Sire,” replied Shahrazad, “I have a sister who loves me as tenderly as I love her. Grant me the favor of allowing her to sleep this night in the same room as it is the last we shall be together.” Shahrayar consented to Shahrazad’s petition, and Duniazad was sent for.
An hour before daybreak Duniazad awoke and exclaimed as she had promised, “My dear sister, if you are not asleep tell me, I pray you, before the sun rises, one of your charming stories. It is the last time that I shall have the pleasure of hearing you.”
Shahrazad asked Shahrayar “Will your highness permit me to do as my sister asks?” “Willingly,” he answered, so Shahrazad began narrating her stories.
After the betrayal of Shahrayar’s brother’s wife and afterward his wife, King Shahrayar decided that all women are unfaithful. As a result, he started murdering all women he married until he married Shahrazad, who was the daughter of his vizier. Shahrazad used her wit to convince King Shahrayar not to kill her. From the first night, she started telling interconnected stories. The end of one story is the beginning of the next. These enduring stories brought longevity to Shahrazad. Shahrayar was fascinated by the stories and was thrilled to know the end. So, he kept her alive to continue the tales not knowing they were endless.
Shahrazad’s knowledge v. King Shahrayar’s power is a theme observed in the stories of “1,001 Arabian Nights.” Shahrazad managed to use her wit to convince Sharayar how a husband should treat his wife, and that he could not judge all women for the sins of one. For centuries, these tales have been told to adults and children to keep them inspired, imaginative and waiting for more.
The stories can be traced to some old tales from the lands of Arabia, Persia and India, as the names and places in them suggest. Yet it also has been said that some of the stories were created during the era of Harun Al-Rashid, the 5th caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, in 786.
“Alf Laylah Wa Laylah” or “1,001 Nights” always weaves unique, Oriental stories surrounded with mystery. The Arabs’ love of symbolism in literature inspired them to augment the original Persian version, which was called “1,000 Legends.” Thousand always was synonymous with eternity for the Arabs, so they added one more to make it go beyond eternity.
Earlier generations kept the stories alive in the minds and hearts of the people by making them part of an oral, folkloric tradition. Experts say first written copy was discovered by the Arabs in the 8th century. From the 9th to the 19th century, stories were embellished over time.
What distinguishes “Arabian Nights” is that embellishment. Grandfathers would gather their grandchildren and tell one story after another. Mothers or fathers would tuck their children to bed by telling them half of the story with a promise to continue it — if the child went to bed early. Children also would take roles of the characters in school plays or at parties.
A Syrian manuscript was found, and an Egyptian one followed it. The Egyptian manuscript contained new stories, such as “The Voyages of Sinbad” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.”
Antoine Galland, a French author, created the first, Western translation of the Arabian stories. Its fame grew in the West, and it became more famous after Galland included “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp.”
Muhsin Mahdi, a former professor of Arabic at Chicago and Harvard, compared the Syrian and Egyptian manuscripts along with Galland’s French version and published his Arabic Edition, “Alf Laylah Wa Laylah,” in 1984.
An English version, written by Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton, appeared in 1888. A century later in 1990, Husain Haddawy contributed another English version based only on the Syrian manuscript, which excluded “The Story of Qamar Al-Zaman.”
Although there is no evidence of the existence of an original manuscript, the French note that the oldest extant version of the “Nights” contains only 11 of the 35 stories and resides in Paris’ National Library. In recent years, more translations have become available in several languages — not all suitable for children. The “Nights” have come to big screen and small, with Steve Barron producing the film “Arabian Nights” in 2000. Television series also have been based upon them.
The magic lamp, a ghostly Genie, belly dancers gyrating around the kings and thieves, animals conversing with humans or colored fish turning to islands — fanciful tales that snare your attention and make you thirst for more. Some say if you read all of the stories, you will start to view the world in a different way. It’s a book that will never satisfy you; after all, Shahrazad always had to leave you wanting more.
Moreover, for those who want to attend a show where princess and princesses play acts from the Arabian Night tales there is the “Arabian Night Dinner Attraction” in Orlando, Florida. According to Jean Briggs, VP of Public Relation at Arabian Nights this project took two years to be completed and was created in 1987.
Mark Miller is the creator of the project, Briggs said, he is also the son of Bazy Tankersley who created Al-Marah Arabian (Arabian horse breeding farms), where most of their horses come from. There, birthdays can be arranged, the Genie or Sultan will make an announcement in the Great Hall.
This dinner attraction can seat around 1200 people and has shows every night and often two shows a night.
“We also do weddings and other special events here. A group can buy the whole show and we can personalize the night for them as they wish. We are very flexible,” said Briggs.
