The Thousand and One Nights (alf layla wa layla) or The Arabian
Nights, as they came to be known, owes its origins to three distinct
cultures and storytelling traditions: that of India, Persia and
the Arab world. The Arabian Nights first appeared in its Arabic
form around 850 AD and it has been considered a remarkable mystery
in Classical Arabic Literature. Although many scholars deny its
literary importance, The Arabian Nights can be viewed as a valuable
source of Middle Eastern social history, being composed of the
most extensive and intimate recordings of the medieval Islamic
period. Generations of Arabic readers have appreciated the versatile
and imaginative use of Arabic and the mixture of the classical
and colloquial language in many of the stories, a style which
helped diversify the characters from the narrative.
While chroniclers from the 10th century maintain that the tales
were derived from a Persian book of folk tales called, 'Hazarafsaneh'
(A Thousand Stories) the exact origins of The Arabian Nights is
not certain and academic opinions are divided. Like many folk
tales, The Arabian Nights may have originated from true stories
which were embellished over time for entertainment value. The
success of The Arabian Nights stories over many other forgotten
folk tales may be due to their blend of popular themes; heroic
and romantic adventures are littered with mystery, old wisdom
and exciting struggles between good and evil.
Two of the most popular stories in The Arabian Nights are those
of 'Shahriyar and Shahrazad', the first and main story, and 'Sinbad
the Sailor'. The tales bear three main elements or notions which
are typical of all the stories in the collection: 1) If there
is a problem, there is a solution; 2) Endurance can enable a crisis
to reach a resolution; and 3) Fantastic elements help the protagonists
to maintain their endurance.
In the story of Shahriyar and Shahrazad, the reader is introduced
to Shahriyar, a mythical king, who upon discovering his wife's
infidelity has her put to death. Henceforth, fearing further sexual
betrayals, he only weds virgin brides whom he takes to his bed
for a single night and has beheaded the following morning. The
story reaches its crisis as the king's murderous actions threaten
the lives of all the girls in the kingdom. The solution comes
from the clever and beautiful Shahrazad, who volunteers herself
to be the king's next wife and strikes a bargain with him by which
he will not put her to death until she has told him a story. Her
story, or stories, since many tales are interwoven and imbedded
into the first, lasts for two years and 271 days, if we are to
take the 1001 nights literary. The continuous story-telling manages
to captivate the king's attention and hold his patience with its
fantastic and mysterious tales, its vivid descriptions and breath-taking
heroism. Shahrazad's story-telling is in itself a heroic and life-saving
device, which finally forces the king to spare the wise and courageous
girl's life.
Wisdom is seen as a powerful if not invincible tool in many of
the stories, not least in the story of Sinbad the Sailor. As in
the tale of Shahriyar and Shahrazad, Sinbad's story comprises
of many other stories which the hero relates to a gathering of
noblemen in the form of seven adventures. On each land or sea
voyage, Sinbad comes across foreign lands and strange creatures,
which allow him to show his intelligence and courage. On every
journey, Sinbad reaches a crisis as he braves a dangerous creature
or an evil tyrant but he always finds a solution by using his
ingenuity, his diplomacy and his strength. Sinbad does not rely
on the power of destiny or on God, instead the hero takes matters
into his own hands, risking devastating consequences which, luckily,
bring with them great rewards. After every story, Sinbad manages
to return safely to Baghdad and so one story ends and another
begins forming a dramatic and exciting cycle of heroic acts.
While The Arabian Nights knew great popularity throughout the
Middle East, it was rapidly translated into a number of other
languages, showing its early appeal to non-Middle Eastern readers.
Although the subtleties of language are unfortunately lost in
translation, the exotic and romantic imagery provided great inspiration
for the Western travellers, writers, artists and poets of the
18th and 19th centuries whom we refer to as 'Orientalists'. This
period saw a surge of interest in the Middle East and Persian
poems such as The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Nizami's Khamsa and
the Shahnameh were translated or re-translated, often accompanied
by illustrations. Romantic poets such as Coleridge, Tennyson,
Shelley and Byron were greatly inspired by the mysterious and
magical East. 'Arabian' imagery, Middle Eastern history and folklore
also provided painters such as Delacroix and Lord Leighton with
endless inspiration. Writers such as Walter Bagshot appreciated
the wild exoticism of the tales, comparing them to the drab realities
of Europe in the age of the railway and the gas lamp. During the
later 19th century and 20th century, the Western obsession with
The Arabian Nights themes was still strong, as we see from Leon
Bakst's Russian Ballet designs for Scheherazad and the endless
cartoons and Hollywood films from the forties and fifties which
are based on the adventures of Sinbad, Aladdin and other stories
from, or based on The Arabian Nights.
As we begin the 21st century, the influence and subsistence of
The Arabian Nights legacy can still be felt, whether it is in
literature, art, music or fashion. The timeless tales of ingenuity
and heroism offer universal and positive appeal to the heroic,
Bedouin fantasies of Arabs and Westerners alike.