The Arabian Nights
The Arabian Nights is a collection of stories framed by Shahrazad’s efforts to save herself from a murderous king. Also known as The Thousand and One Nights, it brings together merchants, rulers, travellers and magical beings, exploring how storytelling can delay danger and change minds.
What The Arabian Nights contains
Shahrazad and the king
In the most common version, King Shahriyar takes a new wife each day and has her killed the next morning. Shahrazad marries him and keeps him waiting for the endings of her stories.
In The Arabian Nights, Shahrazad begins telling a story during the night and leaves it unfinished at dawn, giving the king a reason to spare her.
In The Arabian Nights by Anonymous
The fisherman and the jinni
A poor fisherman releases a powerful spirit from a sealed vessel, only to find that the spirit threatens to kill him. He must use his wits against a much stronger opponent.
In The Arabian Nights, the fisherman doubts aloud that such a huge being could fit inside the vessel. The jinni goes back inside to prove it, allowing the fisherman to seal it again.
In The Arabian Nights by Anonymous
Sindbad’s voyages
Sindbad the sailor recounts journeys filled with shipwrecks, strange creatures and narrow escapes. These tales appear in many familiar editions, though the contents of the collection vary.
In The Arabian Nights, Sindbad and other sailors land on what they take to be an island. When they light a fire, they discover that the ground beneath them is a huge sea creature.
In The Arabian Nights by Anonymous
How to recognise The Arabian Nights in stories
- Look for Shahrazad telling stories to postpone her death.
- Notice jinn, sealed vessels, dangerous journeys and sudden changes of fortune.
- Follow stories that open into further stories told by their characters.
Free for 3 months
200,000+ classics. Every format, free to start.
eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and any book printed at cost, large print too.
Are Aladdin and Ali Baba part of the collection?
They appear in many familiar editions, but not in the earliest surviving Arabic collections. Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves entered the widely read European tradition through Antoine Galland’s version, and became closely associated with The Arabian Nights.
Is there one fixed version of the book?
No, the contents vary between manuscripts, translations and editions. Some editions of The Arabian Nights offer a short selection, while others include many more tales. Names also vary in spelling, so Shahrazad may appear as Scheherazade.
Related terms
Free for 3 months
200,000+ classics. Every format, free to start.
eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and any book printed at cost, large print too.
200,000+ classics to read and hear, and printed books, large print included, at cost.
Try 3 months free
