sometimes also referred to as the Syrian Manuscript, is the earliest extensive manuscript of the ''Thousand and One Nights'' (the only earlier wi ...
. It and surviving copies of it are much shorter and include fewer tales than the Egyptian tradition. It is represented in print by the so-called ''Calcutta I'' (1814–1818) and most notably by the 'Leiden edition' (1984).Beaumont, Daniel. Literary Style and Narrative Technique in the Arabian Nights. p. 1. In ''The Arabian nights encyclopedia'', Volume 1 The Leiden Edition, prepared by
Muhsin Mahdi Muḥsin Sayyid Mahdī (; cited Muhsin S. Mahdi; June 21, 1926 – July 9, 2007) was an Iraqi-American Islamologist and Arabist. He was a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy. His best-known work was the first critical ...
, is the only
critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may range i ...
of 1001 Nights to date, believed to be most stylistically faithful representation of medieval Arabic versions currently available. Texts of the Egyptian tradition emerge later and contain many more tales of much more varied content; a much larger number of originally independent tales have been incorporated into the collection over the centuries, most of them after the Galland manuscript was written, Sallis, Eva. 1999. Sheherazade through the looking glass: the metamorphosis of the Thousand and One Nights. pp. 18–43 and were being included as late as in the 18th and 19th centuries. All extant substantial versions of both
recension Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author. The term is derived from the Latin ("review, analysis"). In textual criticism (as is the ...
s share a small common core of tales: * The Merchant and the Genie * The Fisherman and the Genie * The Porter and the Three Ladies *
The Three Apples The Three Apples (), or The Tale of the Murdered Woman (), is a story contained in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' collection (also known as the "Arabian Nights"). It is a first-level story, being told by Scheherazade herself, and contains one ...
* Nur al-Din Ali and Shams al-Din (and Badr al-Din Hasan) * Nur al-Din Ali and Anis al-Jalis * Ali Ibn Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar The texts of the Syrian recension do not contain much beside that core. It is debated which of the Arabic recensions is more "authentic" and closer to the original: the Egyptian ones have been modified more extensively and more recently, and scholars such as
Muhsin Mahdi Muḥsin Sayyid Mahdī (; cited Muhsin S. Mahdi; June 21, 1926 – July 9, 2007) was an Iraqi-American Islamologist and Arabist. He was a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy. His best-known work was the first critical ...
have suspected that this was caused in part by European demand for a "complete version"; but it appears that this type of modification has been common throughout the history of the collection, and independent tales have always been added to it.


Printed Arabic editions

The first printed Arabic-language edition of the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' was published in 1775. It contained an Egyptian version of ''The Nights'' known as "ZER" ( Zotenberg's Egyptian Recension) and 200 tales. No copy of this edition survives, but it was the basis for an 1835 edition by Bulaq, published by the Egyptian government. The ''Nights'' were next printed in Arabic in two volumes in Calcutta by the
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
in 1814–1818. Each volume contained one hundred tales. Soon after, the Prussian scholar Christian Maximilian Habicht collaborated with the Tunisian Mordecai ibn al-Najjar to create an edition containing 1001 nights both in the original Arabic and in German translation, initially in a series of eight volumes published in Breslau in 1825–1838. A further four volumes followed in 1842–1843. In addition to the Galland manuscript, Habicht and al-Najjar used what they believed to be a Tunisian manuscript, which was later revealed as a forgery by al-Najjar. Both the ZER printing and Habicht and al-Najjar's edition influenced the next printing, a four-volume edition also from Calcutta (known as the ''Macnaghten'' or ''Calcutta II'' edition). This claimed to be based on an older Egyptian manuscript (which has never been found). A major recent edition, which reverts to the
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n recension, is a critical edition based on the fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Syrian manuscript in the
Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...
, originally used by Galland. This edition, known as the Leiden text, was compiled in Arabic by
Muhsin Mahdi Muḥsin Sayyid Mahdī (; cited Muhsin S. Mahdi; June 21, 1926 – July 9, 2007) was an Iraqi-American Islamologist and Arabist. He was a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy. His best-known work was the first critical ...
(1984–1994). Mahdi argued that this version is the earliest extant one (a view that is largely accepted today) and that it reflects most closely a "definitive" coherent text ancestral to all others that he believed to have existed during the
Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...
period (a view that remains contentious). Still, even scholars who deny this version the exclusive status of "the only ''real'' Arabian Nights" recognize it as being the best source on the original ''style'' and linguistic form of the medieval work. In 1997, a further Arabic edition appeared, containing tales from the Arabian Nights transcribed from a seventeenth-century manuscript in the Egyptian dialect of Arabic.


Modern translations

The first European version (1704–1717) was translated into
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
by
Antoine Galland Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of ''One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called '' Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the ta ...
from an Arabic text of the Syrian recension and other sources. This 12-volume work, ''
Les Mille et une nuits, contes arabes traduits en français ''Les mille et une nuits, contes arabes traduits en français'' (), published in 12 volumes between 1704 and 1717, was the first European version of ''The Thousand and One Nights'' tales. The French translation by Antoine Galland (1646–1715) ...
'' ('The Thousand and one nights, Arab stories translated into French'), included stories that were not in the original Arabic manuscript. " Aladdin's Lamp", and "
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" () is a folk tale in Arabic added to the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popul ...
" (as well as several other lesser-known tales) appeared first in Galland's translation and cannot be found in any of the original manuscripts. He wrote that he heard them from the Christian Maronite storyteller Hanna Diab during Diab's visit to Paris. Galland's version of the ''Nights'' was immensely popular throughout Europe, and later versions were issued by Galland's publisher using Galland's name without his consent. As scholars were looking for the presumed "complete" and "original" form of the Nights, they naturally turned to the more voluminous texts of the Egyptian recension, which soon came to be viewed as the "standard version". The first translations of this kind, such as that of Edward Lane (1840, 1859), were
bowdlerized An expurgation of a work, also known as a bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is often used in th ...
. Unabridged and unexpurgated translations were made, first by John Payne, under the title ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night'' (1882, nine volumes), and then by
Sir Richard Francis Burton Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, KCMG, FRGS, (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, army officer, orientalist writer and scholar. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and South America, as well ...
, entitled ''
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'' (1888), subtitled ''A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments'', is the only complete English language translation of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (the ''Arabian Nig ...
'' (1885, ten volumes) – the latter was, according to some assessments, partially based on the former, leading to charges of
plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...
.Marzolph, Ulrich and Richard van Leeuwen. 2004. ''The Arabian nights encyclopedia'', Volume 1. pp. 506–508 In view of the sexual imagery in the source texts (which Burton emphasized even further, especially by adding extensive footnotes and appendices on Oriental sexual mores) and the strict
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
laws on obscene material, both of these translations were printed as private editions for subscribers only, rather than published in the usual manner. Burton's original 10 volumes were followed by a further six (seven in the Baghdad Edition and perhaps others) entitled ''The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night'', which were printed between 1886 and 1888. It has, however, been criticized for its "archaic language and extravagant idiom" and "obsessive focus on sexuality" (and has even been called an "eccentric ego-trip" and a "highly personal reworking of the text"). Later versions of the ''Nights'' include that of the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
doctor
J. C. Mardrus Joseph Charles Mardrus, otherwise known as "Jean-Charles Mardrus" (1868–1949), was a French physician, poet, and a noted translator. Today he is best known for his translation of the ''Thousand and One Nights'' from Arabic language, Arabic into ...
, issued from 1898 to 1904. It was translated into English by Powys Mathers, and issued in 1923. Like Payne's and Burton's texts, it is based on the Egyptian recension and retains the erotic material, indeed expanding on it, but it has been criticized for inaccuracy.Sallis, Eva. 1999. Sheherazade through the looking glass: the metamorphosis of the Thousand and One Nights. pp. 4 ''passim''
Muhsin Mahdi Muḥsin Sayyid Mahdī (; cited Muhsin S. Mahdi; June 21, 1926 – July 9, 2007) was an Iraqi-American Islamologist and Arabist. He was a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy. His best-known work was the first critical ...
's 1984 Leiden edition, based on the Galland Manuscript, was rendered into English by Husain Haddawy (1990). This translation has been praised as "very readable" and "strongly recommended for anyone who wishes to taste the authentic flavour of those tales". An additional second volume of ''Arabian nights'' translated by Haddawy, composed of popular tales ''not'' present in the Leiden edition, was published in 1995. Both volumes were the basis for a single-volume reprint of selected tales of Haddawy's translations. A new English translation was published by Penguin Classics in three volumes in 2008. It is translated by Malcolm C. Lyons and Ursula Lyons with introduction and annotations by Robert Irwin. This is the first complete translation of the Macnaghten or Calcutta II edition (Egyptian recension) since Burton's. It contains, in addition to the standard text of 1001 Nights, the so-called "orphan stories" of ''
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
'' and ''
Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" () is a folk tale in Arabic added to the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popu ...
'' as well as an alternative ending to ''The seventh journey of
Sindbad Sinbad the Sailor (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages throughout the sea ...
'' from
Antoine Galland Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of ''One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called '' Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the ta ...
's original French. As the translator himself notes in his preface to the three volumes, " attempt has been made to superimpose on the translation changes that would be needed to 'rectify' ... accretions, ... repetitions, non sequiturs and confusions that mark the present text," and the work is a "representation of what is primarily oral literature, appealing to the ear rather than the eye". The Lyons translation includes all the poetry (in plain prose paraphrase) but does not attempt to reproduce in English the internal rhyming of some prose sections of the original Arabic. Moreover, it streamlines somewhat and has cuts. In this sense it is not, as claimed, a complete translation. This translation was generally well-received upon release. A new English language translation was published in December 2021, the first solely by a female author,
Yasmine Seale Yasmine Seale is a British-Syrian writer and literary translator who works in English, Arabic, and French. Her translated works include ''The Annotated Arabian Nights: Tales from 1001 Nights'' and ''Aladdin: A New Translation''. She is the first w ...
, which removes earlier sexist and racist references. The new translation includes all the tales from Hanna Diyab and additionally includes stories previously omitted featuring female protagonists, such as tales about Parizade, Pari Banu, and the horror story Sidi Numan.


Timeline

Scholars have assembled a timeline concerning the publication history of ''The Nights'': * One of the oldest Arabic manuscript fragments from Syria (a few handwritten pages) dating to the early ninth century. Discovered by scholar Nabia Abbott in 1948, it bears the title ''Kitab Hadith Alf Layla'' ("The Book of the Tale of the Thousand Nights") and the first few lines of the book in which Dinazad asks Shirazad (Scheherazade) to tell her stories. * 10th century: mention of ''Hezār Afsān'' in
Ibn al-Nadim Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq an-Nadīm (), also Ibn Abī Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Warrāq, and commonly known by the '' nasab'' (patronymic) Ibn an-Nadīm (; died 17 September 995 or 998), was an important Muslim ...
's "Fihrist" (Catalogue of books) in
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
. He attributes a pre-Islamic
Sassanid The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...
Persian origin to the collection and refers to the frame story of Scheherazade telling stories over a thousand nights to save her life. * 10th century: reference to ''The Thousand Nights'', an Arabic translation of the Persian ''Hezār Afsān'' ("Thousand Stories"), in ''Muruj Al-Dhahab'' (
The Meadows of Gold ''Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems'' (, ') is a 10th century history book by an Abbasid scholar al-Masudi. Written in Arabic and encompassing the period from the beginning of the world (starting with Adam and Eve) through to the late Abbasid era ...
) by
Al-Mas'udi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...
. * 12th century: a document from
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
refers to a Jewish bookseller lending a copy of ''The Thousand and One Nights'' (this is the first appearance of the final form of the title). * 14th century: existing Syrian manuscript in the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
in Paris (contains about 300 tales). * 1704:
Antoine Galland Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of ''One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called '' Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the ta ...
's French translation is the first European version of ''Nights''. Later volumes were introduced using Galland's name, though the stories were written by unknown persons at the behest of the publisher, who wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the collection. * c. 1706 – c. 1721: an anonymously translated 12-volume English version appears in Europe, dubbed the "
Grub Street Until the early 19th century, Grub Street was a street close to London's impoverished Moorfields district that ran from Fore Street east of St Giles-without-Cripplegate north to Chiswell Street. It was pierced along its length with narrow ent ...
" version. This is entitled ''Arabian Nights' Entertainments''—the first known use of the common English title of the work. * 1768: first
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
translation, 12 volumes. Based, as with many European versions, on the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
translation. * 1775: Egyptian version of ''Nights'' called "ZER" ( Hermann Zotenberg's Egyptian Recension) with 200 tales (no extant edition). * 1804–1806, 1825: Austrian polyglot and orientalist
Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (; 9 June 1774 – 23 November 1856) was an Austrian orientalist, historian and diplomat. He is considered one of the most accomplished orientalists of his time. Life Born Joseph Hammer in Graz, Duchy of S ...
(1774–1856) translates a subsequently lost manuscript into French between 1804 and 1806. His French translation, which was partially abridged and included Galland's "orphan stories", has been lost, but its translation into German, published in 1825, survives. * 1814: Calcutta I, the earliest existing Arabic printed version, is published by the
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
. A second volume was released in 1818. Both had 100 tales each. * 1811: Jonathan Scott (1754–1829), an Englishman who learned Arabic and Persian in India, produces an English translation, mostly based on Galland's French version, supplemented by other sources. Robert Irwin calls it the "first literary translation into English", in contrast to earlier translations from French by "Grub Street hacks". * Early 19th century:
Modern Persian New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th/ ...
translations of the text are made, variously under the title ''Alf leile va leile'', ''Hezār-o yek šhab'' (), or, in distorted Arabic, ''Alf al-leil''. Muhammad Baqir Khurasani Buzanjirdi (b.1770) finalized his translation in 1814, patronized by Henry Russell, 2nd Baronet (1783–1852), British Resident in Hyderabad. Three decades later, Abdul Latif Tasuji completed his translation. It was later illustrated by
Sani ol Molk Abu'l-Hasan Khan Ghaffari Kashani (; 1814–1866) was an Iranian painter, miniature and lacquer artist, and book illustrator. When he became the Chief Court Painter, he also became known as Sani al-Mulk (), meaning "The Crafter of the Kingdom." ...
(1814–1866) for
Mohammad Shah Qajar Mohammad Shah (; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar ''shah'' of Iran from 1834 to 1848, inheriting the throne from his grandfather, Fath-Ali Shah. From a young age, Mohammad Mirza was under the tutela ...
. * 1825–1838: the Breslau/Habicht edition is published in
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
in eight volumes. Christian Maximilian Habicht (born in Breslau,
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
, 1775) collaborated with the Tunisian Mordecai ibn al-Najjar to create this edition containing 1001 nights. In addition to the Galland manuscript, they used what they believed to be a Tunisian manuscript, which was later revealed as a forgery by al-Najjar. Using versions of ''Nights'', tales from Al-Najjar, and other stories of unknown origin, Habicht published his version in Arabic and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
. * 1842–1843: Four additional volumes by Habicht. * 1835: Bulaq version: these two volumes, printed by the Egyptian government, are the oldest printed and published version of ''Nights'' in Arabic by a non-European. It is primarily a reprinting of the ZER text. * 1839–1842: Calcutta II (4 volumes) is published. It claims to be based on an older Egyptian manuscript (this has never been found). This version contains many elements and stories from the Habicht edition. * 1838: Torrens version in English. * 1838–1840:
Edward William Lane Edward William Lane (17 September 1801 – 10 August 1876) was a British orientalist, translator and lexicographer. He is known for his ''Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians'' and the '' Arabic-English Lexicon,'' as well as his translati ...
publishes an English translation. Notable for Lane's exclusion of content he found immoral and for his
anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, wh ...
notes on Arab customs. * 1882–1884: John Payne publishes an English version translated entirely from Calcutta II, adding some tales from Calcutta I and Breslau. * 1885–1888:
Sir Richard Francis Burton Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, KCMG, FRGS, (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, army officer, orientalist writer and scholar. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and South America, as well ...
publishes an English translation from several sources (largely the same as Payne). His version accentuated the sexuality of the stories ''vis-à-vis'' Lane's
bowdlerized An expurgation of a work, also known as a bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is often used in th ...
translation. * 1889–1904: J. C. Mardrus publishes a French version using Bulaq and Calcutta II editions. * 1973: First
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
translation based on the original language edition, but compressed 12 volumes to 9, by
Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy The State Publishing Institute PIW () is a Polish publishing house founded in Warsaw by the Polish state after World War II, in 1946. ''PIW'' specializes in literature, history, philosophy, and the social sciences. One of its more popular liter ...
. * 1984:
Muhsin Mahdi Muḥsin Sayyid Mahdī (; cited Muhsin S. Mahdi; June 21, 1926 – July 9, 2007) was an Iraqi-American Islamologist and Arabist. He was a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy. His best-known work was the first critical ...
publishes an Arabic edition based on the oldest surviving Arabic manuscript (based on the oldest surviving Syrian manuscript currently held in the Bibliothèque Nationale). * 1986–1987: French translation by Arabist René R. Khawam. * 1990: Husain Haddawy publishes an English translation of Mahdi. * 1991: French translation by Arabists Jamel-Eddine Bencheikh and
André Miquel André Miquel (26 September 1929 – 27 December 2022) was a French Arabist and historian, specialist of Arabic literature and Arabic language. Biography André Miquel was born in Mèze, Hérault on 26 September 1929. He studied literature. ...
for the
Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the ...
. * 2008: New Penguin Classics translation (in three volumes) by Malcolm C. Lyons and Ursula Lyons of the Calcutta II edition


Literary themes and techniques

The ''One Thousand and One Nights'' and various tales within it make use of many innovative
literary technique A narrative technique (also, in fiction, a fictional device) is any of several storytelling methods the creator of a narrative, story uses, thus effectively relaying information to the audience or making the story more complete, complex, or engag ...
s, which the storytellers of the tales rely on for increased drama, suspense, or other emotions. Some of these date back to earlier
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
,
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
and
Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
, while others were original to the ''One Thousand and One Nights''.


Frame story

The ''One Thousand and One Nights'' employs an early example of the
frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...
, or
framing device A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...
: the character
Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...
narrates a set of tales (most often
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
s) to the Sultan Shahriyar over many nights. Many of Scheherazade's tales are themselves frame stories, such as the '' Tale of Sinbad the Seaman and Sinbad the Landsman'', which is a collection of adventures related by Sinbad the Seaman to Sinbad the Landsman. In
folkloristics Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...
, the frame story is classified as ATU 875B*, "Storytelling Saves a Wife from Death".


Embedded narrative

Another technique featured in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' is an early example of the "
story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometime ...
", or ''embedded narrative'' technique: this can be traced back to earlier Persian and Indian storytelling traditions, most notably the ''
Panchatantra The ''Panchatantra'' ( IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, , "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.
'' of ancient
Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...
. The ''Nights'', however, improved on the ''Panchatantra'' in several ways, particularly in the way a story is introduced. In the ''Panchatantra'', stories are introduced as
didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...
analogies, with the frame story referring to these stories with variants of the phrase "If you're not careful, that which happened to the louse and the flea will happen to you." In the ''Nights'', this didactic framework is the least common way of introducing the story: instead, a story is most commonly introduced through subtle means, particularly as an answer to questions raised in a previous tale. The general story is narrated by an unknown narrator, and in this narration the stories are told by
Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...
. In most of Scheherazade's narrations there are also stories narrated, and even in some of these, there are some other stories. This is particularly the case for the "
Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a Literary cycle, story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages thr ...
" story narrated by Scheherazade in the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Within the "Sinbad the Sailor" story itself, the protagonist Sinbad the Sailor narrates the stories of his seven voyages to Sinbad the Porter. The device is also used to great effect in stories such as "
The Three Apples The Three Apples (), or The Tale of the Murdered Woman (), is a story contained in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' collection (also known as the "Arabian Nights"). It is a first-level story, being told by Scheherazade herself, and contains one ...
" and " The Seven Viziers". In yet another tale Scheherazade narrates, "
The Fisherman and the Jinni "The Fisherman and the Jinni" is the second top-level story told by Sheherazade in the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Synopsis There is an old, poor fisherman who casts his net exactly four times a day. One day he goes to the shore and casts h ...
", the "Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban" is narrated within it, and within that there are three more tales narrated.


Dramatic visualization

Dramatic visualization is "the representing of an object or character with an abundance of descriptive detail, or the mimetic rendering of gestures and dialogue in such a way as to make a given scene 'visual' or imaginatively present to an audience". This technique is used in several tales of the ''One Thousand and One Nights'', such as the tale of "
The Three Apples The Three Apples (), or The Tale of the Murdered Woman (), is a story contained in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' collection (also known as the "Arabian Nights"). It is a first-level story, being told by Scheherazade herself, and contains one ...
" (see Crime fiction elements below).


Fate and destiny

A common
theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...
in many ''Arabian Nights'' tales is
fate Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predeterminism, predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words wiktionary ...
and
destiny Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...
. Italian filmmaker
Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...
observed: Though invisible, fate may be considered a leading character in the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. The plot devices often used to present this theme are
coincidence A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims, or it may lead to b ...
,
reverse causation The phrase "correlation does not imply causation" refers to the inability to legitimately deduce a cause-and-effect relationship between two events or variables solely on the basis of an observed association or correlation between them. The idea ...
, and the
self-fulfilling prophecy A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's belief or expectation that the prediction would come true. In the phenomena, people tend to act the way they have been expected to in order to mak ...
(see Foreshadowing section below).


Foreshadowing

Early examples of the
foreshadowing Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of an upcoming event later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, and it helps develop or subvert the audience's expectations about u ...
technique of repetitive designation, now known as "Chekhov's gun", occur in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'', which contains "repeated references to some character or object which appears insignificant when first mentioned but which reappears later to intrude suddenly in the narrative." A notable example is in the tale of "The Three Apples" (see Crime fiction elements below). Another early foreshadowing technique is ''formal patterning'', "the organization of the events, actions and gestures which constitute a narrative and give shape to a story; when done well, formal patterning allows the audience the pleasure of discerning and anticipating the structure of the plot as it unfolds." This technique is also found in ''One Thousand and One Nights''.


The self-fulfilling prophecy

Several tales in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' use the
self-fulfilling prophecy A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's belief or expectation that the prediction would come true. In the phenomena, people tend to act the way they have been expected to in order to mak ...
, as a special form of literary prolepsis, to foreshadow what is going to happen. This literary device dates back to the story of
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
in ancient
Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...
, and
Oedipus Oedipus (, ; "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. ...
or the death of
Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
in the plays of
Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
. A variation of this device is the self-fulfilling dream, which can be found in
Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
(or the dreams of
Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
and his conflicts with his brothers, in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
and travel to
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, where he will discover the whereabouts of some hidden treasure. The man travels there and experiences misfortune, ending up in jail, where he tells his dream to a police officer. The officer mocks the idea of foreboding dreams and tells the protagonist that he himself had a dream about a house with a courtyard and fountain in Baghdad where treasure is buried under the fountain. The man recognizes the place as his own house and, after he is released from jail, he returns home and digs up the treasure. In other words, the foreboding dream not only predicted the future, but the dream was the cause of its prediction coming true. A variant of this story later appears in
English folklore English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the region's Legendary creature, mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, Folk dance, dance, balladry, and Folklore, folktales tha ...
as the "
Pedlar of Swaffham The Pedlar of Swaffham is an English folktale from Swaffham, Norfolk. The following text is taken from ''English Fairy and Other Folk Tales'', 1906, which in turn refers to the ''Diary of Abraham dela Pryme'', 1699: Sources The Pedlar of Swaff ...
" and
Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza ( , ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His 1988 novel '' The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller. Early life Paulo Coelho ...
's ''
The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Ben ...
'';
Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...
' collection of short stories ''
A Universal History of Infamy ''A Universal History of Infamy'', or ''A Universal History of Iniquity'' (original Spanish title: ''Historia universal de la infamia''), is a collection of short stories by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, first published in 1935, and revised ...
'' featured his translation of this particular story into Spanish, as "The Story of the Two Dreamers". "The Tale of Attaf" depicts another variation of the self-fulfilling prophecy, whereby
Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...
consults his library (the
House of Wisdom The House of Wisdom ( ), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, was believed to be a major Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid-era public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad. In popular reference, it acted as one of the world's largest publ ...
), reads a random book, "falls to laughing and weeping and dismisses the faithful vizier
Ja'far ibn Yahya Jafar ibn Yahya Barmaki or Jafar al-Barmaki (, , Jafar bin yaḥyā) (767–803), also called Aba-Fadl, was a Persian vizier of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, succeeding his father ( Yahya ibn Khalid) in that position. He was a member of the ...
from sight. Ja'afar, disturbed and upset, flees Baghdad and plunges into a series of adventures in
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
, involving Attaf and the woman whom Attaf eventually marries". After returning to Baghdad, Ja'afar reads the same book that caused Harun to laugh and weep, and discovers that it describes his own adventures with Attaf. In other words, it was Harun's reading of the book that provoked the adventures described in the book to take place. This is an early example of
reverse causation The phrase "correlation does not imply causation" refers to the inability to legitimately deduce a cause-and-effect relationship between two events or variables solely on the basis of an observed association or correlation between them. The idea ...
. Near the end of the tale, Attaf is given a death sentence for a crime he did not commit but Harun, knowing the truth from what he has read in the book, prevents this and has Attaf released from prison. In the 12th century, this tale was translated into Latin by
Petrus Alphonsi Petrus Alphonsi (died after 1116) was a Spanish physician, writer, astronomer and polemicist who was born and raised as a Jew and later in life converted to Christianity in 1106. He is also known just as Alphonsi, and as Peter Alfonsi or Pete ...
and included in his '' Disciplina Clericalis'', alongside the " Sindibad" story cycle. In the 14th century, a version of "The Tale of Attaf" also appears in the ''
Gesta Romanorum ''Gesta Romanorum'' (; "Deeds of the Romans") is a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales that was probably compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th. It still possesses a two-fold literary interest, first as one of ...
'' and
Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so ...
's ''
The Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human Comedy (drama), comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy, Comedy'' "''D ...
''.


Repetition

'' Leitwortstil'' is "the purposeful
repetition Repetition may refer to: *Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...
of words" in a given literary piece that "usually expresses a motif or
theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...
important to the given story." This device occurs in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'', which binds several tales in a story cycle. The storytellers of the tales relied on this technique "to shape the constituent members of their story cycles into a coherent whole". Another technique used in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' is
thematic patterning In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative. Themes can be divided into two categories: a work's ''thematic concept'' is what readers "think the work is about" and its ''thematic statement'' ...
, which is:
e distribution of recurrent thematic concepts and moralistic motifs among the various incidents and frames of a story. In a skillfully crafted tale, thematic patterning may be arranged so as to emphasize the unifying argument or salient idea which disparate events and disparate frames have in common.
Several different variants of the "
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
" story, which has its origins in the ancient Greek story of
Rhodopis "Rhodopis" (; ) is an ancient tale about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt. The story was first recorded by the Greek historian Strabo in the late first century BC or early first century AD and is considered the earliest known var ...
, appear in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'', including "The Second Shaykh's Story", "The Eldest Lady's Tale" and "Abdallah ibn Fadil and His Brothers", all dealing with the theme of a younger sibling harassed by two jealous elders. In some of these, the siblings are female, while in others they are male. One of the tales, "Judar and His Brethren", departs from the
happy ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which there is a positive outcome for the protagonist or protagonists, and in which this is to be considered a favourable outcome. In storylines where the protagonists are in phy ...
s of previous variants and reworks the plot to give it a
tragic A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain ...
ending instead, with the younger brother being poisoned by his elder brothers.


Sexual humour

The ''Nights'' contain many examples of sexual humour. Some of this borders on
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
, as in the tale called "Ali with the Large Member" which pokes fun at obsession with penis size.


Unreliable narrator

The literary device of the
unreliable narrator In literature, film, and other such arts, an unreliable narrator is a narrator who cannot be trusted, one whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in a wide range from children to mature characters. While unreliable narrators are al ...
was used in several fictional medieval Arabic tales of the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. In one tale, "The Seven Viziers" (also known as "Craft and Malice of Women or The Tale of the King, His Son, His Concubine and the Seven Wazirs"), a
courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...
accuses a king's son of having assaulted her, when in reality she had failed to seduce him (inspired by the
Qur'anic The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
/
Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
story of
Yusuf Yusuf ( ') is a male name meaning " God increases" (in piety, power and influence).From the Hebrew יהוה להוסיף ''YHWH Lhosif'' meaning " YHWH will increase/add". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English na ...
/
Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
). Seven
vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
s attempt to save his life by narrating seven stories to prove the unreliability of women, and the courtesan responds by narrating a story to prove the unreliability of viziers. The unreliable narrator device is also used to generate
suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...
in "The Three Apples" and
humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...
in "The Hunchback's Tale" (see Crime fiction elements below).


Genre elements


Crime fiction

An example of the
murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...
and
suspense thriller Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
genres in the collection, with multiple
plot twist A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist ending or surprise ending. It may change ...
s and
detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...
elements was "
The Three Apples The Three Apples (), or The Tale of the Murdered Woman (), is a story contained in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' collection (also known as the "Arabian Nights"). It is a first-level story, being told by Scheherazade herself, and contains one ...
", also known as ''Hikayat al-sabiyya 'l-maqtula'' ('The Tale of the Murdered Young Woman'). In this tale,
Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...
comes to possess a chest, which, when opened, contains the body of a young woman. Harun gives his vizier, Ja'far, three days to find the culprit or be executed. At the end of three days, when Ja'far is about to be executed for his failure, two men come forward, both claiming to be the murderer. As they tell their story it transpires that, although the younger of them, the woman's husband, was responsible for her death, some of the blame attaches to a slave, who had taken one of the apples mentioned in the title and caused the woman's murder. Harun then gives Ja'far three more days to find the guilty slave. When he yet again fails to find the culprit, and bids his family goodbye before his execution, he discovers by chance his daughter has the apple, which she obtained from Ja'far's own slave, Rayhan. Thus the mystery is solved. Another ''Nights'' tale with
crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...
elements was "The Hunchback's Tale" story cycle which, unlike "The Three Apples", was more of a
suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...
ful
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
and
courtroom drama Legal drama, also called courtroom drama, is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in wh ...
rather than a murder mystery or detective fiction. The story is set in a fictional China and begins with a hunchback, the emperor's favourite
comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
, being invited to dinner by a
tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
couple. The hunchback accidentally chokes on his food from laughing too hard and the couple, fearful that the emperor will be furious, take his body to a Jewish doctor's
clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...
and leave him there. This leads to the next tale in the cycle, the "Tale of the Jewish Doctor", where the doctor accidentally trips over the hunchback's body, falls down the stairs with him, and finds him dead, leading him to believe that the fall had killed him. The doctor then dumps his body down a chimney, and this leads to yet another tale in the cycle, which continues with twelve tales in total, leading to all the people involved in this incident finding themselves in a
courtroom A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...
, all making different claims over how the hunchback had died. Crime fiction elements are also present near the end of "The Tale of Attaf" (see
Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of an upcoming event later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, and it helps develop or subvert the audience's expectations about u ...
above).


Horror fiction

Haunting This is a list of locations that are (or have been) said to be haunted by ghosts, demons, or other supernatural beings throughout the world. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore. Argentina * Cinco ...
is used as a
plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...
in
gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...
and
horror fiction Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defin ...
, as well as modern
paranormal fiction Paranormal fiction is a genre of fiction whose story lines revolve around the paranormal. Sub genres * Paranormal romance Television *''The X-Files'', a suspense drama television series in which characters investigate various paranormal pheno ...
. Legends about
haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...
s have long appeared in literature. In particular, the ''Arabian Nights'' tale of "Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad" revolves around a house haunted by
jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
. The ''Nights'' is almost certainly the earliest surviving literature that mentions
ghoul In folklore, a ghoul (from , ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid, often associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. In the legends or tales in which they appear, a ghoul is far more ill-mannered and foul than go ...
s, and many of the stories in that collection involve or reference ghouls. A prime example is the story ''The History of Gherib and His Brother Agib'' (from ''Nights'' vol. 6), in which Gherib, an outcast prince, fights off a family of ravenous Ghouls and then enslaves them and converts them to
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. Horror fiction elements are also found in "The City of Brass" tale, which revolves around a
ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
. The hero of the tale is an historical person,
Musa bin Nusayr Musa ibn Nusayr ( ''Mūsá bin Nuṣayr''; 640 – c. 716) was an Arab general and governor who served under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim province of Ifriqiya, and directed the Islamic conquest of the Visigothic Kingdo ...
.
The horrific nature of
Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...
's situation is magnified in
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
's '' Misery'', in which the protagonist is forced to write a novel to keep his captor from torturing and killing him. The influence of the ''Nights'' on modern horror fiction is certainly discernible in the work of
H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...
. As a child, he was fascinated by the adventures recounted in the book, and he attributes some of his creations to his love of the ''1001 Nights''.


Fantasy and science fiction

Several stories within the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' feature early
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
elements. One example is "The Adventures of Bulukiya", in which the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
Bulukiya's quest for the herb of immortality leads him to explore the seas, journey to
Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
and to
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
, and travel across the
cosmos The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering ...
to different worlds much larger than his own world, anticipating elements of
galactic Galactic is an American funk band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...
science fiction; along the way, he encounters societies of
jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
,
mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...
s, talking serpents, talking trees, and other forms of life. In " Abu al-Husn and His Slave-Girl Tawaddud", the heroine Tawaddud gives an impromptu
lecture A lecture (from ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theo ...
on the mansions of the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, and the benevolent and sinister aspects of the planets. In another ''1001 Nights'' tale, "Abdullah the Fisherman and Abdullah the Merman", the protagonist Abdullah the Fisherman gains the ability to breathe underwater and discovers an underwater society that is portrayed as an inverted reflection of society on land, in that the underwater society follows a form of
primitive communism Primitive communism is a way of describing the gift economies of hunter-gatherers throughout history, where resources and property hunted or gathered are shared with all members of a group in accordance with individual needs. In political sociolo ...
where concepts like money and clothing do not exist. Other ''Arabian Nights'' tales also depict
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
societies dominated by women, lost ancient technologies, advanced ancient civilizations that went astray, and catastrophes which overwhelmed them. "The City of Brass" features a group of travellers on an
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
expedition across the
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
to find an ancient lost city and attempt to recover a brass vessel that
Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
once used to trap a
jinni Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
, and, along the way, encounter a
mummified A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furthe ...
queen,
petrified In geology, petrifaction or petrification () is the process by which organic material becomes a fossil through the replacement of the original material and the filling of the original pore spaces with minerals. Petrified wood typifies this proce ...
inhabitants, lifelike
humanoid robot A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments and working alongside humans, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipeda ...
s and
automata An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...
, seductive
marionette A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...
s dancing without strings, and a brass horseman
robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...
who directs the party towards the ancient city, which has now become a
ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
. The "Third Qalandar's Tale" also features a robot in the form of an uncanny boatman.


Poetry

There is an abundance of
Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ''ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy'') is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existe ...
in ''One Thousand and One Nights''. It is often deployed by stories' narrators to provide detailed descriptions, usually of the beauty of characters. Characters also occasionally quote or speak in verse in certain settings. The uses include but are not limited to: * Giving advice, warning, and solutions. * Praising God, royalties and those in power. * Pleading for mercy and forgiveness. * Lamenting wrong decisions or bad luck. * Providing riddles, laying questions, challenges. * Criticizing elements of life, wondering. * Expressing feelings to others or one's self: happiness, sadness, anxiety, surprise, anger. In a typical example, expressing feelings of happiness to oneself from Night 203, Prince Qamar Al-Zaman, standing outside the castle, wants to inform Queen Bodour of his arrival. He wraps his ring in a paper and hands it to the servant who delivers it to the Queen. When she opens it and sees the ring, joy conquers her, and out of happiness she chants this poem: Translations:


In world culture

The influence of the versions of ''The Nights'' on world literature is immense. Writers as diverse as
Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...
to
Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer "who, through wo ...
have alluded to the collection by name in their own works. Other writers who have been influenced by the ''Nights'' include
John Barth John Simmons Barth (; May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include '' The Sot-Weed Facto ...
,
Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...
,
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
,
Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...
,
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
,
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
,
Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
,
Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...
,
Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer, and short story writer. Her novels offer detailed studies of Victorian era, Victoria ...
, Nodier,
Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...
,
Marcel Schwob Mayer André Marcel Schwob, known as Marcel Schwob (23 August 1867 – 26 February 1905), was a French symbolist writer best known for his short stories and his literary influence on authors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Alfonso Reyes, Roberto Bo ...
,
Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...
, Dumas, Hugo,
Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855), the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, was a French essayist, poet, translator, and travel writer. He was a major figure during the era of French romantici ...
,
Gobineau Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (; 14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) was a French writer and diplomat who is best known for helping introduce scientific race theory and "racial demography", and for developing the theory of the Aryan master race and N ...
,
Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...
,
Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...
, Hofmannsthal,
Conan Doyle Conan may refer to: People * Saint Conan (died 684), bishop of the Isle of Man * Conan of Cornwall (c. 930 – c. 950), bishop of Cornwall * Conan I of Rennes (died 992), duke of Brythonic Brittany * Conan II, Duke of Brittany (died 1066), duke ...
,
W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...
,
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
,
Cavafy Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis ( ; 29 April ( OS 17 April), 1863 – 29 April 1933), known, especially in English, as Constantine P. Cavafy and often published as C. P. Cavafy (), was a Greek poet, journalist, and civil servant from Alexandria. A ...
,
Calvino Italo Calvino (, ; ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian novelist and short story writer. His best-known works include the ''Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the ''Cosmi ...
,
Georges Perec Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Ho ...
,
H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...
,
Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...
,
A. S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy (; 24 August 1936 – 16 November 2023), known professionally by her former married name, A.S. Byatt ( ), was an English critic, novelist, poet and short-story writer. Her books have been translated into more than thirt ...
and
Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...
. Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such as
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
,
Sinbad Sinbad the Sailor (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages throughout the sea ...
and
Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" () is a folk tale in Arabic added to the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popu ...
. Part of its popularity may have sprung from improved standards of historical and geographical knowledge. The marvelous beings and events typical of fairy tales seem less incredible if they are set further "long ago" or farther "far away"; this process culminates in the
fantasy world A fantasy world or fictional world is a world created for fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds feature magical abilities. Some worlds may be a parallel world connected to Earth via magical portals or items ...
having little connection, if any, to actual times and places. Several elements from
Arabian mythology In pre-Islamic Arabia, the dominant religious practice was that of Arab polytheism, which was based on the veneration of various deities and spirits, such as the god Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt. Worship was ...
are now common in modern
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
, such as
genie GEnie (General Electric Network for Information Exchange) was an online service provider, online service created by a General Electric business, GEIS (now GXS Inc., GXS), that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around ...
s,
bahamut Bahamut, or Bahamoot ( ; ), according to Zakariya al-Qazwini, is a monster that lies deep below, underpinning the support structure that holds up the earth. In this conception of the world, the earth is shouldered by an angel, who stands on a ...
s,
magic carpet A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet and common trope in fantasy fiction. It is typically used as a form of transportation and can quickly or instantaneously carry its user(s) to their destination. In literature On ...
s, magic lamps, etc. When
L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...
proposed writing a modern fairy tale that banished stereotypical elements, he included the genie as well as the dwarf and the fairy as stereotypes to go. In 1982, the
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...
(IAU) began naming features on
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...
's moon
Enceladus Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn and the 18th-largest in the Solar System. It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It is covered by clean, freshly deposited snow hundreds of meters thick, ...
after characters and places in Burton's translationBlue, J.; (2006
''Categories for Naming Planetary Features''
Retrieved November 16, 2006.
because "its surface is so strange and mysterious that it was given the ''Arabian Nights'' as a name bank, linking fantasy landscape with a literary fantasy."


In Arab culture

There is little evidence that the ''Nights'' was particularly treasured in the Arab world. It is rarely mentioned in lists of popular literature and few pre-18th-century manuscripts of the collection exist. Fiction had a low cultural status among Medieval Arabs compared with poetry, and the tales were dismissed as ''khurafa'' (improbable fantasies fit only for entertaining women and children). According to Robert Irwin, "Even today, with the exception of certain writers and academics, the ''Nights'' is regarded with disdain in the Arabic world. Its stories are regularly denounced as vulgar, improbable, childish and, above all, badly written". Nevertheless, the ''Nights'' have proved an inspiration to some modern Egyptian writers, such as
Tawfiq al-Hakim Tawfiq al-Hakim or Tawfik el-Hakim (, ; October 9, 1898 – July 26, 1987) was an Egyptian writer. He is one of the pioneers of the Arabic novel and drama. The triumphs and failures that are represented by the reception of his enormous output ...
(author of the
Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
play ''Shahrazad'', 1934),
Taha Hussein Taha Hussein (, ; November 15, 1889 – October 28, 1973) was among the most influential 20th-century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a leading figure of the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab world. His sobriquet ...
(''Scheherazade's Dreams'', 1943) and
Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer "who, through wo ...
('' Arabian Nights and Days'', 1979).
Idries Shah Idries Shah (; , , ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, Indries Shah, né Sayyid, Sayed Idries el-Hashemite, Hashimi (Arabic: ) and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an Afghans, Afghan author, thinker and teacher in ...
finds the
Abjad An abjad ( or abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving the vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels. The term was introd ...
numerical equivalent of the Arabic title, ''alf layla wa layla'', in the Arabic phrase ''ʾumm al-qiṣṣa'', meaning 'mother of stories'. He goes on to state that many of the stories "are encoded
Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
teaching stories A teaching story is a narrative that has been deliberately created as a vehicle for the transmission of wisdom. The practice has been used in a number of religious and other traditions, though writer Idries Shah's use of it was in the context of Suf ...
, descriptions of psychological processes, or enciphered lore of one kind or another". On a more popular level, film and TV adaptations based on stories like Sinbad and Aladdin enjoyed long lasting popularity in Arabic speaking countries.


Early European literature

Although the first known translation into a European language appeared in 1704, it is possible that the ''Nights'' began exerting its influence on Western culture much earlier. Christian writers in Medieval Spain translated many works from Arabic, mainly philosophy and mathematics, but also Arab fiction, as is evidenced by
Juan Manuel Don (honorific), Don Juan Manuel (5 May 128213 June 1348) was a Spanish medieval writer, nephew of Alfonso X of Castile, son of Manuel of Castile and Beatrice of Savoy (died 1292), Beatrice of Savoy. He inherited from his father the great Lordshi ...
's story collection '' El Conde Lucanor'' and
Ramón Llull Ramon Llull (; ; – 1316), sometimes anglicized as ''Raymond Lully'', was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, Christian apologist and former knight from the Kingdom of Majorca. He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art'' ...
's ''The Book of Beasts''. Knowledge of the work, direct or indirect, apparently spread beyond Spain. Themes and motifs with parallels in the ''Nights'' are found in
Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...
's ''
The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...
'' (in ''
The Squire's Tale "The Squire's Tale" is a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales''. It is unfinished, because it is interrupted by the next story-teller, the Franklin, who then continues with his own prologue and tale. The Squire is the Knight's son, ...
'' the hero travels on a flying brass horse) and
Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...
's ''
Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's ''Comedy'' "''Divine''"), is a collection of ...
''. Echoes in
Giovanni Sercambi Giovanni Sercambi (18 February 134727 May 1424) was an Italian author from Lucca who wrote a history of his city, ''Le croniche di Luccha'', as well as ''Il novelliere'' (or ''Novelle''), a collection of 155 tales. Biography Of modest origins, ...
's ''Novelle'' and
Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (, ; ; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic '' Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describ ...
's ''
Orlando Furioso ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form ...
'' suggest that the story of Shahriyar and Shahzaman was also known. Evidence also appears to show that the stories had spread to the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
and a translation of the ''Nights'' into
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
existed by the 17th century, itself based on a Greek version of the collection.


Western literature (18th century onwards)


Galland translations (1700s)

The modern fame of the ''Nights'' derives from the first known European translation by
Antoine Galland Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of ''One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called '' Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the ta ...
, which appeared in 1704. According to Robert Irwin, Galland "played so large a part in discovering the tales, in popularizing them in Europe and in shaping what would come to be regarded as the canonical collection that, at some risk of hyperbole and paradox, he has been called the real author of the ''Nights''". The immediate success of Galland's version with the French public may have been because it coincided with the vogue for ''contes de fées'' ('fairy stories'). This fashion began with the publication of
Madame d'Aulnoy Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy (September 1652 – 14 January 1705), also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French author known for her literary fairy tales. Her 1697 collection ''Les Contes des Fées'' (Fairy Tales) ...
's ''Histoire d'Hypolite'' in 1690. D'Aulnoy's book has a remarkably similar structure to the ''Nights'', with the tales told by a female narrator. The success of the ''Nights'' spread across Europe and by the end of the century there were translations of Galland into English, German, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Russian, Flemish and Yiddish. Galland's version provoked a spate of pseudo-Oriental imitations. At the same time, some French writers began to parody the style and concoct far-fetched stories in superficially Oriental settings. These
tongue-in-cheek Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...
pastiches include Anthony Hamilton's ''Les quatre Facardins'' (1730),
Crébillon Crébillon is a French surname. Notable people with that name include: * Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (Crébillon or Crébillon the Tragic, 1674–1762), French poet and tragedian * Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon Claude Prosper Jolyot de Cr ...
's '' Le sopha'' (1742) and
Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during t ...
's ''
Les bijoux indiscrets ''The Indiscreet Jewels'' (or ''The Indiscreet Toys'', or ''The Talking Jewels''; ) is the first novel by Denis Diderot, published anonymously in 1748. It is an allegory that portrays Louis XV of France as Mangogul, Sultan of Congo, who owns a m ...
'' (1748). They often contained veiled allusions to contemporary French society. The most famous example is
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
's ''
Zadig ''Zadig; or, The Book of Fate'' (; 1747) is a novella and work of philosophical fiction by the Enlightenment writer Voltaire. It tells the story of Zadig, a Zoroastrian philosopher in ancient Babylonia. The story of Zadig is a fictional story. ...
'' (1748), an attack on religious bigotry set against a vague pre-Islamic Middle Eastern background. The English versions of the "Oriental Tale" generally contained a heavy moralising element, with the notable exception of William Beckford's fantasy ''
Vathek ''Vathek'' (alternatively titled ''Vathek, an Arabian Tale'' or ''The History of the Caliph Vathek'') is a Gothic novel written by William Beckford. It was composed in French beginning in 1782, and then translated into English by Reverend Sa ...
'' (1786), which had a decisive influence on the development of the
Gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean ...
. The Polish nobleman
Jan Potocki Count Jan Potocki (; 8 March 1761 – 23 December 1815) was a Polish nobleman, ethnologist, linguist, traveller and author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a celebrated figure in Poland. He is known chiefly for his ...
's novel '' Saragossa Manuscript'' (begun 1797) owes a deep debt to the ''Nights'' with its Oriental flavour and labyrinthine series of embedded tales. The work was included on a price-list of books on theology, history, and cartography, which was sent by the Scottish bookseller
Andrew Millar Andrew Millar (17058 June 1768) was a British publisher in the eighteenth century. Biography In 1725, as a twenty-year-old bookseller apprentice, he evaded Edinburgh city printing restrictions by going to Leith to print, which was considered be ...
(then an apprentice) to a
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
minister. This is illustrative of the title's widespread popularity and availability in the 1720s.


19th century–20th century

The ''Nights'' continued to be a favourite book of many British authors of the Romantic and Victorian eras. According to
A. S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy (; 24 August 1936 – 16 November 2023), known professionally by her former married name, A.S. Byatt ( ), was an English critic, novelist, poet and short-story writer. Her books have been translated into more than thirt ...
, "In British Romantic poetry the Arabian Nights stood for the wonderful against the mundane, the imaginative against the prosaically and reductively rational." In their autobiographical writings, both
Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
and
de Quincey De Quincy, De Quincey, DeQuincy, or DeQuincey is a name. It can occur as both a masculine given name and as a surname. Geographically, it can be found in the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and New Zealand. Notable people with this name ...
refer to nightmares the book had caused them when young.
Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...
and
Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...
also wrote about their childhood reading of the tales in their poetry.
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
was another enthusiast and the atmosphere of the ''Nights'' pervades the opening of his last novel ''
The Mystery of Edwin Drood ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirm ...
'' (1870). Several writers have attempted to add a thousand and second tale, including
Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...
(''La mille deuxième nuit'', 1842) and
Joseph Roth Moses Joseph Roth (2 September 1894 – 27 May 1939) was an Austrian-Jewish journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga '' Radetzky March'' (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life ...
(''Die Geschichte von der 1002 Nacht'', 1939).
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
wrote "
The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade "The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade" is a short-story by American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849). It was published in the February 1845 issue of '' Godey's Lady's Book'' and was intended as a partly humorous sequel to the celebrate ...
" (1845), a short story depicting the eighth and final voyage of
Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a Literary cycle, story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages thr ...
, along with the various mysteries Sinbad and his crew encounter; the anomalies are then described as footnotes to the story. While the king is uncertain—except in the case of the elephants carrying the world on the back of the turtle—that these mysteries are real, they are actual modern events that occurred in various places during, or before, Poe's lifetime. The story ends with the king in such disgust at the tale Scheherazade has just woven, that he has her executed the very next day. Another important literary figure, the Irish poet
W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...
was also fascinated by the Arabian Nights, when he wrote in his prose book, ''
A Vision ''A Vision: An Explanation of Life Founded upon the Writings of Giraldus and upon Certain Doctrines Attributed to Kusta Ben Luka'', privately published in 1925, is a book-length study of various philosophical, historical, astrological, and poet ...
'' an autobiographical poem, titled The Gift of
Harun Al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...
, in relation to his joint experiments with his wife
Georgie Hyde-Lees Bertha Georgie Yeats (; 16 October 189223 August 1968)Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam .... Georgie died on 23 August 1968. References Sources * Foster, R.F. ''W.B Yeats: A Life''. Oxford University Press, 1997. * Saddlemeyer, Ann ...
, with
automatic writing Automatic writing, also called psychography, is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Practitioners engage in automatic writing by holding a writing instrument and allowing alleged sp ...
, a technique used by many occultists in order to discern messages from the subconscious mind or from other spiritual beings, when the hand moves a pencil or a pen, writing only on a simple sheet of paper and when the person's eyes are shut. Also, the gifted and talented wife, is playing in Yeats's poem as "a gift" herself, given only allegedly by the caliph to the Christian and Byzantine philosopher
Qusta Ibn Luqa Qusta ibn Luqa, also known as Costa ben Luca or Constabulus (820912) was a Melkite Christian physician, philosopher, astronomer, mathematician and translator. He was born in Baalbek. Travelling to parts of the Byzantine Empire, he brought back Gre ...
, who acts in the poem as a personification of W. B. Yeats. In July 1934 he was asked by Louis Lambert, while in a tour in the United States, which six books satisfied him most. The list that he gave placed the Arabian Nights, secondary only to William Shakespeare's works. Modern authors influenced by the ''Nights'' include
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
,
Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...
,
Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...
,
John Barth John Simmons Barth (; May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include '' The Sot-Weed Facto ...
and
Ted Chiang Ted Chiang (; pinyin: ''Jiāng Fēngnán''; born 1967) is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula Award, Nebula awards, four Hugo Award, Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus Award, ...
.


Film, radio and television

Stories from the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' have been popular subjects for films, beginning with
Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès ( , ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French magic (illusion), magician, toymaker, actor, and filmmaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of film, cinema, primarily in th ...
' '' Le Palais des Mille et une nuits'' (1905). The critic Robert Irwin singles out the two versions of ''The Thief of Baghdad'' ( 1924 version directed by Raoul Walsh; 1940 version produced by Alexander Korda) and
Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...
's '' Il fiore delle Mille e una notte'' (1974) as ranking "high among the masterpieces of world cinema." Michael James Lundell calls ''Il fiore'' "the most faithful adaptation, in its emphasis on sexuality, of ''The 1001 Nights'' in its oldest form". ''Alif Laila'' (; 1933) was a
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
-language fantasy film based on ''One Thousand and One Nights'' from the early era of
Indian cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...
, directed by Balwant Bhatt and Shanti Dave.
K. Amarnath K. Amarnath (1 Dec 1914 – 14 May 1983) was one of the earliest film makers of Indian Cinema. His career as a movie producer and director spanned over four decades in the film industry. Early life Amarnath Gelaram Khetarpal was born in Mianwa ...
made, ''
Alif Laila ''Alif Laila'' is an Indian television series based on the ''One Thousand and One Nights'', also known as the ''Arabian Nights''. It was produced by Sagar Arts. It was made in two seasons. The series from 1993 to 2002 for 303 episodes on DD N ...
'' (1953), another Indian fantasy film in Hindi based on the folktale of
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
.
Niren Lahiri Niren Lahiri or Nirendranath Lahiri (17 July 1908 – 2 December 1972) was a Bengali and Hindi film director. He received 9th Annual BFJA Awards in 1946 and 2nd National Film Awards in 1955. Career Lahiri was born in Kolkata, British India in 1 ...
's ''Arabian Nights'', an adventure-fantasy film adaptation of the stories, released in 1946. A number of Indian films based on the ''Nights'' and ''The Thief of Baghdad'' were produced over the years, including '' Baghdad Ka Chor'' (1946), ''
Baghdad Thirudan ''Baghdad Thirudan'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language swashbuckler film produced and directed by T. P. Sundaram. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and Vyjayanthimala, with M. N. Nambiar, T. S. Balaiah, T. R. Ramachandran, S. A. Ashokan, M ...
'' (1960), and ''
Baghdad Gaja Donga ''Baghdad Gaja Donga'' () is a 1968 Telugu-language swashbuckler film directed by D. Yoganand. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Jayalalithaa, with music composed by T. V. Raju. It is produced by P. Padmanabha Rao under the Padma Gowri Pictures banner ...
'' (1968). A television series, ''Thief of Baghdad'', was also made in India which aired on
Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...
between 2000 and 2001. UPA, an American animation studio, produced an animated feature version of '' 1001 Arabian Nights'' (1959), featuring the cartoon character
Mr. Magoo Mr. Magoo, whose first name is "Quincy", is a fictional cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced for many years by Jim Backus, Mr. Magoo is an elderly, wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comi ...
. The 1949 animated film '' The Singing Princess'', another movie produced in Italy, is inspired by The Arabian Nights. The animated feature film, '' One Thousand and One Arabian Nights'' (1969), produced in Japan and directed by
Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...
and Eichii Yamamoto, featured
psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...
imagery and sounds, and erotic material intended for adults. ''
Alif Laila ''Alif Laila'' is an Indian television series based on the ''One Thousand and One Nights'', also known as the ''Arabian Nights''. It was produced by Sagar Arts. It was made in two seasons. The series from 1993 to 2002 for 303 episodes on DD N ...
'' (''The Arabian Nights''), a 1993–1997 Indian TV series based on the stories from ''One Thousand and One Nights'' produced by Sagar Entertainment Ltd, aired on
DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is an Indian state-owned entertainment television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagshi ...
starts with Scheherazade telling her stories to Shahryār, and contains both the well-known and the lesser-known stories from ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Another Indian television series, ''Alif Laila'', based on various stories from the collection aired on
Dangal TV Dangal TV is a Hindi language, Hindi general entertainment channel owned by Enterr10 Television Network. It was launched on 2009 as a Bhojpuri language, Bhojpuri-language movie channel but was converted into a Hindi entertainment channel. Its pr ...
in 2020. ''Alf Leila Wa Leila'', Egyptian television adaptations of the stories was broadcast between the 1980s and early 1990s, with each series featuring a cast of big name Egyptian performers such as
Hussein Fahmy Hussein Mahmoud Fahmy (; born 22 March 1940) is an Egyptian actor. He worked in the film and television industry for more than 50 years, specializing in film directing and appearing in over 100 film, television, and theatre productions. He gradu ...
, Raghda,
Laila Elwi Laila Ahmed Elwi (born January 4, 1962, in Cairo), sometimes credited as Laila Eloui, Laila Olwy, Laila Eloui, and Laila Elwy (), is an Egyptian actress. She has starred in more than 70 movies and has been honored at Egyptian and international fes ...
,
Yousuf Shaaban Yousuf Shaaban may refer to: * Yousuf Shaaban (footballer) * Yousuf Shaaban (actor) Youssef Shaaban Shemis (; 16 July 1931 – 28 February 2021) was an Egyptian actor. Career Shaaban initially studied law at Ain Shams University, but he later ...
,
Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...
,
Sherihan Sherihan Ahmed Abdel Fattah el Shalakani (, ; born 6 December 1964) is an Egyptian actress, singer and classically trained dancer. Biography Sherihan started acting at the age of four. She is mostly known for Fawazir Ramadan. She retired in 200 ...
and
Yehia El-Fakharany Yehia el-Fakharany (; born 7 April 1945) is an Egyptian television and film actor. Early years El-Fakharany earned a bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery from Ain Shams University in Cairo in 1971. He was a member of the university's thea ...
. Each series premiered on every yearly month of
Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
between the 1980s and 1990s. One of the best known Arabian Nights-based films is the 1992 Walt Disney animated movie ''
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
'', which is loosely based on the story of the same name. ''
Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...
'' (2000), a two-part television mini-series adopted for BBC and ABC studios, starring
Mili Avital Mili Avital (; born March 30, 1972) is an Israeli actress. Her career began in Israel, starring on stage, film and television. She won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1991, moved to New York in 1993 to study theatre in ...
,
Dougray Scott Stephen Dougray Scott (born 26 November 1965) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared in the films '' Ever After'' (1998), '' Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000), '' Enigma'' (2001), '' Ripley's Game'' (2002), ''Hitman'' (2007), and '' My Week with Mar ...
, and
John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...
, and directed by
Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker and music video director. Among the music videos he has directed are "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, " Burning Up (Madonna song), Burnin Up" by Madonna, "Summer of '69" and "Run t ...
, is based on the translation by
Sir Richard Francis Burton Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, KCMG, FRGS, (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, army officer, orientalist writer and scholar. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and South America, as well ...
.
Shabnam Rezaei Shabnam Rezaei is a children's television creator, director, producer and co-founder of Big Bad Boo Studios and VOD service Oznoz. She created the TVOKids Original series Galapagos X, starring Odd Squad actress Millie Davis as Orchid, Gavin Mac ...
and Aly Jetha created, and the Vancouver-based
Big Bad Boo Big Bad Boo is a Canadian animation studio that specializes in animated series for television as well as games, apps, websites and curriculum development. Popular TV series are 16 Hudson, based on the miniseries Lili & Lola and musical series ABC ...
Studios produced ''
1001 Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...
'' (2011), an animated television series for children, which launched on
Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
and airs in 80 countries around the world, including Discovery Kids Asia. ''
Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...
'' (2015, in Portuguese: ''As Mil e uma Noites''), a three-part film directed by Miguel Gomes, is based on ''One Thousand and One Nights''. ''Alf Leila Wa Leila'', a popular
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian radio adaptation was broadcast on Egyptian radio stations for 26 years. Directed by famed radio director Mohamed Mahmoud Shabaan also known by his nickname ''Baba Sharoon'', the series featured a cast of respected Egyptian actors, among them Zouzou Nabil as Scheherazade and Abdelrahim El Zarakany as Shahryar. ''
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
'' (2019) is a
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...
directed by
Guy Ritchie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter known primarily for British comedy gangster films and large-scale action-adventure films. Ritchie left school at the age of 15, and worked in e ...
from a screenplay he co-wrote with
John August John August (born August 4, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is known for writing the films '' Go'' (1999), '' Charlie's Angels'' (2000), '' Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'' (2003), '' Big Fish'' (2003), '' ...
. Co-produced by
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...
and Rideback, it is a live-action remake of Disney's 1992 animated feature film of the same title. '' Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom'' (2025) is the first in a trilogy of live-action sci-fi films written and directed by ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' Artist Matt Busch. The films take place 1,500 years in the future, yet stay closer to the original Arabian Nights tale than the
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
versions, including taking place in Asia.


Music

The ''Nights'' has inspired many pieces of music, including: Classical *
François-Adrien Boieldieu François-Adrien Boieldieu (, also ) (16 December 1775 – 8 October 1834) was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart".. Although his reputation is largely based upon his operas, Boieldieu composed other works and amo ...
: ''
Le calife de Bagdad ''Le calife de Bagdad'' (''The Caliph of Baghdad'') is an ''opéra comique'' in one act by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu with a libretto by Claude Godard d'Aucourt de Saint-Just. Dedicated to the landscape painter Bidauld it wa ...
'' (1800) *
Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...
: ''
Abu Hassan ''Abu Hassan'' ( J. 106) is a comic opera in one act by Carl Maria von Weber to a German libretto by , based on a story in ''One Thousand and One Nights''. It was composed between 11 August 1810 and 12 January 1811 and has set numbers with recita ...
'' (1811) *
Luigi Cherubini Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethov ...
: ''
Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" () is a folk tale in Arabic added to the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popu ...
'' (1833) *
Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
: ''
Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...
'' (1848) *
Peter Cornelius Carl August Peter Cornelius (24 December 1824 – 26 October 1874) was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator. Life He was born in Mainz to Carl Joseph Gerhard (1793–1843) and Friederike (1789–1867) Cornelius, actors in ...
: ''
Der Barbier von Bagdad ''Der Barbier von Bagdad'' (''The Barber of Baghdad'') is a comic opera in two acts by Peter Cornelius to a German libretto by the composer, based on ''The Tale of the Tailor'' and ''The Barber’s Stories of his Six Brothers'' in '' One Thousa ...
'' (1858) *
Ernest Reyer Louis Étienne Ernest Reyer (1 December 1823 – 15 January 1909) was a French opera composer and music critic. Biography Ernest Reyer was born in Marseille. His father, a notary, did not want his son to take up a career in music. However, he d ...
: ''
La statue ''La statue'' (''The Statue'') is an opera in three acts and five tableaux by Ernest Reyer to the libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier based on tales from ''One Thousand and One Nights'' and ''La statue merveilleuse'', an 1810 carnival p ...
'' (1861) *
C. F. E. Horneman Christian Frederik Emil Horneman (December 17, 1840 – June 8, 1906) was a Denmark, Danish composer, conductor, music publisher, and music instructor. Biography C. F. E. Horneman was born in Copenhagen, the son of the composer Emil Hornema ...
: ''Aladdin'' (overture), (1864) *
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...
: ''
Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...
'' Op. 35 (1888) *
Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...
: ''
Indigo und die vierzig Räuber ' (''Indigo and the Forty Thieves'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Maximilian Steiner based on the tale "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" from ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights''. Performance history ...
'' (1871) *
Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...
: ''
Tausend und eine Nacht Tausend und eine Nacht (Thousand and One Nights), Op. 346, is a waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along wit ...
'' (1871) *
Tigran Chukhajian Tigran Tchouhadjian (; ; 1837 – March 11, 1898) was an Ottoman Armenian composer and conductor, and the founder of the first opera institution in the Ottoman Empire. Biography Tchouhadjian was born in Constantinople. He studied at composer ...
: ''Zemire'' (1891) *
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
: ''Shéhérazade'' (1898) * Ferrucio Busoni:
Piano Concerto A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...
in C major (1904) *
Henri Rabaud Henri Benjamin Rabaud (10 November 187311 September 1949) was a French conductor, composer and teacher, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of the t ...
: '' Mârouf, savetier du Caire'' (1914) *
Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...
: ''
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
'' suite (1918–1919) *
Collegium musicum The Collegium Musicum was one of several types of musical societies that arose in Germany, German and German-Switzerland, Swiss cities and towns during the Protestant Reformation, Reformation and thrived into the mid-18th century. Generally, whil ...
: ''Suita po tisic a jednej noci'' (1969) *
Fikret Amirov Fikret Mashadi Jamil oghlu Amirov (November 22, 1922February 20, 1984) was a prominent Soviet and Azerbaijani composer. Biography Early life and education Originally from Shusha, Fikret Amirov was born on November 22, 1922, in the family of ...
: ''Arabian Nights'' (ballet, 1979) *
Ezequiel Viñao Ezequiel Viñao (born July 21, 1960 in Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la ...
: ''La noche de las noches'' (1990) *
Carl Davis Carl Davis (October 28, 1936 – August 3, 2023) was an American-born British conductor and composer. He wrote music for more than 100 television programmes, notably the landmark ITV series '' The World at War'' (1973) and BBC's '' Pride and P ...
: ''Aladdin'' (ballet, 1999) Pop, rock, and metal *
Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum (; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptians, Egyptian singer and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title (). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Umm Kul ...
: "Alf leila wa leila" (1969) *
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
: ''
Scheherazade and Other Stories ''Scheherazade and Other Stories'' is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Renaissance, released in 1975. Some critics consider it their best album, although others prefer earlier albums.Liner notes from the ''Tales of 1001 ...
'' (1975) *
Doce Doce was a Portuguese pop all-female band founded in 1979, one of the first of its type in Portugal and in Europe. Its name is the Portuguese word for "sweet" and its core lineup consisted of Lena Coelho, Laura Diogo, Teresa Miguel and . The ba ...
: "Ali-Bábá, um homem das Arábias" (1981) *
Icehouse Icehouse or ice house may refer to: * Ice house (building), a building where ice is stored * Ice shanty, a shelter for ice fishing also known as an ''Icehouse'' * Ice rink, a facility for ice skating. * Ice hockey arena, an area where ice hockey i ...
: " No Promises" (from the album ''
Measure for Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604. It was published in the First Folio of 1623. The play centers on the despotic and puritan Angelo (Measure for ...
'') (1986) *
Kamelot Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed by Thomas Youngblood in 1987. The Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album '' Siége Perilous'', and shared songwriting credit with Youngblood until his departure in A ...
: "Nights of Arabia" (from the album ''
The Fourth Legacy ''The Fourth Legacy'' is the fourth studio album by American power metal band Kamelot. It was released in 1999 by Noise Records/Modern Music. It is the first album to credit vocalist Roy Khan as a writer on all tracks, establishing him as the m ...
'') (1999) *
Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer and actress. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made ...
: "Harem" and "Arabian Nights" (from the album ''
Harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...
'') (2003) *
Ch!pz Ch!pz is a Dutch pop music group that originated in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The group was formed in 2003, after several rounds of tryouts for Fox Kids. Career In the Netherlands, many radio stations wouldn't play Ch!pz's songs because most of ...
: "
1001 Arabian Nights (song) "1001 Arabian Nights" is a song by Dutch band Ch!pz, from their 2005 album '' The World of Ch!pz''. The song remained at number one on the Dutch singles chart for four weeks. It reached number two in Austria, and number three in Germany and Swit ...
" (from the album ''
The World of Ch!pz ''The World of Ch!pz'' is the second album from the Dutch pop group Ch!pz Ch!pz is a Dutch pop music group that originated in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The group was formed in 2003, after several rounds of tryouts for Fox Kids. Career In the N ...
'') (2006) *
Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neval ...
: "Sahara" (2007) *
Rock On!! ''Rock On!!'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor, produced by Farhan Akhtar, and with music by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy. The film marks the Bollywood debut of Akhtar and Prachi Desai. A ...
: "Sinbad the Sailor" (2008) *
Abney Park Abney Park is in Stoke Newington, London, England. It is a park dating from just before 1700, named after Lady Abney, the wife of Sir Thomas Abney, Lord Mayor of London in 1700 and one of the first directors of the Bank of England and associa ...
: "Scheherazade" (2013) Musical theatre * "A Thousand and One Nights" (from '' Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier'') (2013) * ''
Ghost Quartet ''Ghost Quartet'' is a musical song cycle written and composed by Dave Malloy. The show is described as "a song cycle about love, death, and whiskey. A camera breaks and four friends drink in four interwoven narratives spanning seven centuries." ...
'' (2014)


Games

Popular modern games with an ''Arabian Nights'' theme include the ''
Prince of Persia ''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is centered around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia. The first two ga ...
'' series, '' Crash Bandicoot: Warped,'' ''
Sonic and the Secret Rings is a 2007 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Wii. A spin-off of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it is the first title in the franchise for the system, and follows Sonic the Hedgehog's quest to stop an evil ...
'', ''
Disney's Aladdin Disney's Aladdin may refer to: * ''Aladdin'' (franchise), a Disney media franchise * ''Disney's Aladdin'' (Sega Genesis video game), a 1993 video game * ''Disney's Aladdin'' (SNES video game), a 1993 video game * ''Disney's Aladdin'' (1994 vide ...
'', ''
Bookworm Adventures ''Bookworm Adventures'' is a word-forming puzzle video game, the follow-up to '' Bookworm'' from PopCap Games. Released in November 2006, ''Bookworm Adventures'' combines the "create words from sets of letters" aspect of ''Bookworm'' with sever ...
'', and the pinball table '' Tales of the Arabian Nights.'' Additionally, the popular card game '' Magic: The Gathering'' released an expansion set titled ''
Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...
''. The Demoman in ''
Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' (''TF2'') is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video g ...
'' has a set titled One Thousand and One Demoknights, including three weapons and one cosmetic item. ''Sultan’s Game'', developed by Double Cross and released for Steam on March 30, 2025, is “a card-based simulation and narrative game, inspired by ''The One Thousand and One Nights'',” in which players are commanded by the Sultan “to play a cruel game. Each week you draw a card, and have to complete its challenge within seven days. Forced to make dreadful choices to beat the Sultan’s Game and save your own life, you will have to find a way to survive not just the Game, but its consequences too.” In addition to the challenges imposed by the Sultan, the game includes a variety of narrative events that explore themes such as survival, betrayal, ambition, lust, and poetic justice.


Illustrators

Many artists have illustrated the ''Arabian nights'', including: Pierre-Clément Marillier for ''Le Cabinet des Fées'' (1785–1789),
Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6January 1832 – 23January 1883) was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings illustrati ...
, Léon Carré (Granville, 1878 – Alger, 1942), Roger Blachon, Françoise Boudignon, André Dahan, Amato Soro,
Albert Robida Albert Robida (14 May 1848 – 11 October 1926) was a French illustrator, etcher, lithographer, caricaturist, and novelist. He edited and published '' La Caricature'' magazine for 12 years. Through the 1880s, he wrote an acclaimed trilogy of fut ...
, Alcide Théophile Robaudi and Marcelino Truong; Vittorio Zecchin (Murano, 1878 – Murano, 1947) and
Emanuele Luzzati Emanuele Luzzati (3 June 1921 – 26 January 2007) was an Italian painter, production designer, illustrator, film director and animator. He was nominated for Academy Awards for two of his short films, ''La gazza ladra'' (''The Thieving Magpie'' ...
; The German Morgan;
Mohammed Racim Mohammed Racim (, 24 June 189630 March 1975) was an Algerian artist who founded the Algerian School for Miniature Painting with his brother, Omar. It still exists to this day.. Biography Racim was born in The Casbah of Algiers in 1896 into a di ...
(Algiers, 1896 – Algiers 1975), Sani ol-Molk (1849–1856),
Anton Pieck Anton Franciscus Pieck (19 April 1895 – 24 November 1987) was a Dutch painter, artist and graphic artist. His works are noted for their nostalgic or fairy tale-like character and are widely popular, appearing regularly on cards and calendars. H ...
and Emre Orhun,
Virginia Frances Sterrett Virginia Frances Sterrett (; 1900–1931) was an American artist and illustrator. Early life Sterrett was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1900. After her father's death, she and her family moved to Missouri but returned to Chicago in 1915. There, ...
(1928). Famous illustrators for British editions include:
Arthur Boyd Houghton Arthur Boyd Houghton (13 March 1836 – 25 November 1875) was a British painter (oil and watercolours) and illustrator. Houghton was born in Kotagiri, Madras, India. His work was varied and was highly regarded during the mid-19th century. ...
,
John Tenniel John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914) was an English illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist prominent in the second half of the 19th century. An alumnus of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he was knight bachelor ...
,
John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest s ...
and
George John Pinwell George John Pinwell (London 26 December 1842 – 8 September 1875 London), was a British illustrator and watercolourist. Biography Pinwell was born on 26 December 1842 at 12 Great Mays Buildings, London. He was baptised on 27 July 1845, a ...
for Dalziel's Illustrated Arabian Nights Entertainments, published in 1865;
Walter Crane Walter Crane (15 August 184514 March 1915) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Ka ...
for Aladdin's Picture Book (1876);
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
for the 1896 edition of
Lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in eac ...
's translation; Albert Letchford for the 1897 edition of Burton's translation;
Edmund Dulac Edmund Dulac (born Edmond Dulac; 22 October 1882 – 25 May 1953) was a French-British naturalised magazine illustrator, book illustrator and stamp designer. Born in Toulouse, he studied law but later turned to the study of art at the Écol ...
for Stories from the Arabian Nights (1907), Princess Badoura (1913) and Sindbad the Sailor & Other Tales from the Arabian Nights (1914). Others artists include
John D. Batten John Dickson Batten (8 October 1860 – 5 August 1932), born in Plymouth, Devon, was an English painter of figures in oils, tempera and fresco and a book illustrator and printmaker. He was an active member of the Society of Painters in Tempera, ...
, (Fairy Tales From The Arabian Nights, 1893),
Kay Nielsen Kay Rasmus Nielsen (March 12, 1886 – June 21, 1957) was a Danish illustrator who was popular in the early 20th century, the Golden Age of Illustration which lasted from when Daniel Vierge and other pioneers developed printing technology to th ...
, Eric Fraser,
Errol le Cain Errol John Le Cain (5 March 1941 – 3 January 1989) was a British-Singaporean animator and children's book illustrator. In 1984 he won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for "distinguished illustration in a book for children" for ''Hiawatha ...
,
Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. His works featured distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. The ...
, W. Heath Robinson and
Arthur Szyk Arthur Szyk ( ; see Polish phonology); June 3, 1894 – September 13, 1951) was a Polish-born Jewish artist who worked primarily as a book illustrator and political artist throughout his career. Arthur Szyk was born into a prosperous middle- ...
(1954).


Comic books

* ''
Classics Illustrated ''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as '' Les Misérables'', ''Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and '' The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication ...
'' #8 (1947) "Classics Illustrated #8 [HRN 51
/nowiki> - Arabian Nights"">/nowiki>HRN 51">"Classics Illustrated #8 [HRN 51
/nowiki> - Arabian Nights" Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Apr. 27, 2021.
– abridged version of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' in comic book form. * Carl Barks, the creator of Scrooge McDuck, wrote two substantial adventure stories based on the ''Nights''. * "Desert Shadows", ''Wet Dreams'' (Heavy Metal, 2000), by
Alfonso Azpiri Alfonso Azpiri Mejía (17 January 1947 − August 18, 2017) was a Spanish comic book artist known for creating mainly adult-themed comics. Biography Azpiri was born in Madrid. His early work was published in the 1970s and was mainly aimed at th ...
. * "Ramadan", '' The Sandman'' #50 (DC Vertigo, June 1993), by
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...
(story) and P. Craig Russell (art). * ''One Thousand and One Nights'' by Jeon Jin Seok (story) and Han Seughee (art) – a
manhwa Manhwa () is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to Korean comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. These comics have branched outside of Korea by acce ...
rewriting of the ''Nights'' for female Korean teenagers. * ''Les 1001 nuits de Scheherazade''. Paris: Albin Michel, 2001, by Eric Maltaite.


Gallery

File:Sultan from arabian nights.jpg, The Sultan File:One Thousand and One Nights19.jpg, ''One Thousand and One Nights'' book File:Harun Al-Rashid and the World of the Thousand and One Nights.jpg,
Harun ar-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 until ...
, a leading character of the 1001 Nights File:Sinbad the Sailor (5th Voyage).jpg, The fifth voyage of Sindbad File:Harvey W, 1001 nights (12).jpg,
William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...
, ''The Fifth Voyage of Es-Sindbad of the Sea'', 1838–40, woodcut File:Harvey W, 1001 nights (19).jpg,
William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...
, ''The Story of the City of Brass'', 1838–40, woodcut File:Harvey W, 1001 nights (11).jpg,
William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...
, ''The Story of the Two Princes El-Amjad and El-As'ad'', 1838–40, woodcut File:Harvey W, 1001 nights (14).jpg,
William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...
, ''The Story of Abd Allah of the Land and Abd Allah of the Sea'' File:Harvey W, 1001 nights (3).jpg,
William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...
, ''The Story of the Fisherman'', 1838–40, woodcut File:Gross F, 9. Nacht, 1001 Nacht, Bd 1, 1838.jpg, Friedrich Gross, ante 1830, woodcut File:Gross F, 66. Nacht, 1001 Nacht, Bd 1, 1838.jpg, Friedrich Gross, ante 1830, woodcut File:Gross F, 72. Nacht, 1001 Nacht, Bd 1, 1838.jpg, Friedrich Gross, ante 1830, woodcut File:Gross F, 269. Nacht, 1001 Nacht, Bd 2, 1839.jpg, Friedrich Gross, ante 1830, woodcut File:Gross F, 436. Nacht, 1001 Nacht, Bd 2, 1839.jpg, Friedrich Gross, ante 1830, woodcut File:Gross F, 231. Nacht, 1001 Nacht, Bd 1, 1838.jpg, Friedrich Gross, ante 1830, woodcut File:Gross F, 251. Nacht, 1001 Nacht, Bd 2, 1839.jpg, Friedrich Gross, ante 1830, woodcut File:Gross F, 109. Nacht, 1001 Nacht, Bd 1, 1838.jpg, Friedrich Gross, ante 1830, woodcut File:Brangwyn, Arabian Nights, Vol 3, 1896 (1).jpg,
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
, ''Story of Abon-Hassan the Wag'' ("He found himself upon the royal couch"), 1895–96, watercolour and tempera on millboard File:Brangwyn, Arabian Nights, Vol 1, 1896 (2).jpg,
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
, ''Story of the Merchant'' ("Sheherezade telling the stories"), 1895–96, watercolour and tempera on millboard File:Brangwyn, Arabian Nights, Vol 4, 1896 (1).jpg,
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
, ''Story of Ansal-Wajooodaud, Rose-in-Bloom'' ("The daughter of a Visier sat at a lattice window"), 1895–96, watercolour and tempera on millboard File:Brangwyn, Arabian Nights, Vol 5, 1896 (2).jpg,
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
, ''Story of Gulnare'' ("The merchant uncovered her face"), 1895–96, watercolour and tempera on millboard File:Brangwyn, Arabian Nights, Vol 5,1896 (3).jpg,
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
, ''Story of Beder Basim'' ("Whereupon it became eared corn"), 1895–96, watercolour and tempera on millboard File:Brangwyn, Arabian Nights, Vol 6, 1896 (4).jpg,
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
, ''Story of Abdalla'' ("Abdalla of the sea sat in the water, near the shore"), 1895–96, watercolour and tempera on millboard File:Brangwyn, Arabian Nights, Vol 3, 1896 (5).jpg,
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
, ''Story of Mahomed Ali'' ("He sat his boat afloat with them"), 1895–96, watercolour and tempera on millboard File:Brangwyn, Arabian Nights, Vol 4, 1896 (6).jpg,
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
, ''Story of the City of Brass'' ("They ceased not to ascend by that ladder"), 1895–96, watercolour and tempera on millboard


See also

*
Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
*
Ghost stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...
*
Hamzanama The ''Hamzanama'' (Persian/Urdu: ''Hamzenâme'', ) or ''Dastan-e-Amir Hamza'' (Persian/Urdu: , ''Dâstân-e Amir Hamze'', ) narrates the legendary exploits of Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, an uncle of Muhammad. Most of the stories are extremely fan ...
* List of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' characters * List of stories from ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (translation by
R. F. Burton Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, KCMG, FRGS, (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, army officer, orientalist writer and scholar. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and South America, as well ...
) * List of works influenced by ''One Thousand and One Nights'' *
Persian literature Persian literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources have been within Greater Iran including present-day ...
*
Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...
* The
Panchatantra The ''Panchatantra'' ( IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, , "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.
– an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story * ''One Hundred and One Nights'' (book) – a similar medieval tale collection using the same frame story as ''One Thousand and One Nights''


References


General and cited sources

* * * Ulrich Marzolph (ed.). ''The Arabian Nights Reader'' (Wayne State University Press, 2006). * Ulrich Marzolph, Richard van Leeuwen, Hassan Wassouf (2004).''The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia''. * Charles Pellat
"Alf Layla Wa Layla"
in ''
Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English-language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...
''. Online access June 2011. * * Dwight Reynolds, "''A Thousand and One Nights'': A History of the Text and Its Reception" in ''The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature'' Vol 6. (CUP 2006). * Eva Sallis, ''Scheherazade Through the Looking-Glass: The Metamorphosis of the Thousand and One Nights'' (Routledge, 1999). * Yamanaka, Yuriko and Nishio, Tetsuo (ed.). ''The Arabian Nights and Orientalism: Perspectives from East and West'' (I.B. Tauris, 2006). .


Further reading

* Chauvin, Victor Charles; Schnurrer, Christian Friedrich von. ''Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou relatifs aux Arabes, publiés dans l'Europe chrétienne de 1810 à 1885''. Líege H. Vaillant-Carmanne. 1892–1922. * El-Shamy, Hasan. "A 'Motif Index of Alf Laylah Wa Laylah': Its Relevance to the Study of Culture, Society, the Individual, and Character Transmutation". ''Journal of Arabic Literature'', vol. 36, no. 3, 2005, pp. 235–268. . Accessed 22 Apr. 2020. * Horta, Paulo Lemos, ''Marvellous Thieves: The Secret Authors of the Arabian Nights'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017). * Kennedy, Philip F., and Marina Warner, eds. Scheherazade's Children: Global Encounters with the Arabian Nights. NYU Press, 2013. . * Marzolph, Ulrich, 'Arabian Nights', in ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', 3rd ed. (Leiden: Brill, 2007–), * Nurse, Paul McMichael. ''Eastern Dreams: How the Arabian Nights Came to the World'' Viking Canada: 2010. General popular history of the 1001 Nights from its earliest days to the present. * Shah, Tahir, '' In Arabian Nights: A search of Morocco through its stories and storytellers'' (Doubleday, 2007).
''The Islamic Context of The Thousand and One Nights''
by Muhsin J. al-Musawi, Columbia University Press, 2009. * ''Where Is A Thousand Tales? ezar Afsan Kojast?' by
Bahram Beyzai Bahrām Beyzāêi (also spelt Beizāi, Beyzāêi, Beyzāee, ; born 26 December 1938) is an Iranian playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, film editor, and '' ostād'' ("master") of Persian letters, arts and Iranian studies. Beyzaie is the ...
, Roshangaran va Motale'ate Zanan, 2012.


External links


''1001 Nights''''The Arabian Nights Entertainments''
Selected and Edited by
Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a folkloristics, collector of folklore, folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectur ...
, Longmans, Green and Co., 1918 (1898) *
''The Arabian Nights''
BBC Radio 4 discussion with Robert Irwin, Marina Warner and Gerard van Gelder (''In Our Time'', October 18, 2007)
''The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I'' by Lane-Poole, Poole, Harvey, and Lane
– HTML, EPUB, Kindle, plain text

including the Sir Richard Francis Burton unexpurgated translation and John Payne translation, with additional material. {{DEFAULTSORT:One Thousand And One Nights Islamic literature Arab culture Arabian mythology Medieval Arabic literature Frame stories Iranian folklore Iraqi folklore Egyptian folklore Persian literature Persian mythology Articles containing video clips Arabic erotic literature Erotic fiction Books about folklore ATU 850-999 Books illustrated by John Tenniel Works subject to expurgation Panchatantra Fantasy adventure Cultural depictions of Harun al-Rashid Cultural depictions of Baybars