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My memory has misled me. The Book of Esther does not say that the king would execute a bride per day. I don't know why I thought so, but I just reread the story (at [ [1]]) and I was wrong.
Even if 1000 represents infinity, 1000 + 1 would not be a transfinite number larger than infinity. Although I suppose if "1000 + 1" is taken to mean "The first number after infinity", then it does represent a transfinite number.
"moribund detail"??? - Jmabel 03:49, 8 Apr 2004 (UTC)
My Burton edition claims that Aladdin is actually from a book called "The Blue Fairy Book", and is included with the rest of the tales just because it is so good. But I don't know anything further - anyone else up on this? Graft 23:39, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)
'...better-known in English as "Scheherazade" or "Shahrastini"' (italics mine). Really? I've never heard "Shahrastini" in my life. Unless someone can vouch for a well-known edition that uses this variant, this should be removed. -- Jmabel | Talk 03:42, 17 December 2004 (UTC)
does there exist a version of English translation such that it is not censored in anyway but with more moden easy-reading style than Sir Burtons? Xah Lee 22:32, 2004 Dec 19 (UTC)
In the historical context of this article, is it really appropriate to link "Persia" to Iran? -- Jmabel | Talk 06:41, Apr 16, 2005 (UTC)
There has been no significant change to the status of the country or its status of being an empire
The name of the storyteller is Shahrzad which is a pure Persian name. I have heard from some Professors of Persian literature that 1001 nights originates from 1000 Afsane (1000 Legends). It is also noteworthy that the name of the city which many of the stories take place in (Baghdad) is Persian. (anon 8 Aug 2005)
It helps to check Wikipedia itself as to the origins of Baghdad. You will see that there is no "stretching it" and the origins of it is Persian. (Babak October 11, 2005)
The article states that the stories are "a piece of medieval Middle-Eastern literature". But then it says that they were compiled in the 9th century. So which is it? Jonatan 20:15, 15 October 2005 (UTC)
Which should it be? the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid or the Arab Caliph Harun al-Rashid? Philip Stevens 12:41, 22 October 2005. How about both? Yuber (talk) 12:59, 22 October 2005 (UTC)
Why is the Prince of Persia linked here, does it have anything to do with the Nights? Philip Stevens 15:28, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
I may be completely wrong, but I don't think it is correct to say that Shahrzad means "born in the city". Considering the alternate ways of pronouncing the word "Shahrazad" or "Scheherazade" it seems that the word is a simplified version of Shahr+Azad or Shahr+Azade, which would mean the libertarian, or liberator (Azade) of the city. Also, "Shahr" in older persian usually means country, or the whole nation, not simply "the city". I think this meaning would also be much more consistent with the role her character has in the story. I'm looking forward to read your opinions about this. (anon 19 July 2005)
The story is completely Persian because of the names and also it was the Arabic version of 1000 myths or Hezar Afsaneh which was completely Persian. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.43.81.122 ( talk • contribs) 15 Jan 2006. Yes I also believe that this is Persian and Arabs want to be unfair to us. Iranians have to prove their identity to the world. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Maziar fayaz ( talk • contribs) 16:38, 20 January 2006 (UTC).
I just listened to this podcast about the Abbasid Caliphs ( MP3), where they claim the origin of the stories is actually India. It is claimed that the stories travelled from India to Persia. 20:40 in the podcast. Jaco plane 20:44, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
According to most scholars, many if not most of the stories in the Nights have origins in ancient Indian story collections such as the Panchatantra and the Jataka. The others are of Persian and Arabic origin. Overall, I see it as an Persian-Indian-Arabic work. The basic framework, however, is Persian. Afghan Historian 20:22, 27 April 2006 (UTC)
Some of the facts in the article, while plausible, are a little surprising. Would inline citations be practical in this article? Andjam 12:44, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
One of my first encounters with the book was ascribed to Edgar Allen Poe, yet I see nothing here about him, but I had been under the impression that he had had a hand in at least some western versions of the myths. I have encountered much confusion (including my own) as to the origins of the story--- Dragonwlkr 13:31, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
I admit I haven't looked as extensively as I should have, but offhand I don't see links to anything that's not a translation. (I am making an assumption that there is an original language for this, in Arabic...or Persian...or something that's not written in the letters I'm typing at the moment. I've seen one site that has a picture of two pages in Arabic script, but that appears to be it.) Given I'm studying Arabic, I would love to find a site that has the stories in the original language (if one exists). And for those who dislike translations as a rule, it would be nice to have easy access to a good untranslated copy. Anyone know where one might exist? Kilyle 22:40, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
http://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D9%84%D9%81_%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A9_%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A9 Here you can find the tales in arabic (the original tales) but also if you are studying Arabic I think that the tales text is not easy.
No, I'm afraid you're wrong. The correct question was "What is a collection of tales within a framing device." What was your wager? -- Wetman 07:24, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
What is a "Calender" ? I have a (grossly overabridged) version that contains several stories about Three "Calenders" - each blind in one eye who were sons of kings. Unfortunately, the modern Wikipedia entry under calender is about a machine involved in the paper industry...
Good article. How much would Burton's edition be worth on the rare book market? In 1998 a Lebanese friend of mine, and a lover of rare books, found the complerte set of Burton's rtanslation for sale in Baghdad in the Bookseller's Market (Mutannabi Street), for $200. It had a bookplate from the British Council - in fact the entire library was for sale there on the footpath. PiCo 02:40, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
There is an orphan article Alasnam that looks like it should be linked to from this article. I do not have the knowledge of this subject to included it, can someone here do it? Jeepday 14:18, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
Why is there a mention of a musical piece called La Noche de las Noches? The title (which means "the night of nights") doesn't suggest any obvious connection. - Jmabel | Talk 02:45, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
No mention of Dawood's English version? It's only relevant to English I guess, but this is the English wiki :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.8.184.20 ( talk) 14:24, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
Now I assume that there is a strong Iranian presence here, and that's why people are changing the article to make it say this book is Persian. This is the only explanation I can think of, there being no factual evidence offered. To those people I say: please stop spreading mis-information. If you have a good argument, then present it here on the talk page, else don't change the page to reflect your own prejudices. As far as the actual 'case' goes, all we can say is that the book is a collection of stories, and this collection has grown over several centuries. It is a tenable position that some of the oldest come from Persia, India, or other places, but there is little evidence to support this thesis. In fact, some of the more typically 'foreign' names in the book may have been invented by Arab bards just for that purpose: to sound foreign and imposing. IMHO, once the first stories were written in arabic, they formed a snowball effect, and the book continued to change until it has acquired its most recent form, sometime in the 18th or 19th century after the invention of printing came to the Arab World. As such, the core and the meat of the book is defintely Arab, even if we accept the idea that it's 'nucleus' is not. Now let me add that this isn't a matter of national pride, it is a matter of historical accuracy. As such, one also must recognize that the book's fame comes from its reputation in non-arab countries (especially the west) much more so than it's reputation in the Arab World. This is also the case with the 'Rubaiiyat of Omar Khayyam' and to a lesser extent with the Chinese "Journey to the West'. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 90.153.128.12 ( talk) 01:48, 27 January 2007 (UTC). Note: This article is literally littered with the word 'Persian'. Will you stop that?
I found in some website that the original version of 1000 nights and night is in (The oriental institution)not sure about the translation, in Chicago University and it is in Arabic from the 9th century this is the article in Arabic if u can read the source because I am not good at translating or writing in English قطعة قديمة جدا تعتبر الأقدم في العالم حتى اليوم، موجودة في المعهد الشرقي بجامعة شيكاغو ترقى الى القرن الثالث للهجرة، راجع (كوركيس عواد : المخطوطات العربية في الدور الأمريكية ص 34 الرقم3) وللدكتورة نبيهة عبود دراسة مفصلة عن هذه القطعة بعنوان:Abbott(Nabia) A Ninth Century Fragment of (Thousand and one Nights), Journal Eastern Studies , Vol, VIII, 1949, PP 129-164. And remember, I agree with u that there is some Persian influence but this does not mean the tale is completely Persian.....There are a lot of stories from Arabic heritage; Basra, Baghdad and Damascus were mentioned in the stories. I have written there it is an Arab-Indo-Persian tale and u deleted that and wrote Persian only.....Why? Aziz1005 22:27, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
The first section and the Synopsis are almost identical. They both relate the set-up for the stories as well as mentioning the most common characters and well-known tales. Could they be merged? Ninquerinquar 22:20, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
The book "1001 Nights" is based on an older, Pahlavi-Persian work known as "Hazār Afsāneh" ("1000 Myths"), a collection of ancient Iranian and Indian folk tales. The work was mentioned by al-Tabari and others, yet, for some reason it is not mentioned in this articles. Someone should add a paragraph or two about this work into the article, since the frame story of the modern "1001 Nights" is certainly copied from "Hazār Afsāneh". Other stories, mostly of Egyptian and Syrian origin, were added later. While "1001 Nights" was written in Arabic, it is important to mention that the origins of the work are Non-Arabic, and go back to ancient Persia and India, as well as to ancient Egypt and ancient China. -- 82.83.135.55 11:50, 14 May 2007 (UTC)
In my opinion, and according to my reading of Wikipedia's naming conventions, the encyclopedia should use the most common spelling in English, which is overwhelmingly "Scheherazade". There is a poll about this at Talk:Shahrazad#Requested move. – Taranah 17:04, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
Hi, I wondered whether anyone knows about the cartoon's music that played in the beginning in the cartoon. I would be grateful if anybody writes its song's name or its composer. Thank-you. Happy editing, -- Bahar (Spring in Turkish) ✍ 09:42, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
I want to know who says most of the stories are arabic!? yes, There are some Indian stories and A FEW Arabic stories. I want to answer the people who says It`s an Arabic story. Why do all the main characters of the Arabic stories have Iranian names(whithout any changes)? It`s very strange that names of the main characters of local stories be foreign. We know in many years ago each name that entered in Arabic language had been changed alot. For instance, Khosrow (Persia=خسرو) became Kasra (Arabic=کسری), Pirooz (Persian=پیروز) became Firooz (Arabic=فیروز) , Kwaz (Persian=کواذ) became Ghobad (Arabic=قباد) and too many other names.Sandbad(means A wind that comes from Sand river), Shahrzad, Shahryar and etc. But there are many names like Sandbad, Shahryar, Shahrzad are existed in Arabic (without any changes). 1001 Nights story spreaded in Arabic countries, because of its popularity and its names became common without being Arabicized. If you want to know about the oldest version of 1001 Nights story, apparently you can not find it in Persian, since Arabs burnt any books that were written in Persian to destroy Iranian culture and language in Ummayad dynasty, According to Biruni's From The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries, Because of this nowadays there are lots of Arabic word in Persian, But Arabic words do not contain 30% of Persian language. That`s one of reasons why there are many ethnic problems between Iranians and Arabs. About Hezar Afsaneh and its relation with 1001 Nights has been discussed in this page and there is no need to talk about it anymore. 1001 Nights has range stories not only from Hezar Afsaneh and Iranian stories but also from Indian stories and A FEW Arabic stories. Why did most of stories of 1001 Nights occure in Iraq and Baghdad(nowaday)? It has a lot of reasons: 1.Iraq had always been in Iranian dynasties(Achamenid, Parthian, Sassanid, Seljuk, Safavid and etc.). 2.Iraq in Arabic pronunciation is Aragh(عراق). Aragh is Arabic form of an Iranian name, Arak(اراک) means related to Aryans. Baghdad (Arabic=بغداد) is also a Persian name and its real pronunciation is Bagdad (Persian=بگداد). BAG in middle and ancient Persian means God and DAD means blessing. You`d better know 90% of the names of Iraq`s cities are Persian. 3.Another point is Iranian scientific and literature atmosphere of Iraq and its cities in those times, Although there were lots of anti–iranianism rules. You can investigate about how Gundishapour university was ruined by Umar and how it was founded again in Iraq by Iranian teachers of Gundishapour university. The existing of Iranian stories in 1001 Nights like Sandbad is another reason to confess this story is an Iranian story before it be Arabic or Indian. But unfortunately Arabs are trying to adopt them and introduce them as an Arabic story like many other things. Roudaki Iranian poet versed the stories of Snadbad that its name is Sandbad Nameh. Sandbad was a real Iranian person who lived in Siraf court, his birth place in Iran. An interesting point is that there is no distinctive or indistinctive person in Arab`s history that was named Sandbad. I`ve got something else to say, Kellile Va Demneh is an Indian story. At first it had only five stories, But when it was translated into Persian by Borzouye In Sassanid era. Borzouye added too many stories in his translation. And Iranians have never said ``that is an Iranian story``. I mentioned it for people who think most of the stories of 1001 Nights are Arabic. Anyway, if they be right, we should not say it`s an Arabic story. After all, we can not deny most of the stories of 1001 Nights are Iranian.
Sorry, because of my broken English. Because I`m 14-year-old boy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.154.36.6 ( talk) 16:30, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
The Arabian "1001" nights has its basis in Baghdad that was established by the Abbasid leader Abu-Jaffar Al-Mansour & the whole story flourished under Harun Al-Rashids time which was considered as the golden time for the Abbasid empire....& it describes Arabic culture mixed with stories collected from all parts that where under the rule of Arabs including "nowdays Iran" & the reason it has names from other cultures is because the Abbasid/Arabic Empire was multicultural & multinational & widely spread again under the rule of Arabs, no one can deny that!!!....it has always been known throughout the world as this & we're not gonna change history now because some people "persians" are racist against Arabs & I wonder why so much persian mentioned....maby from now one we should mention Arabic beside every name given to some one from persia then all the Iranian related articles will be full of Arabic but ofcourse persians ignore that...havn't you people noticed the urge of persians in all Arabic-related articles to manipulate everything Arabic & change it to something else??? 193.6.158.33 10:16, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
What is the basis for the recent attempt to systematically expunge all reference to "Arabian" from the article and replace it with "Persian"? If there is actually a good case for this it should be brought up in discussion. If it is simply that the collection must be Persian because the framing story is set in Persia - then on the same grounds Aladdin must be a Chinese tale, since it is set there. This is palable nonsense of course. In any case the collection is almost universally known as "The Arabian Nights" in English, so that even if the rest of the "Persian Hijack" eventually makes it this will have to stand. Soundofmusicals 14:03, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
It may be that the article as it stands (if that is the right word in the current flurry of drastic editing!!) has an "anti-Persian" bias. In order to avoid undesirable POV (Point of View) this needs to be discussed rationally and specifically. The heading "Perisna Hijack" for the above section simply referred to a specific "mass edit" that changed all mention of "Arab" to "Persian" - not to any suggestion that this collection does not have a strong specifically Persian element (along, incidentally, with an Arabic one!).
Please air complaints about the article here - to establish a consensus about the best form for the article - rather than getting emotional and thrashing about like a trapped gazelle! This is an on-line encyclopedia, not an ethnic competition site. Soundofmusicals 00:55, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
If you want to be faithful to the history of the Nights there should be different pages for each different version with what we know about them on the pages. IE Burton's translation should have its own page, as should Haddawy's, etc. I rewrote most of this page to reflect certain academic truths about the Nights: 1. There are too many versions for it to be "one" piece of literature and 2. There is absolutely no historical basis to say that the stories all come from one place. The part of this page discussing literature and film seems like it should be taken out or made different pages and is badly written but I kept it in because it all seems verifiable. stan goldsmith 18:53, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
I contend that the claim of the Haddawy version being "the best" is unprovable and therefore should be removed from this page. It's a shame that these obvious Peacock words were ever used on the public page here; I've run across them on past visits and thought that someone would have removed them by now. Rather than edit directly, I thought it politest to point out the error here in the discussion page: In Versions, "... [specific version described] by Husain Haddawy, by and large the best English language version to date." Thanks in advance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lagasek ( talk • contribs) 22:48, 12 September 2008 (UTC)
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights → One Thousand and One Nights — Allow the Nights go by many names, in English 'One Thousand and One Nights' is one of the best known and the most faithful to the original Arabic name ('A Thousand Nights and a Night'). Also, to call the Nights a book is misleading as they were not written down for many centuries. — Philip Stevens 16:09, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
*'''Support'''
or *'''Oppose'''
, then sign your comment with ~~~~
. Since
polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account
Wikipedia's naming conventions.This article has been renamed from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights to One Thousand and One Nights as the result of a move request. -- Stemonitis 11:38, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
Well there is no name dispute that it has always been known throughout history as Arabian Nights & the majority or people knowing about it, also know it as the Arabian Nights. But the increased persian influence which I think is very unfair compared to other Arabic-realted issues that disregard Arabic influence. An example is that next to Shahryar & Schehrazade it says that its Persian name, well how many Persian realted issues have Arabic names & it is not mentioned that it is Arabic eg. Ibn Sina(Avicenna), Al-Ghazali,Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi,Ibn Abi Sadiq,Omar Al-Khayyam,Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khawarizmi, Jafar Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Shakir,Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi and HUNDREDS others. IF we mention persian name origin next to the names in this article then we should mention the Arabic name origin in ALL other articles, which I think persians will not agree upon. So it should be removed from this artilce or we should add to ALL other articles.
This was just one example of things NOT being FAIR in Wikipedia nowdays & many things are being modifyied without a guard. Best regards 193.6.158.33 ( talk) 19:11, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
Removing a word from the article (especially a negative word) IS adding something, at least by implication! But then real point is probably not whether the name Arabian Nights is "accurate" or not - but that
1. It is NOT an ancient name for the collection at all - just what westerners started to call it sometime in the 1800s:
2. In any case the name doesn't prove that every tale in it is Arabian - any more that the fact that the main characters in the frame story are Persian proves that they are all Persian.
It is not an individually authored epic, but a collection of folk tales that grew organically over several centuries. Read the article, and then read a grownup's version of the collection (or at least dip into it). Soundofmusicals ( talk) 05:07, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
Soundofmusicals -- your new edits look really good. Thanks for that. -- ShinmaWa( talk) 10:34, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
The German Army reference (to Kampfgruppe 1001 Nights) seemed out of place here, so I’ve moved it to a disambiguation page. Moonraker12 ( talk) 17:01, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
I have moved these recent posts from further up the page - just to make sure they are not missed!! -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 22:40, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
The "Arabian Nights" is NOT an ancient title for this collection in any of its versions, but it IS the name most commonly used (rightly or wrongly) in English. People objecting to this title on the grounds that it is inaccurate, and not the original name, have (rightly) had the artile moved to "One thousand and one nights" - but a mention (and explanation) of the "Arabian Nights" title is still necessary. I have endeavoured to give a suitable explanation. If anyone has a better, more scholarly one then by all means insert it instead. But please cease repeated deleting anything with "Arab" or "Arabic" in it from the article. It does nothing for anyone's regard for Persian culture - which is a rich and noble thing, and deserves more sensible and scholarly defence than this!! I have to point out that ALL existing Persian versions of the Nights are translations, either from the Arabic or from a European Language. Original Persian texts, if any ever existed, are lost. In these circumstances the article bends over backwards to be fair about the possibility of a Persian Origin for at least the germ of the collection. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 22:40, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
The 1001 nights, as we now have it, has very mixed origins indeed - although the original idea of a major collection of folk tales within a "frame" story is (as the sources cited confirm) almost certainly of Indian origin. The legitimate point various Irani editors have made that the title "Arabian Nights" is inaccurate, and a nineteenth century English name for the collection rather than its "ancient" name is now well covered. PLEASE don't change the article - in particular don't make it contradict itself or the sources - unless you have something a lot more definite than a bare assertion. This is an encyclopedia - we don't really know what exact proportions of Persian/Arab/Other sources comprise the collection as translated/compiled by Galland and Burton - so it would not be scholarly to pretend we did. The European translators, especially Burton, were fairly unscrupulous about adding their own changes, and interpolating additional stories, which further muddies the waters. If it is really that important to you - why not start a "Persian Nights" website of your own?-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 09:14, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
I have added redirections from several versions of the Persian name(s) for this collection - with and without diacritic marks (although all in Latin letters of course). Just for a giggle - I have even added one from "Persian Nights" - although I suspect admin or someone will want to delete this as it is NOT a name (I suspect) that has ever been used outside this discussion!! -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 02:56, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
Much of this is very interesting and informative, although applying techniques of literary criticism to something like the nights (for instance, assuming a real guiding hand, if not a single overall author or editor) has even more than usual of the well known tendency of literary criticism to descend into nonsense or bathos. The nights were patently NOT written by one person at one time, and assumptions based on the idea that somehow they really WERE (however eminent the person doing it) are fundamentally flawed.
I am particularly concerned about the "satire" section, which seemed to use a very different and much looser definition of the concept of satire than is found in the wiki article on the subject, and the idea of a similar tale being intended as a "parody" of another because of a similar plot outline (folk tales are simply like that, for heaven's sake). Parody and satire are NOT the same thing, either, although parody is sometimes used with satiric intent. I have slightly rewritten those paragraphs - trying to put the sourced matter in context, without deleting anything interesting or stimulating. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 06:10, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
In the section `repetition' where the article discusses 'leitwortstil' it cites David Pinault's "Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights" as saying that the earliest use of the leitwortsil technique is arabian nights. Mr Pinault's book categorically states no such thing, but merely says that the techinique is used in versions of the nights. (Clearly the statement that 1001 nights was the first to use the techinique is ridiculous; the technique is littered through many other works of antiquity, including the torah and the iliad for pity's sake, predating nights by millenia)!
What about the English translation of the first French translation that was used for so long? I've been reading it, and I notice that at least one risque passage (and presumably more) has been left out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.163.0.44 ( talk) 21:17, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
Err, Reading the book now, the amount of violence against women is incredible. One of the first stories, about a man who if he tells his wife the story will die, is resolved when the man decides to beat his wife with a Stick untill she stops nagging him, or dies. She stops nagging him, and they live happily ever after... WTF!!! -- 195.7.55.146 15:19, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)
You seem to be implying that the book is sexist or misogynist in some way - this is absurd in a book in which women outwit men throughout. Sdrawkcab 17:10, 9 May 2005 (UTC)sdrawkcab
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights is an Arabic Literature master piece, which combined Folk Stories from many countries, including persia. It should not be confused with the persian "Hazar Afsanah" (A Thousand Legends), which is apart from the frame-story of Shahrazad totally different!!
user:Arab League ( Arab Hafez) 17:59, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
How unfortunate that a story that begins with, “This is a story about a Persian (Iranian) King who lived during the Persian Sassanid dynasty...... ”, and a story whose main characters at the nucleus of the story are ALL Persian, with pure--original Persian names like Shahrzad, is being represented to the world as `Arabian Nights`. It is very much possible that `the Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor` chapters in the book were inspired by some Indian-Chinese mirabilia; however, there is nothing wrong with that, such that the Persian author who penned this masterpiece was simply inspired by them. Wasn’t Shakespeare inspired by some old Jewish, European, and even Oriental folktales? That is what authors do; they get inspired, and then they use their imagination. Yet, what is important to realize is that the written [proof] indicates where the story is from, and it is useless to try and go beyond the physical evidence, i.e. the facts. And, all the evidence proves this was an Old Persian folktale. Nevertheless, 1000 years ago there were no plagiarism, or copyright laws, because if there were, this Persian body of work would have rightly been called, `The Persian Nights`. About Baghdad: Baghdad is where Babylon used to be, and back then it was a province of the Persian Achaemenid Dynasty, and Ctesiphon in Babylon was the capital of two enormous Persian Empires; namely the Parthian and the Sassanids. Later-on, Arabs move in the area, when the Persian `Sassanid Dynasty` fail. The city Baghdad was designed and built by a Persian Jew--Mushallah, and the name is Persian, meaning, Bagh=garden, and dad or daad=gave. It is mind boggling that over 90 percent of Islamic scientists, tales like 1001 Nights, even architectural designs, poetry, paintings, you name it, were the contribution of Persian poets, scientists etc., yet Arabs take credit for it. Zmmz 04:43, 22 February 2006 (UTC) -- "back then" that area was a province of Babylon. Babylon is not Persian. Later Persians moved to the area from the east. It is not suprising to see some "persians" again trying to "own" everything middle-eastern. -Ur
From Borges, The Garden of Froking Paths:
Can anyone verify whether this actually happens? (Or does happen in some well-known erroneous version?) This was one of Borges's fictional works, so it's hard to say whether he's making up his references. Also, how many stories are there? It isn't exactly 1001, as I understand. How many is it? Or are the interconnections too vague to make an exact count possible? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 136.142.21.64 ( talk • contribs) 12 Feb 2006.
I think something more should be said about the textual and editorial history of the Nights. For instance, it's my understanding that most modern translations are based on one of five 19th-century editions, refered to by their place of publication: Calcutta I), Bulaq / Cairo I (1835), Calcutta II), Breslau) and Bulaq II. The Burton translation is a free rendering of Calcutta II, and I think Mardras translated Bulaq I. Maybe a seperate section should be added to the article dealing with this kind of information, as well as a list of various translations. Kmbush40 07:14, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
This book is Persian. For any Arab who doesn't understand, just read it once and you'll see that the core history is in Sassanid Persian Empire. The stories were collected by Persians and written in a single book. Of course, after all those uncivilized Arabs burning Persian and Egyptian book (in the Alexandria Library for example) that many original versions of books will be lost. -- Arad 23:15, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
Can u give an evidence about " Of course, after all those uncivilized Arabs burning Persian and Egyptian book (in the Alexandria Library for example) that many original versions of books will be lost. " It is well-known when Alexandria Library destroyed!!!!!!. Also you should know that old Persian is different than Middle Persian and modern Persian, and around 30% of the Persian language vocabularies were brought from Arabic. Educate your self then write. And stop being racist. Aziz1005 20:34, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
The Alexandria library was destroyed by Christians in the 4th century. q.v. Durant Story of Civ. vol. 4 p. 283 --WittyMan1986—Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.201.248.160 ( talk) 12:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
These now constitute a fairly stable entity - in fact they represent a very delicately balanced compromise between several different points of view. PLEASE do not alter anything - even a bold or italic indication - without raising it in discussion first!!! -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 01:30, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
PLEASE do not edit in contentious matter to the introduction - even if "sourced". Speculation about the "origins" of the nights, especially in "pre-Islamic" times are fairly meaningless anyway - since the canon of the collection has very obviously been growing for a very long time, and probably bears little or no direct relationship to any "original" version. Theories about an Iranian origin may very well have some truth (viz Persian names in the frame story) but we simply do not have an original Persian version - the oldest manuscript is in fact in Arabic. Many of the stories are certainly Arabic - while others seem to have Iranian, Indian, Greek (Homer!), and other origins. The familiar frame story may very well not even belong to the collection we have anyway! The last thing we need is another hurricane of ill-informed vandalism from offended Persian and Arab editors feeling their cultural roots have been "slighted" when we don't really know for sure where the nights came from anyway!!-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 20:59, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
I'm quite sure that anyone who said Persians were "not amenable to the arts", or that "true" Persians were of "limited intellectual horizon" would be classed by you as a racist. (And by me incidentally)!! This is a racist comment, whoever makes it - and sullies the source it was taken from. Remember I am not saying the "encyclopaedia of islam" issues these racist statements - YOU are. I am just saying the statements as you quote them are racist. I make no claim that the statements you quote are authentic (I sincerely hope they are not).
BUT re-read your own quotation - racist and unscholarly as it is, it does not even support your contention. No one is for a moment saying that there are not many Persian and Indian stories included in the 1001 nights - there are and this is in fact mentioned in the original version before you edited it. There are also stories from many other sources. The tales that can be traced to Homer, for instance, would not justify us claiming that the 1001 nights are Greek - nor do the many Arab tales indicate that the collection is entirely Arab. Whoever compiled the collection very obviously borrowed from all over the place - in this sense the collection is "international". None of this is any help in determining where the collection (as a collection) comes from. Which is why the article before you attacked it avoided coming to any conclusion.
The example I gave of the (quite imaginary) Arab or Nazi site was of course an example of something we would NOT want to accept as a source, because the statements were racist (as well as ridiculous, of course). People DO make racist comments about Persians, you know. Would my example have been better if I had followed some of these? The point was simply that racism is nasty and stupid, as well as totally illogical. You seem to think it is just fine, provided it does not denigrate Persians. Well sorry, I have a great deal of respect for Persian culture - I am acutely aware that the Persians had great civilisations and empires at a time when my own Germanic ancestors were barely out of the stone age - but racism against anyone (even the Arabs - who among other things gave you your religion) is equally unacceptable. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 06:52, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
The Arabic title is first - because the work as we have it (as opposed to prototypes on which it may have been based) is in Arabic, not Persian.
I would actually prefer "Persian" here, as the prototype concerned pre-dates the modern state of Iran - BUT "Iranian" is the word used in "The encyclopedia of Islam" that is used as a source for the "prototype" - hence it is a more accurate representation of what our authority says here than "Persian". In any case we don't need both.
By all means let's discuss this one. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 00:01, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
Please - the fact that something is Persian doesn't necessarily need mentioning three or four times in the one sentence - nor does the word "Persian" automatically come at the head of every list! There is a difference between justifiable pride in the traditions of a great civilisation and childish chauvinism!-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 22:46, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
Yes, you are right. but how can you say "he was speaking british"??? Its better to say "he was speaking British English" or "American English". We have the same problem here. Pahlavi, itself has many different meanings, but "Pahlavi Persian" shows that it is a form of Persian language (Middle Persian). or when someone reads "sassanids" he doesnt understand what is sassanid, who is sassanid, but when we write "Sassanid Persia" or "Sassanid Iran" or "Sassanid Persian empire", he/she will understand approximately, who were Sassanians/Sassanids. Another example can be
It is correct, but it will more correct if we say:
So it helps us to improve the article. Please be polite and careful about using the words like "childish chauvinism". - Thank you -- Wayiran ( talk) 11:56, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
I have reverted the return of this title in the first paragraph of the article twice now - the following explanation is probably called for:
1. The subject of the article is first and foremost the original Arabic language work - NOT the many translations and "retellings for children" of certain of the tales in English. (Although the latter quite rightly get a lookin, of course.) Early English versions (e.g. Burton) used a translation of the original title - the "Arabian Nights" bit came comparitively late, and almost never refers to an adult translation of the whole work.
2. "Arabian Nights" will bring up this article - and this title is not only mentioned but set in context later in the introduction.
3. We have finally managed to get some stability into this article after pronged dispute and edit wars from Arab and (especially) Persian editors who took severe exception to the use of "Arabian Nights" (and other matters). Just read some of the "discussion" above!!!
-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 15:45, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
Soundofmusicals writes "supposing that everyone with a different nationalistic outlook to your own is a mere "tendentious chauvinist" is in itself a prime example of chauvinism." I'm sorry, but that's a wholly unwarranted statement. Folantin has demonstrated no "nationalistic outlook" that I can see. If you are implying that rejecting nationalism is itself a nationalistic outlook and that we should be sensitive to non-westerners who show ethnic prejudice that's patronage mispresented as liberal egalitarianism. We follow the policy which says that common names in English are used on English Wikipedia, whatever they may be. Whether the Arabian Nights are "really" Arabian or not is irrelevant. That's one of the most common names. Paul B ( talk) 09:55, 16 June 2009 (UTC)
Yawn indeed - taking up sentences three and four with an explanation of how the most common English language name for "The Nights" came to be what it is, rather than a translation of the original Arabic title seems to me to render hammering the fact in the first sentence as well a bit superfluous at best. It makes better sense to put the "Arabian Nights" title into context before we mention it - and thereafter basically just call it "The Nights". I agree it is a fairly trivial point - but one which you found worth reverting a number of times (between yawns perhaps?). If you stopped yawning for a moment (and, for that matter forgot about the interethnic Persian/Arab/English stupidity, which is entirely irrelevant to the case) and actally read the intro again you might comr to conclude that calling the work by its proper name in the first sentence - then explaining about the most common English name in the very next two sentences - is not a bad mix, and doesn't "patronise" or "appease" anyone. It will also be more likely to be stable in the long term - and I think when you can combine that with a good, well measured and encyclopediac approach then that is an outcome not to be altogether despised.-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 11:14, 19 June 2009 (UTC)
The so called "orphan tales" (Sinbad, Aladdin and Ali Baba) were collected by Galland and added to the Nights. Their exact provenance is uncertain, although they were not part of any Arabic edition of the Nights. I would prefer to leave the mention of this in the lead to the article as it is, since it states exactly what we are sure (and almost sure) about - without mentioning stuff we cannot be so certain of. If are less that certain that the works aren't Persian then it IS conducive to article stabilty and consensus to leave the "Arab" bit open rather than insist on it. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 03:20, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
The intro is missing what I think might be the most explicative information: what might I know these stories as?
I mean, everyone has probably heard many of the stories from this collection, but if you don't know that they were stories from this collection, then the intro won't jog your memory. It currently talks about the dating and the language and gives three examples of Arabian stories that are not in this collection, but says nothing about the stories that are in this collection.
Can someone with basic knowledge of this subject (I can't tell if I do or not) please mention a few examples of recognisable story names in the intro? Thanks. Gronky ( talk) 19:38, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Archive 3 | Archive 4 |
My memory has misled me. The Book of Esther does not say that the king would execute a bride per day. I don't know why I thought so, but I just reread the story (at [ [1]]) and I was wrong.
Even if 1000 represents infinity, 1000 + 1 would not be a transfinite number larger than infinity. Although I suppose if "1000 + 1" is taken to mean "The first number after infinity", then it does represent a transfinite number.
"moribund detail"??? - Jmabel 03:49, 8 Apr 2004 (UTC)
My Burton edition claims that Aladdin is actually from a book called "The Blue Fairy Book", and is included with the rest of the tales just because it is so good. But I don't know anything further - anyone else up on this? Graft 23:39, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)
'...better-known in English as "Scheherazade" or "Shahrastini"' (italics mine). Really? I've never heard "Shahrastini" in my life. Unless someone can vouch for a well-known edition that uses this variant, this should be removed. -- Jmabel | Talk 03:42, 17 December 2004 (UTC)
does there exist a version of English translation such that it is not censored in anyway but with more moden easy-reading style than Sir Burtons? Xah Lee 22:32, 2004 Dec 19 (UTC)
In the historical context of this article, is it really appropriate to link "Persia" to Iran? -- Jmabel | Talk 06:41, Apr 16, 2005 (UTC)
There has been no significant change to the status of the country or its status of being an empire
The name of the storyteller is Shahrzad which is a pure Persian name. I have heard from some Professors of Persian literature that 1001 nights originates from 1000 Afsane (1000 Legends). It is also noteworthy that the name of the city which many of the stories take place in (Baghdad) is Persian. (anon 8 Aug 2005)
It helps to check Wikipedia itself as to the origins of Baghdad. You will see that there is no "stretching it" and the origins of it is Persian. (Babak October 11, 2005)
The article states that the stories are "a piece of medieval Middle-Eastern literature". But then it says that they were compiled in the 9th century. So which is it? Jonatan 20:15, 15 October 2005 (UTC)
Which should it be? the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid or the Arab Caliph Harun al-Rashid? Philip Stevens 12:41, 22 October 2005. How about both? Yuber (talk) 12:59, 22 October 2005 (UTC)
Why is the Prince of Persia linked here, does it have anything to do with the Nights? Philip Stevens 15:28, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
I may be completely wrong, but I don't think it is correct to say that Shahrzad means "born in the city". Considering the alternate ways of pronouncing the word "Shahrazad" or "Scheherazade" it seems that the word is a simplified version of Shahr+Azad or Shahr+Azade, which would mean the libertarian, or liberator (Azade) of the city. Also, "Shahr" in older persian usually means country, or the whole nation, not simply "the city". I think this meaning would also be much more consistent with the role her character has in the story. I'm looking forward to read your opinions about this. (anon 19 July 2005)
The story is completely Persian because of the names and also it was the Arabic version of 1000 myths or Hezar Afsaneh which was completely Persian. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.43.81.122 ( talk • contribs) 15 Jan 2006. Yes I also believe that this is Persian and Arabs want to be unfair to us. Iranians have to prove their identity to the world. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Maziar fayaz ( talk • contribs) 16:38, 20 January 2006 (UTC).
I just listened to this podcast about the Abbasid Caliphs ( MP3), where they claim the origin of the stories is actually India. It is claimed that the stories travelled from India to Persia. 20:40 in the podcast. Jaco plane 20:44, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
According to most scholars, many if not most of the stories in the Nights have origins in ancient Indian story collections such as the Panchatantra and the Jataka. The others are of Persian and Arabic origin. Overall, I see it as an Persian-Indian-Arabic work. The basic framework, however, is Persian. Afghan Historian 20:22, 27 April 2006 (UTC)
Some of the facts in the article, while plausible, are a little surprising. Would inline citations be practical in this article? Andjam 12:44, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
One of my first encounters with the book was ascribed to Edgar Allen Poe, yet I see nothing here about him, but I had been under the impression that he had had a hand in at least some western versions of the myths. I have encountered much confusion (including my own) as to the origins of the story--- Dragonwlkr 13:31, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
I admit I haven't looked as extensively as I should have, but offhand I don't see links to anything that's not a translation. (I am making an assumption that there is an original language for this, in Arabic...or Persian...or something that's not written in the letters I'm typing at the moment. I've seen one site that has a picture of two pages in Arabic script, but that appears to be it.) Given I'm studying Arabic, I would love to find a site that has the stories in the original language (if one exists). And for those who dislike translations as a rule, it would be nice to have easy access to a good untranslated copy. Anyone know where one might exist? Kilyle 22:40, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
http://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D9%84%D9%81_%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A9_%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A9 Here you can find the tales in arabic (the original tales) but also if you are studying Arabic I think that the tales text is not easy.
No, I'm afraid you're wrong. The correct question was "What is a collection of tales within a framing device." What was your wager? -- Wetman 07:24, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
What is a "Calender" ? I have a (grossly overabridged) version that contains several stories about Three "Calenders" - each blind in one eye who were sons of kings. Unfortunately, the modern Wikipedia entry under calender is about a machine involved in the paper industry...
Good article. How much would Burton's edition be worth on the rare book market? In 1998 a Lebanese friend of mine, and a lover of rare books, found the complerte set of Burton's rtanslation for sale in Baghdad in the Bookseller's Market (Mutannabi Street), for $200. It had a bookplate from the British Council - in fact the entire library was for sale there on the footpath. PiCo 02:40, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
There is an orphan article Alasnam that looks like it should be linked to from this article. I do not have the knowledge of this subject to included it, can someone here do it? Jeepday 14:18, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
Why is there a mention of a musical piece called La Noche de las Noches? The title (which means "the night of nights") doesn't suggest any obvious connection. - Jmabel | Talk 02:45, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
No mention of Dawood's English version? It's only relevant to English I guess, but this is the English wiki :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.8.184.20 ( talk) 14:24, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
Now I assume that there is a strong Iranian presence here, and that's why people are changing the article to make it say this book is Persian. This is the only explanation I can think of, there being no factual evidence offered. To those people I say: please stop spreading mis-information. If you have a good argument, then present it here on the talk page, else don't change the page to reflect your own prejudices. As far as the actual 'case' goes, all we can say is that the book is a collection of stories, and this collection has grown over several centuries. It is a tenable position that some of the oldest come from Persia, India, or other places, but there is little evidence to support this thesis. In fact, some of the more typically 'foreign' names in the book may have been invented by Arab bards just for that purpose: to sound foreign and imposing. IMHO, once the first stories were written in arabic, they formed a snowball effect, and the book continued to change until it has acquired its most recent form, sometime in the 18th or 19th century after the invention of printing came to the Arab World. As such, the core and the meat of the book is defintely Arab, even if we accept the idea that it's 'nucleus' is not. Now let me add that this isn't a matter of national pride, it is a matter of historical accuracy. As such, one also must recognize that the book's fame comes from its reputation in non-arab countries (especially the west) much more so than it's reputation in the Arab World. This is also the case with the 'Rubaiiyat of Omar Khayyam' and to a lesser extent with the Chinese "Journey to the West'. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 90.153.128.12 ( talk) 01:48, 27 January 2007 (UTC). Note: This article is literally littered with the word 'Persian'. Will you stop that?
I found in some website that the original version of 1000 nights and night is in (The oriental institution)not sure about the translation, in Chicago University and it is in Arabic from the 9th century this is the article in Arabic if u can read the source because I am not good at translating or writing in English قطعة قديمة جدا تعتبر الأقدم في العالم حتى اليوم، موجودة في المعهد الشرقي بجامعة شيكاغو ترقى الى القرن الثالث للهجرة، راجع (كوركيس عواد : المخطوطات العربية في الدور الأمريكية ص 34 الرقم3) وللدكتورة نبيهة عبود دراسة مفصلة عن هذه القطعة بعنوان:Abbott(Nabia) A Ninth Century Fragment of (Thousand and one Nights), Journal Eastern Studies , Vol, VIII, 1949, PP 129-164. And remember, I agree with u that there is some Persian influence but this does not mean the tale is completely Persian.....There are a lot of stories from Arabic heritage; Basra, Baghdad and Damascus were mentioned in the stories. I have written there it is an Arab-Indo-Persian tale and u deleted that and wrote Persian only.....Why? Aziz1005 22:27, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
The first section and the Synopsis are almost identical. They both relate the set-up for the stories as well as mentioning the most common characters and well-known tales. Could they be merged? Ninquerinquar 22:20, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
The book "1001 Nights" is based on an older, Pahlavi-Persian work known as "Hazār Afsāneh" ("1000 Myths"), a collection of ancient Iranian and Indian folk tales. The work was mentioned by al-Tabari and others, yet, for some reason it is not mentioned in this articles. Someone should add a paragraph or two about this work into the article, since the frame story of the modern "1001 Nights" is certainly copied from "Hazār Afsāneh". Other stories, mostly of Egyptian and Syrian origin, were added later. While "1001 Nights" was written in Arabic, it is important to mention that the origins of the work are Non-Arabic, and go back to ancient Persia and India, as well as to ancient Egypt and ancient China. -- 82.83.135.55 11:50, 14 May 2007 (UTC)
In my opinion, and according to my reading of Wikipedia's naming conventions, the encyclopedia should use the most common spelling in English, which is overwhelmingly "Scheherazade". There is a poll about this at Talk:Shahrazad#Requested move. – Taranah 17:04, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
Hi, I wondered whether anyone knows about the cartoon's music that played in the beginning in the cartoon. I would be grateful if anybody writes its song's name or its composer. Thank-you. Happy editing, -- Bahar (Spring in Turkish) ✍ 09:42, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
I want to know who says most of the stories are arabic!? yes, There are some Indian stories and A FEW Arabic stories. I want to answer the people who says It`s an Arabic story. Why do all the main characters of the Arabic stories have Iranian names(whithout any changes)? It`s very strange that names of the main characters of local stories be foreign. We know in many years ago each name that entered in Arabic language had been changed alot. For instance, Khosrow (Persia=خسرو) became Kasra (Arabic=کسری), Pirooz (Persian=پیروز) became Firooz (Arabic=فیروز) , Kwaz (Persian=کواذ) became Ghobad (Arabic=قباد) and too many other names.Sandbad(means A wind that comes from Sand river), Shahrzad, Shahryar and etc. But there are many names like Sandbad, Shahryar, Shahrzad are existed in Arabic (without any changes). 1001 Nights story spreaded in Arabic countries, because of its popularity and its names became common without being Arabicized. If you want to know about the oldest version of 1001 Nights story, apparently you can not find it in Persian, since Arabs burnt any books that were written in Persian to destroy Iranian culture and language in Ummayad dynasty, According to Biruni's From The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries, Because of this nowadays there are lots of Arabic word in Persian, But Arabic words do not contain 30% of Persian language. That`s one of reasons why there are many ethnic problems between Iranians and Arabs. About Hezar Afsaneh and its relation with 1001 Nights has been discussed in this page and there is no need to talk about it anymore. 1001 Nights has range stories not only from Hezar Afsaneh and Iranian stories but also from Indian stories and A FEW Arabic stories. Why did most of stories of 1001 Nights occure in Iraq and Baghdad(nowaday)? It has a lot of reasons: 1.Iraq had always been in Iranian dynasties(Achamenid, Parthian, Sassanid, Seljuk, Safavid and etc.). 2.Iraq in Arabic pronunciation is Aragh(عراق). Aragh is Arabic form of an Iranian name, Arak(اراک) means related to Aryans. Baghdad (Arabic=بغداد) is also a Persian name and its real pronunciation is Bagdad (Persian=بگداد). BAG in middle and ancient Persian means God and DAD means blessing. You`d better know 90% of the names of Iraq`s cities are Persian. 3.Another point is Iranian scientific and literature atmosphere of Iraq and its cities in those times, Although there were lots of anti–iranianism rules. You can investigate about how Gundishapour university was ruined by Umar and how it was founded again in Iraq by Iranian teachers of Gundishapour university. The existing of Iranian stories in 1001 Nights like Sandbad is another reason to confess this story is an Iranian story before it be Arabic or Indian. But unfortunately Arabs are trying to adopt them and introduce them as an Arabic story like many other things. Roudaki Iranian poet versed the stories of Snadbad that its name is Sandbad Nameh. Sandbad was a real Iranian person who lived in Siraf court, his birth place in Iran. An interesting point is that there is no distinctive or indistinctive person in Arab`s history that was named Sandbad. I`ve got something else to say, Kellile Va Demneh is an Indian story. At first it had only five stories, But when it was translated into Persian by Borzouye In Sassanid era. Borzouye added too many stories in his translation. And Iranians have never said ``that is an Iranian story``. I mentioned it for people who think most of the stories of 1001 Nights are Arabic. Anyway, if they be right, we should not say it`s an Arabic story. After all, we can not deny most of the stories of 1001 Nights are Iranian.
Sorry, because of my broken English. Because I`m 14-year-old boy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.154.36.6 ( talk) 16:30, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
The Arabian "1001" nights has its basis in Baghdad that was established by the Abbasid leader Abu-Jaffar Al-Mansour & the whole story flourished under Harun Al-Rashids time which was considered as the golden time for the Abbasid empire....& it describes Arabic culture mixed with stories collected from all parts that where under the rule of Arabs including "nowdays Iran" & the reason it has names from other cultures is because the Abbasid/Arabic Empire was multicultural & multinational & widely spread again under the rule of Arabs, no one can deny that!!!....it has always been known throughout the world as this & we're not gonna change history now because some people "persians" are racist against Arabs & I wonder why so much persian mentioned....maby from now one we should mention Arabic beside every name given to some one from persia then all the Iranian related articles will be full of Arabic but ofcourse persians ignore that...havn't you people noticed the urge of persians in all Arabic-related articles to manipulate everything Arabic & change it to something else??? 193.6.158.33 10:16, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
What is the basis for the recent attempt to systematically expunge all reference to "Arabian" from the article and replace it with "Persian"? If there is actually a good case for this it should be brought up in discussion. If it is simply that the collection must be Persian because the framing story is set in Persia - then on the same grounds Aladdin must be a Chinese tale, since it is set there. This is palable nonsense of course. In any case the collection is almost universally known as "The Arabian Nights" in English, so that even if the rest of the "Persian Hijack" eventually makes it this will have to stand. Soundofmusicals 14:03, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
It may be that the article as it stands (if that is the right word in the current flurry of drastic editing!!) has an "anti-Persian" bias. In order to avoid undesirable POV (Point of View) this needs to be discussed rationally and specifically. The heading "Perisna Hijack" for the above section simply referred to a specific "mass edit" that changed all mention of "Arab" to "Persian" - not to any suggestion that this collection does not have a strong specifically Persian element (along, incidentally, with an Arabic one!).
Please air complaints about the article here - to establish a consensus about the best form for the article - rather than getting emotional and thrashing about like a trapped gazelle! This is an on-line encyclopedia, not an ethnic competition site. Soundofmusicals 00:55, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
If you want to be faithful to the history of the Nights there should be different pages for each different version with what we know about them on the pages. IE Burton's translation should have its own page, as should Haddawy's, etc. I rewrote most of this page to reflect certain academic truths about the Nights: 1. There are too many versions for it to be "one" piece of literature and 2. There is absolutely no historical basis to say that the stories all come from one place. The part of this page discussing literature and film seems like it should be taken out or made different pages and is badly written but I kept it in because it all seems verifiable. stan goldsmith 18:53, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
I contend that the claim of the Haddawy version being "the best" is unprovable and therefore should be removed from this page. It's a shame that these obvious Peacock words were ever used on the public page here; I've run across them on past visits and thought that someone would have removed them by now. Rather than edit directly, I thought it politest to point out the error here in the discussion page: In Versions, "... [specific version described] by Husain Haddawy, by and large the best English language version to date." Thanks in advance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lagasek ( talk • contribs) 22:48, 12 September 2008 (UTC)
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights → One Thousand and One Nights — Allow the Nights go by many names, in English 'One Thousand and One Nights' is one of the best known and the most faithful to the original Arabic name ('A Thousand Nights and a Night'). Also, to call the Nights a book is misleading as they were not written down for many centuries. — Philip Stevens 16:09, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
*'''Support'''
or *'''Oppose'''
, then sign your comment with ~~~~
. Since
polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account
Wikipedia's naming conventions.This article has been renamed from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights to One Thousand and One Nights as the result of a move request. -- Stemonitis 11:38, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
Well there is no name dispute that it has always been known throughout history as Arabian Nights & the majority or people knowing about it, also know it as the Arabian Nights. But the increased persian influence which I think is very unfair compared to other Arabic-realted issues that disregard Arabic influence. An example is that next to Shahryar & Schehrazade it says that its Persian name, well how many Persian realted issues have Arabic names & it is not mentioned that it is Arabic eg. Ibn Sina(Avicenna), Al-Ghazali,Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi,Ibn Abi Sadiq,Omar Al-Khayyam,Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khawarizmi, Jafar Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Shakir,Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi and HUNDREDS others. IF we mention persian name origin next to the names in this article then we should mention the Arabic name origin in ALL other articles, which I think persians will not agree upon. So it should be removed from this artilce or we should add to ALL other articles.
This was just one example of things NOT being FAIR in Wikipedia nowdays & many things are being modifyied without a guard. Best regards 193.6.158.33 ( talk) 19:11, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
Removing a word from the article (especially a negative word) IS adding something, at least by implication! But then real point is probably not whether the name Arabian Nights is "accurate" or not - but that
1. It is NOT an ancient name for the collection at all - just what westerners started to call it sometime in the 1800s:
2. In any case the name doesn't prove that every tale in it is Arabian - any more that the fact that the main characters in the frame story are Persian proves that they are all Persian.
It is not an individually authored epic, but a collection of folk tales that grew organically over several centuries. Read the article, and then read a grownup's version of the collection (or at least dip into it). Soundofmusicals ( talk) 05:07, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
Soundofmusicals -- your new edits look really good. Thanks for that. -- ShinmaWa( talk) 10:34, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
The German Army reference (to Kampfgruppe 1001 Nights) seemed out of place here, so I’ve moved it to a disambiguation page. Moonraker12 ( talk) 17:01, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
I have moved these recent posts from further up the page - just to make sure they are not missed!! -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 22:40, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
The "Arabian Nights" is NOT an ancient title for this collection in any of its versions, but it IS the name most commonly used (rightly or wrongly) in English. People objecting to this title on the grounds that it is inaccurate, and not the original name, have (rightly) had the artile moved to "One thousand and one nights" - but a mention (and explanation) of the "Arabian Nights" title is still necessary. I have endeavoured to give a suitable explanation. If anyone has a better, more scholarly one then by all means insert it instead. But please cease repeated deleting anything with "Arab" or "Arabic" in it from the article. It does nothing for anyone's regard for Persian culture - which is a rich and noble thing, and deserves more sensible and scholarly defence than this!! I have to point out that ALL existing Persian versions of the Nights are translations, either from the Arabic or from a European Language. Original Persian texts, if any ever existed, are lost. In these circumstances the article bends over backwards to be fair about the possibility of a Persian Origin for at least the germ of the collection. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 22:40, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
The 1001 nights, as we now have it, has very mixed origins indeed - although the original idea of a major collection of folk tales within a "frame" story is (as the sources cited confirm) almost certainly of Indian origin. The legitimate point various Irani editors have made that the title "Arabian Nights" is inaccurate, and a nineteenth century English name for the collection rather than its "ancient" name is now well covered. PLEASE don't change the article - in particular don't make it contradict itself or the sources - unless you have something a lot more definite than a bare assertion. This is an encyclopedia - we don't really know what exact proportions of Persian/Arab/Other sources comprise the collection as translated/compiled by Galland and Burton - so it would not be scholarly to pretend we did. The European translators, especially Burton, were fairly unscrupulous about adding their own changes, and interpolating additional stories, which further muddies the waters. If it is really that important to you - why not start a "Persian Nights" website of your own?-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 09:14, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
I have added redirections from several versions of the Persian name(s) for this collection - with and without diacritic marks (although all in Latin letters of course). Just for a giggle - I have even added one from "Persian Nights" - although I suspect admin or someone will want to delete this as it is NOT a name (I suspect) that has ever been used outside this discussion!! -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 02:56, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
Much of this is very interesting and informative, although applying techniques of literary criticism to something like the nights (for instance, assuming a real guiding hand, if not a single overall author or editor) has even more than usual of the well known tendency of literary criticism to descend into nonsense or bathos. The nights were patently NOT written by one person at one time, and assumptions based on the idea that somehow they really WERE (however eminent the person doing it) are fundamentally flawed.
I am particularly concerned about the "satire" section, which seemed to use a very different and much looser definition of the concept of satire than is found in the wiki article on the subject, and the idea of a similar tale being intended as a "parody" of another because of a similar plot outline (folk tales are simply like that, for heaven's sake). Parody and satire are NOT the same thing, either, although parody is sometimes used with satiric intent. I have slightly rewritten those paragraphs - trying to put the sourced matter in context, without deleting anything interesting or stimulating. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 06:10, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
In the section `repetition' where the article discusses 'leitwortstil' it cites David Pinault's "Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights" as saying that the earliest use of the leitwortsil technique is arabian nights. Mr Pinault's book categorically states no such thing, but merely says that the techinique is used in versions of the nights. (Clearly the statement that 1001 nights was the first to use the techinique is ridiculous; the technique is littered through many other works of antiquity, including the torah and the iliad for pity's sake, predating nights by millenia)!
What about the English translation of the first French translation that was used for so long? I've been reading it, and I notice that at least one risque passage (and presumably more) has been left out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.163.0.44 ( talk) 21:17, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
Err, Reading the book now, the amount of violence against women is incredible. One of the first stories, about a man who if he tells his wife the story will die, is resolved when the man decides to beat his wife with a Stick untill she stops nagging him, or dies. She stops nagging him, and they live happily ever after... WTF!!! -- 195.7.55.146 15:19, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)
You seem to be implying that the book is sexist or misogynist in some way - this is absurd in a book in which women outwit men throughout. Sdrawkcab 17:10, 9 May 2005 (UTC)sdrawkcab
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights is an Arabic Literature master piece, which combined Folk Stories from many countries, including persia. It should not be confused with the persian "Hazar Afsanah" (A Thousand Legends), which is apart from the frame-story of Shahrazad totally different!!
user:Arab League ( Arab Hafez) 17:59, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
How unfortunate that a story that begins with, “This is a story about a Persian (Iranian) King who lived during the Persian Sassanid dynasty...... ”, and a story whose main characters at the nucleus of the story are ALL Persian, with pure--original Persian names like Shahrzad, is being represented to the world as `Arabian Nights`. It is very much possible that `the Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor` chapters in the book were inspired by some Indian-Chinese mirabilia; however, there is nothing wrong with that, such that the Persian author who penned this masterpiece was simply inspired by them. Wasn’t Shakespeare inspired by some old Jewish, European, and even Oriental folktales? That is what authors do; they get inspired, and then they use their imagination. Yet, what is important to realize is that the written [proof] indicates where the story is from, and it is useless to try and go beyond the physical evidence, i.e. the facts. And, all the evidence proves this was an Old Persian folktale. Nevertheless, 1000 years ago there were no plagiarism, or copyright laws, because if there were, this Persian body of work would have rightly been called, `The Persian Nights`. About Baghdad: Baghdad is where Babylon used to be, and back then it was a province of the Persian Achaemenid Dynasty, and Ctesiphon in Babylon was the capital of two enormous Persian Empires; namely the Parthian and the Sassanids. Later-on, Arabs move in the area, when the Persian `Sassanid Dynasty` fail. The city Baghdad was designed and built by a Persian Jew--Mushallah, and the name is Persian, meaning, Bagh=garden, and dad or daad=gave. It is mind boggling that over 90 percent of Islamic scientists, tales like 1001 Nights, even architectural designs, poetry, paintings, you name it, were the contribution of Persian poets, scientists etc., yet Arabs take credit for it. Zmmz 04:43, 22 February 2006 (UTC) -- "back then" that area was a province of Babylon. Babylon is not Persian. Later Persians moved to the area from the east. It is not suprising to see some "persians" again trying to "own" everything middle-eastern. -Ur
From Borges, The Garden of Froking Paths:
Can anyone verify whether this actually happens? (Or does happen in some well-known erroneous version?) This was one of Borges's fictional works, so it's hard to say whether he's making up his references. Also, how many stories are there? It isn't exactly 1001, as I understand. How many is it? Or are the interconnections too vague to make an exact count possible? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 136.142.21.64 ( talk • contribs) 12 Feb 2006.
I think something more should be said about the textual and editorial history of the Nights. For instance, it's my understanding that most modern translations are based on one of five 19th-century editions, refered to by their place of publication: Calcutta I), Bulaq / Cairo I (1835), Calcutta II), Breslau) and Bulaq II. The Burton translation is a free rendering of Calcutta II, and I think Mardras translated Bulaq I. Maybe a seperate section should be added to the article dealing with this kind of information, as well as a list of various translations. Kmbush40 07:14, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
This book is Persian. For any Arab who doesn't understand, just read it once and you'll see that the core history is in Sassanid Persian Empire. The stories were collected by Persians and written in a single book. Of course, after all those uncivilized Arabs burning Persian and Egyptian book (in the Alexandria Library for example) that many original versions of books will be lost. -- Arad 23:15, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
Can u give an evidence about " Of course, after all those uncivilized Arabs burning Persian and Egyptian book (in the Alexandria Library for example) that many original versions of books will be lost. " It is well-known when Alexandria Library destroyed!!!!!!. Also you should know that old Persian is different than Middle Persian and modern Persian, and around 30% of the Persian language vocabularies were brought from Arabic. Educate your self then write. And stop being racist. Aziz1005 20:34, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
The Alexandria library was destroyed by Christians in the 4th century. q.v. Durant Story of Civ. vol. 4 p. 283 --WittyMan1986—Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.201.248.160 ( talk) 12:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
These now constitute a fairly stable entity - in fact they represent a very delicately balanced compromise between several different points of view. PLEASE do not alter anything - even a bold or italic indication - without raising it in discussion first!!! -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 01:30, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
PLEASE do not edit in contentious matter to the introduction - even if "sourced". Speculation about the "origins" of the nights, especially in "pre-Islamic" times are fairly meaningless anyway - since the canon of the collection has very obviously been growing for a very long time, and probably bears little or no direct relationship to any "original" version. Theories about an Iranian origin may very well have some truth (viz Persian names in the frame story) but we simply do not have an original Persian version - the oldest manuscript is in fact in Arabic. Many of the stories are certainly Arabic - while others seem to have Iranian, Indian, Greek (Homer!), and other origins. The familiar frame story may very well not even belong to the collection we have anyway! The last thing we need is another hurricane of ill-informed vandalism from offended Persian and Arab editors feeling their cultural roots have been "slighted" when we don't really know for sure where the nights came from anyway!!-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 20:59, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
I'm quite sure that anyone who said Persians were "not amenable to the arts", or that "true" Persians were of "limited intellectual horizon" would be classed by you as a racist. (And by me incidentally)!! This is a racist comment, whoever makes it - and sullies the source it was taken from. Remember I am not saying the "encyclopaedia of islam" issues these racist statements - YOU are. I am just saying the statements as you quote them are racist. I make no claim that the statements you quote are authentic (I sincerely hope they are not).
BUT re-read your own quotation - racist and unscholarly as it is, it does not even support your contention. No one is for a moment saying that there are not many Persian and Indian stories included in the 1001 nights - there are and this is in fact mentioned in the original version before you edited it. There are also stories from many other sources. The tales that can be traced to Homer, for instance, would not justify us claiming that the 1001 nights are Greek - nor do the many Arab tales indicate that the collection is entirely Arab. Whoever compiled the collection very obviously borrowed from all over the place - in this sense the collection is "international". None of this is any help in determining where the collection (as a collection) comes from. Which is why the article before you attacked it avoided coming to any conclusion.
The example I gave of the (quite imaginary) Arab or Nazi site was of course an example of something we would NOT want to accept as a source, because the statements were racist (as well as ridiculous, of course). People DO make racist comments about Persians, you know. Would my example have been better if I had followed some of these? The point was simply that racism is nasty and stupid, as well as totally illogical. You seem to think it is just fine, provided it does not denigrate Persians. Well sorry, I have a great deal of respect for Persian culture - I am acutely aware that the Persians had great civilisations and empires at a time when my own Germanic ancestors were barely out of the stone age - but racism against anyone (even the Arabs - who among other things gave you your religion) is equally unacceptable. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 06:52, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
The Arabic title is first - because the work as we have it (as opposed to prototypes on which it may have been based) is in Arabic, not Persian.
I would actually prefer "Persian" here, as the prototype concerned pre-dates the modern state of Iran - BUT "Iranian" is the word used in "The encyclopedia of Islam" that is used as a source for the "prototype" - hence it is a more accurate representation of what our authority says here than "Persian". In any case we don't need both.
By all means let's discuss this one. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 00:01, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
Please - the fact that something is Persian doesn't necessarily need mentioning three or four times in the one sentence - nor does the word "Persian" automatically come at the head of every list! There is a difference between justifiable pride in the traditions of a great civilisation and childish chauvinism!-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 22:46, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
Yes, you are right. but how can you say "he was speaking british"??? Its better to say "he was speaking British English" or "American English". We have the same problem here. Pahlavi, itself has many different meanings, but "Pahlavi Persian" shows that it is a form of Persian language (Middle Persian). or when someone reads "sassanids" he doesnt understand what is sassanid, who is sassanid, but when we write "Sassanid Persia" or "Sassanid Iran" or "Sassanid Persian empire", he/she will understand approximately, who were Sassanians/Sassanids. Another example can be
It is correct, but it will more correct if we say:
So it helps us to improve the article. Please be polite and careful about using the words like "childish chauvinism". - Thank you -- Wayiran ( talk) 11:56, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
I have reverted the return of this title in the first paragraph of the article twice now - the following explanation is probably called for:
1. The subject of the article is first and foremost the original Arabic language work - NOT the many translations and "retellings for children" of certain of the tales in English. (Although the latter quite rightly get a lookin, of course.) Early English versions (e.g. Burton) used a translation of the original title - the "Arabian Nights" bit came comparitively late, and almost never refers to an adult translation of the whole work.
2. "Arabian Nights" will bring up this article - and this title is not only mentioned but set in context later in the introduction.
3. We have finally managed to get some stability into this article after pronged dispute and edit wars from Arab and (especially) Persian editors who took severe exception to the use of "Arabian Nights" (and other matters). Just read some of the "discussion" above!!!
-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 15:45, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
Soundofmusicals writes "supposing that everyone with a different nationalistic outlook to your own is a mere "tendentious chauvinist" is in itself a prime example of chauvinism." I'm sorry, but that's a wholly unwarranted statement. Folantin has demonstrated no "nationalistic outlook" that I can see. If you are implying that rejecting nationalism is itself a nationalistic outlook and that we should be sensitive to non-westerners who show ethnic prejudice that's patronage mispresented as liberal egalitarianism. We follow the policy which says that common names in English are used on English Wikipedia, whatever they may be. Whether the Arabian Nights are "really" Arabian or not is irrelevant. That's one of the most common names. Paul B ( talk) 09:55, 16 June 2009 (UTC)
Yawn indeed - taking up sentences three and four with an explanation of how the most common English language name for "The Nights" came to be what it is, rather than a translation of the original Arabic title seems to me to render hammering the fact in the first sentence as well a bit superfluous at best. It makes better sense to put the "Arabian Nights" title into context before we mention it - and thereafter basically just call it "The Nights". I agree it is a fairly trivial point - but one which you found worth reverting a number of times (between yawns perhaps?). If you stopped yawning for a moment (and, for that matter forgot about the interethnic Persian/Arab/English stupidity, which is entirely irrelevant to the case) and actally read the intro again you might comr to conclude that calling the work by its proper name in the first sentence - then explaining about the most common English name in the very next two sentences - is not a bad mix, and doesn't "patronise" or "appease" anyone. It will also be more likely to be stable in the long term - and I think when you can combine that with a good, well measured and encyclopediac approach then that is an outcome not to be altogether despised.-- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 11:14, 19 June 2009 (UTC)
The so called "orphan tales" (Sinbad, Aladdin and Ali Baba) were collected by Galland and added to the Nights. Their exact provenance is uncertain, although they were not part of any Arabic edition of the Nights. I would prefer to leave the mention of this in the lead to the article as it is, since it states exactly what we are sure (and almost sure) about - without mentioning stuff we cannot be so certain of. If are less that certain that the works aren't Persian then it IS conducive to article stabilty and consensus to leave the "Arab" bit open rather than insist on it. -- Soundofmusicals ( talk) 03:20, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
The intro is missing what I think might be the most explicative information: what might I know these stories as?
I mean, everyone has probably heard many of the stories from this collection, but if you don't know that they were stories from this collection, then the intro won't jog your memory. It currently talks about the dating and the language and gives three examples of Arabian stories that are not in this collection, but says nothing about the stories that are in this collection.
Can someone with basic knowledge of this subject (I can't tell if I do or not) please mention a few examples of recognisable story names in the intro? Thanks. Gronky ( talk) 19:38, 4 November 2009 (UTC)