The 1001 Arabian Nights
Aladdin tales and more

The Arabian Nights or 1001 Arabian nights is a compilation of stories from many authors over thousands of years.

These tales go back to Ancient times in Arabia and Persia...

Some versions date the actual manuscript, which has not been found, back to between 800 and 900 AD.

The book of a Thousand Nights and a Night was also compiled by scholars and translators, as there are different cultures and languages to take in account like Turkish and Urdu.

The stories begin in a story of a Queen and a King in Ancient Persia.

Shahryar, meaning The Great King, hypothetically ruled the Persian Empire which stretched as far as India and China past the Ganges.

Shahryar, betrayed by his wife, went mad believing all women would betray him in the end.

So he took a wife every night for three years and had them beheaded in the morning after.

Until, he took Scheherazade, also known as Shahrazad. She had been asked by Dunyazad, her younger sister as they bid farewell, to tell a story during the night.

And so the King listened in awe and excitement.

Unfortunately the next story could only be told the next day, as dawn appeared.

But the King kept Scheherazade alive, eager to listen to the next story, and so this went on for a thousand and one nights.

This is known as the cliffhanger ending where the plot ensures the continuation of a main character's next adventure.

The Seven voyages of Sinbad the Sailor are perfect example of this.

During that time, they had three children and he wasn't just entertained, but also learnt kindness and wisdom from Scheherazade who then became his beloved queen.

Some of the stories we can find are Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves, an Arabic folk tale beautifully depicted in this painting by Maxfield Parrish . And also, Aladdin or as mentioned before, Sinbad the Sailor.