The Middle Eastern story collection '' One Thousand and One Nights'' has had a profound impact on culture around the world.

Literature

The influence of the versions of ''The Nights'' on world literature is immense. Writers as diverse as

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel ''Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

and

Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha ( arz, نجيب محفوظ عبد العزيز ابراهيم احمد الباشا, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. M ...

have alluded to the work by name in their own literature. Other writers who have been influenced by the ''Nights'' include

John Barth John Simmons Barth (; born May 27, 1930) is an American writer who is best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include ''The Sot-Weed Factor'', a sa ...

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and th ...

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...

, Elizabeth Gaskell, Nodier,

Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

Marcel Schwob Mayer André Marcel Schwob, known as Marcel Schwob (23 August 1867 – 26 February 1905), was a French symbolist writer best known for his short stories and his literary influence on authors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Alfonso Reyes, Roberto Bol ...

, Stendhal, Dumas,

Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855) was the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, a major figure of French romanticism, best known for his novellas and poems, especially the collection '' Les ...

, Gobineau,

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

, Hofmannsthal, Conan Doyle,

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Cavafy,

Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the '' Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the ''Cosmicomi ...

Georges Perec Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Hol ...

, H. P. Lovecraft, Marcel Proust, A. S. Byatt, Ruydard Kipling and

Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...

. This work has been influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by Antoine Galland. Many imitations were written, especially in France.John Grant and John Clute, ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', "Arabian fantasy", p 52 . Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin, Sinbad and

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...

. Part of its popularity may have sprung from the increasing historical and geographical knowledge, so that places of which little was known and so marvels were plausible had to be set further "long ago" or farther "far away"; this is a process that continues, and finally culminate in the

fantasy world A fantasy world is a world created for/from fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and, sometimes, either a historical or futuristic theme. Some worl ...

having little connection, if any, to actual times and places. Several elements from

Arabian mythology Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous Arabian polytheism, ancient Semitic religions, Christianity, Judaism, Mandaeism, and Iranian religions such as Zoroastrianism, and Manichaeism, and rarely Buddhism. Arabian polytheism, the ...

and

Persian mythology Persian mythology or Iranian mythology ( Persian:اساطیرشناسی ایرانی) is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the ori ...

are now common in modern

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

, such as

genie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...

magic carpet A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet and common trope in fantasy fiction. It is typically used as a form of transportation and can quickly or instantaneously carry its users to their destination. In literature One o ...

s, magic lamps, etc. When

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

proposed writing a modern fairy tale that banished stereotypical elements, he included the genie as well as the dwarf and the fairy as stereotypes to go.

18th century

* ''Candide, ou l'optimisme'' (Candide, or Optimism; 1758) by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

, contains a number of references to the story of Sindbâd the Seaman, notably the underground river in Eldorado, where in Candide the heroes are picked up by a machine. In his introduction to Zadig Voltaire wrote:

The story was first written in Chaldean, which neither you nor I understand. Later it was translated into Arabic to amuse the famous Sultan Ouloug Beg, at the same time that the Arabs and Persians were beginning to write the Thousand-and-one-Nights, the Thousand-and-one-Days etc. Ouloug Beg preferred Zadig, but the Sultanas liked the Thousand-and-One more. 'How is it possible,' said the wise Ouloug, 'that you prefer tales which have neither sense nor reason?' 'That is just why we like them so much, 'replied the Sultanas.

Further references to the Arabian Nights are expressed in parallels with the stories of Khudâdâd and His Brothers, 'Alâ' al-Dîn, and the History of the Princess of Daryâbâr. Whereas the Arabian Nights focuses on the narrative themes of providence and destiny, Voltaire substituted the interference of divine power with human intervention. *''Nourjahad'' (1767), moral tale by

Frances Sheridan Frances Sheridan (''née'' Chamberlaine) (1724 – 26 September 1766) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and playwright. Life Frances Chamberlaine was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Dr. Phillip Chamberlaine, was an Anglican minister. In 1747 ...

. *''

Vathek ''Vathek'' (alternatively titled ''Vathek, an Arabian Tale'' or ''The History of the Caliph Vathek'') is a Gothic novel written by William Beckford. It was composed in French beginning in 1782, and then translated into English by Reverend S ...

'' (1786) by William Beckford. Oriental fantasy which strongly influenced the Gothic novel. *''One Thousand and One Nights'' influenced ''

The Manuscript Found in Saragossa ''The Manuscript Found in Saragossa'' (; also known in English as ''The Saragossa Manuscript'') is a frame-tale novel written in French at the turn of 18th and 19th centuries by the Polish author Count Jan Potocki (1761–1815). It is narrated ...

'', by

Jan Potocki Count Jan Potocki (; 8 March 1761 – 23 December 1815) was a Polish nobleman, ethnologist, linguist, traveller and author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a celebrated figure in Poland. He is known chiefly for his pi ...

. A

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

noble of the late 18th century, he traveled the Orient looking for an original edition of ''The Nights'', but never found it. Upon returning to Europe, he wrote his masterpiece, a multi-leveled frame tale.

19th century

* ''The Nights'' has also inspired poetry in English, e.g.

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

's poem, "Recollections of the Arabian Nights" (1830).

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

refers to his childhood reading of the stories in ''

The Prelude ''The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem '' is an autobiographical poem in blank verse by the English poet William Wordsworth. Intended as the introduction to the more philosophical poem ''The Recluse,'' which Wordsw ...

'' (1805). *

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

wrote a "Thousand and Second Night" as a separate tale, called " The Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade" (1845). * '' New Arabian Nights'' (1882) is a collection of stories by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

20th century

* The book is referenced in numerous works by

. * The horse in, and protagonist of, Robert Lawson's 1953 children's historical novel, ''Mr. Revere and I: Being an Account of certain Episodes in the Career of

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...

, Esq. as Revealed by his Horse," is named Scheherazade (nicknamed "Sherry"). *

has alluded to ''The Nights'' or referenced it explicitly in many of his works, such as ''The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor.''

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' de ...

appears as a character in '' The Tidewater Tales.'' In addition, the "Dunyazadiad", one of a set of three novellas that make up Barth's fictional work

Chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of Ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilici ...

, is a re-telling of the Scheherazade framing story in which the author appears to Scheherazade from the future and recounts stories from the 1001 Nights to her in order to provide her with material with which to forestall her execution. * A

heroic fantasy Heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which events occur in a world where magic is prevalent and modern technology is nonexistent. The setting may be entirely fictitious in nature or based upon Earth with some additions. Unlike dark fiction ...

novel written by L. Ron Hubbard, ''

Slaves of Sleep ''Slaves of Sleep'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer L. Ron Hubbard. It was first published in book form in 1948 by Shasta Publishers; the novel originally appeared in 1939 in an issue of the magazine ''Unknown''. The novel presents ...

'' (serial: 1939, book: 1948), presents a story in which a man travels to a parallel universe ruled by Arabian Nights Ifrits. A sequel, ''The Masters of Sleep'' (1950), was also published. * Ramadan, an issue of Neil Gaiman's acclaimed comic book series The Sandman, draws on several of the stories of the Thousand and One Nights. In this tale, the

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Harun al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...

(who is a protagonist in many of the Nights) sells the "golden age of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

" to the Prince of Stories, in order that it never be forgotten. It is implied that the Thousand and One Nights is part of the result of that bargain. *

Bill Willingham William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series '' Elementals'' and '' Fables''. Career William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. During his father's military career the f ...

, creator of the comic book series ''

Fables Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular moral ...

'', used the story of ''The Nights'' as the basis of a prequel, ''

1001 Nights of Snowfall ''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series '' Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo. In the story Snow White has b ...

''. In the book,

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

tells the tales of the Fables, magical literary characters, to the sultan in order to avoid her impending death. * Two notable novels loosely based on ''The Nights'' are ''

Arabian Nights and Days ''Arabian Nights and Days'' (1979) is a novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The novel serves as a sequel and companion piece for ''One Thousand and One Nights'' and includes many of the same charac ...

'' by

and ''When Dreams Travel'' by

Githa Hariharan Githa Hariharan (born 1954) is an Indian writer and editor based in New Delhi. Her first novel, ''The Thousand Faces of Night'', won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the best first novel in 1993. Her other works include the short story coll ...

. The children's novel ''The Storyteller's Daughter'' by

Cameron Dokey Cameron Dokey (born 1956) is an American author. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her three cats and her husband. Cameron was born in the Central Valley of California. Her father was a teacher of Philosophy, Creative Writing, and Western Lit ...

is also loosely derived from ''The Nights''. *

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are '' Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, '' The Mote in God's E ...

, a Science Fiction & Fantasy author, wrote ''The Tale of the Jenni and the Sisters''. It supposedly told another tale by Scheherazade and appeared in his short story collection N-Space (short story collection) (1990). *

Craig Shaw Gardner Craig Shaw Gardner (born July 2, 1949) is an American author, best known for producing fantasy parodies similar to those of Terry Pratchett. He was also a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a loose-knit group of Her ...

wrote a trilogy: ''The Other Sinbad (1990), A Bad Day for Ali Baba (1991)'' and ''Scheherazade's Night Out'' in 1992. *

A.S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy ( Drabble; born 24 August 1936), known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt ( ), is an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been widely translated, into more than t ...

: ''

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye ''The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye'' is a 1994 collection of five mythical Short story, short stories by British novelist A. S. Byatt. The collection includes two short stories, "The Glass Coffin" and "Gode's Story" originally published in the ...

'' (short story, 1994) * In Stephen King's '' Misery'', the protagonist is forced to write a novel under threat of death or dismemberment at the hands of a crazed fan. On several occasions throughout the story, he compares his situation to Scheherazade's. Also, the novel describes the main antagonist ( Annie Wilkes) as Scheherazade. * In

's ''

Midnight's Children ''Midnight's Children'' is a 1981 novel by Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie, published by Jonathan Cape with cover design by Bill Botten, about India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is a postc ...

'', the narrator repeatedly compares his own tales of his life to Scheherazade's, and mentions that he can't "count on having even a thousand nights and a night" (page 4) in which to tell them. Rushdie also makes references to the tales in ''

Haroun and the Sea of Stories ''Haroun and the Sea of Stories'' is a 1990 children's novel by Salman Rushdie. It was Rushdie's fifth major publication and followed ''The Satanic Verses''. It is a phantasmagorical story that begins in a city so sad and ruinous that it has fo ...

'' including the names of the main characters. * In

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

's '' Mason & Dixon'', narrator Rev. Wicks Cherrycoke must tell his extended family an entertaining story in order to remain a guest at their home, a predicament similar to Scheherazade's. * In

's ''

John Dough and the Cherub ''John Dough and the Cherub'' is a children's fantasy novel, written by American author L. Frank Baum, about a living gingerbread man and his adventures. It was illustrated by John R. Neill and published in 1906 by the Reilly & Britton Company ...

'' (1906), the two heroes, Chick the Cherub, a child of unknown gender and John Dough, a man made out of gingerbread, flying from Ali Dubh, reach many fabulous lands. In the chapter titled "the Palace of Romance", Chick has to weave an unending story about a Silver Pig with marvelous powers. Should he ever run out of story to tell, he and John Dough would be cast into the ocean to drown, this being the custom of the people in dealing with visitors who cannot entertain them. *''Kannitheevu'' (''Virgin Island'') is a long-running Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language newspaper comic-strip in ''

Dina Thanthi ''Dina Thanthi'' ( en, Daily Mail; known as Daily Thanthi in English) is a Tamil language daily newspaper. It was founded by S. P. Adithanar in Madurai in 1942. ''Dina Thanthi'' is India's largest daily printed in the Tamil language and the nin ...

''. It debuted in 1960 with stories from the ''Arabian Nights'', the initial one focused on Sindbad where he rescues young women captured by an evil magician on the "Virgin Island".சித்திரக் கதை பேசும் பொன்னியின் செல்வன்

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

. *''Arabya Rajani’r Golpo'', an

Indian comics Chitrakatha (Hindi: चित्रकथा, Telugu: చిత్రకథ) are comics or graphic novels originating from India published in a number of Indian languages. India has a long tradition of comic readership and themes associated ...

series adaptation by Amar Majumdar of the ''Arabian Nights'' was published in the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

-language children's magazine ''Kishore Bharati'', by Dinesh Chandra Chattopadhyay. *Various stories from the collection ran as monthly comics in the Indian children's magazine '' Chandamama''.

21st century

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

' 2001 Elseworlds graphic novel Green Lantern: 1001 Emerald Nights is based on the ''Nights.'' * Richard Siken’s 2004 poetry book Crush begins with a poem titled “Scheherazade”. *

Ted Chiang Ted Chiang (born 1967) is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus awards. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the ...

's 2007 novelette ''

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" is a fantasy Novella, novelette by American writer Ted Chiang, originally published in 2007 by Subterranean Press and reprinted in the September 2007 issue of ''Fantasy & Science Fiction''. In 2019, the nov ...

'' is a science fiction pastiche of the ''Nights'' that uses its premise to drive a similar nesting structure of stories. *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

's 2009 novel ''Sons of the Rumour'' is a pastiche of the ''Nights''. * P. B. Kerr's "Children of the Lamp" series draws many elements from the ''Nights.'' * Benjamin Buchholz's 2011 novel ''One Hundred and One Nights'' uses the frame of Scheherazade's storytelling technique to narrate a tale about the village of Safwan, Iraq during the most recent American war. * ''

The Oath of the Vayuputras ''The Oath of the Vayuputras'' is the third book of Amish Tripathi, third book of Amishverse, and also the third book of Shiva Trilogy. The book was released on 27 February 2013, through Westland Press and completes the mythical story about an ...

'' is a 2013 novel by

Amish Tripathi Amish Tripathi (born 18 October 1974) is an Indian author. He is known best for hiShiva Trilogyand Ram Chandra Series. Amish's books have sold over 6 million copies in the Indian subcontinent since 2010. Early life and education Amish Tripa ...

that has a Parihan character named

. * '' Code Name Verity'' is a 2012 novel by Elizabeth Wein whose main character is occasionally called

. She is a Scottish spy who was captured by the SS in Occupied France, and is writing down her story and war time secrets to spare herself torture. *''

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights ''Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights'' is a fantasy novel by British Indian author Salman Rushdie published by Jonathan Cape in 2015. Plot The novel is set in New York City in the near future. It deals with jinns, and recounts the st ...

'', a 2015 novel by

. *'' Shadow Spinner'' is a retelling of the story by Susan Fletcher illustrated by

Dave Kramer Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

where a young girl, Marjan, rescues the fabled Shahrazad from the Sultan's wrath. *'' The Wrath & the Dawn ''and '' The Rose & the Dagger,'' reimaginings of the story by Renee Ahdieh. *''

Ghost Quartet ''Ghost Quartet'' is a musical song cycle written and composed by Dave Malloy. The show is described as "a song cycle about love, death, and whiskey. A camera breaks and four friends drink in four interwoven narratives spanning seven centuries" ...

'', a song cycle by composer

Dave Malloy Dave Malloy (born January 4, 1976) is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. They include ''Moby-Dick'', an adaptation of Herman Melville's cla ...

, incorporates elements of Scheherazade's narration and her relationship to the Sultan. * In Nikita Gill's 2018 poetry collection "Fierce Fairytales: & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul" she has a poem entitled "Scheherazade the Clever." *

Robert Shearman Robert Charles Shearman, sometimes credited as Rob Shearman, is an English television, radio, stage play and short story writer. He is known for his World Fantasy Award-winning short stories, as well as his work for ''Doctor Who'', and his asso ...

's short story collection ''We All Hear Stories in the Dark'' is openly heavily inspired by the Nights, and has been described as a postmodern take on them.

Japanese literature

The ''Nights'' also had an influence on modern Japanese literature.

George Fyler Townsend George Fyler Townsend (1814–1900) was the British translator of the standard English edition of ''Aesop's Fables''. He was the son of George Townsend and was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge -DCL 1876. He was Vicar ...

's revised edition of the ''Arabian Nights'' was the first "European" literary work to be translated into the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

during the Meiji era, by Nagamine Hideki in 1875. The Japanese translation was entitled ''Arabiya Monogatari'' ("Arabian Stories" or literally "Stormy Night Stories"), as part of the

monogatari is a literary form in traditional Japanese literature – an extended prose narrative tale comparable to the epic novel. ''Monogatari'' is closely tied to aspects of the oral tradition, and almost always relates a fictional or fictionali ...

genre. Though the book was intriguing to

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

readers who then had very little knowledge of Arabic culture or the Middle East in general, the ''Nights'' did not gain popularity in Japan until a more Japanified translation, entitled ''Zensekai Ichidai Kisho'' (''The Most Curious Book in the Whole World''), was produced by Inoue Tsutomu in 1888. His translation exerted a great influence on the literature of the Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa periods, with writers and poets such as Hinatsu Kōnosuke, Hakushū Kitahara and

Mokutaro Kinoshita was the pen-name of a Japanese author, dramaturge, poet, art historian and literary critic, as well as a licensed doctor specializing in dermatology during Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan. His other pen names included Horikason (� ...

citing the work as an influence on their own works. In the early 20th century, other translations from the Lane and Burton editions were also published, including ones from the Lane edition by Kōnosuke and Morita Sōhei, as well a translation of the

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...

edition by Daisui Sugitani, and translations of individual tales by Iwaya Sazanami. In '' Norwegian Wood'', written by Haruki Murakami in 1987, Toru refers to Reiko as a regular Scheherazade when she leaves a story about her past unfinished. Moreover, Murakami wrote a short story entitled "Scheherazade", published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' in October 2014 and previously compiled in his short story collection '' Men Without Women'', published in April 2014. '' Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic'' is a Japanese fantasy manga written by

Shinobu Ohtaka is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for her manga works '' Sumomomo, Momomo'' and '' Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic''. Works Publication *'' Sumomomo, Momomo'' (2004–2009) — Serialized in Square Enix's ''Young Gangan''. *'' Magi: ...

which borrows several elements from the ''Nights''. Each of the three protagonists, Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana have several traits in common with their counterparts from the original, with the same occurring with other characters like Sinbad, Cassim and Scheherazade. First released in 2009, it was adapted into an

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series in 2012.

Drama

There have been many adaptations of ''The Nights'' for television, cinema and radio. The atmosphere of ''The Nights'' influenced such films as

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

's 1921 '' Der müde Tod'', the 1924 Hollywood film '' The Thief of Baghdad'' starring

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...

, and its 1940 British remake. Several stories served as source material for ''

The Adventures of Prince Achmed ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'' (known as ''Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed'' in German) is a 1926 German animated fairytale film by Lotte Reiniger. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film; two earlier ones were made in Argentin ...

'' (1926), the oldest surviving feature-length animated film. In the late 1930s, Fleischer Studios produced three two-reel animated ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Paramount Pictures. All three cartoons, known also as the ''Popeye Color Specials'' (or ''Features''), were adapted from ''The Nights'': '' Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor'', '' Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves'', and '' Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp''. One of Hollywood's first feature films to be based on ''The Nights'' was in 1942, with the movie called '' Arabian Nights''. It starred

Maria Montez María África Gracia Vidal (6 June 1912 – 7 September 1951), known professionally as Maria Montez, was a Dominican motion picture actress who gained fame and popularity in the 1940s starring in a series of filmed-in-Technicolor costume ...

as Scheherazade,

Sabu Dastagir Sabu Dastagir (possibly born Selar Sabu; 27 January 1924 – 2 December 1963) was an Indian actor who later gained United States citizenship. Throughout his career he was credited under the name Sabu and is primarily known for his work in ...

as Ali Ben Ali and Jon Hall as Harun al-Rashid. The storyline bears virtually no resemblance to the traditional version of the book. In the film, Scheherazade is a dancer who attempts to overthrow Caliph Harun al-Rashid and marry his brother. After Scheherazade's initial coup attempt fails and she is sold into slavery, many adventures then ensue. Maria Montez and Jon Hall also starred in the 1944 film ''

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...

''. Columbia Pictures released '' A Thousand and One Nights'', starring

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...

as Aladdin, in 1945. In the 1952

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

movie ''

The Golden Blade ''The Golden Blade'' is a 1953 American adventure film directed by Nathan Juran and starring Rock Hudson as Harun Al-Rashid and Piper Laurie as Princess Khairuzan. It is set in ancient Bagdad and borrows from the Arabic fairy tales of ''One Thousa ...

'',

(

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

) uses a magical sword that makes him invincible to free Baghdad from the evil vizier Jafar and his son Hadi and win the love of the beautiful princess Khairuzan (

Piper Laurie Piper Laurie (born Rosetta Jacobs; January 22, 1932) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films ''The Hustler'' (1961), ''Carrie (1976 film), Carrie'' (1976), and ''Children of a Lesser God (film), Children of a Lesser God' ...

). The 1955 RKO Pictures film ''

Son of Sinbad ''Son of Sinbad'' is a 1955 American adventure film directed by Ted Tetzlaff. It takes place in the Middle East and consists of a wide variety of characters, including over 127 women. The film was shot in 1953 and planned to be released in 3 ...

'' combines the Sinbad character with Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (who in this film are all female). The 1958 movie ''

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' is a 1958 Technicolor heroic fantasy adventure film directed by Nathan H. Juran and starring Kerwin Mathews, Torin Thatcher, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, and Alec Mango. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures ...

'' was a Sinbad film produced by the stop-motion animation pioneer

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Mi ...

. Harryhausen also provided the stop-motion effects for ''

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad ''The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'' is a 1973 fantasy film, fantasy adventure film directed by Gordon Hessler and featuring stop motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. Based on the ''Arabian Nights'' tales of Sinbad the Sailor, it is the second of thre ...

'' (1974) and ''

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger ''Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger'' is a 1977 fantasy film directed by Sam Wanamaker and featuring stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film stars Patrick Wayne, Taryn Power, Jane Seymour and Patrick Troughton. The third and final ''Sin ...

'' (1977). In 1959,

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

released a UPA-produced animated feature starring Mr. Magoo, entitled ''

1001 Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

''. Osamu Tezuka worked on two (very loose) feature film adaptations, the children's film ''Sinbad no Bōken'' in 1962 and '' Senya Ichiya Monogatari'' in 1969, an adult-oriented animated feature film. Hanna-Barbera had created

Shazzan ''Shazzan'' is an American animated television series created by Alex Toth and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired on Saturday mornings on CBS from September 9, 1967 to January 20, 1968, and continued in reruns until September 6, 1969 ...

, a powerful genie that comes from a ring in 1967 and the next year premiered a segment on The Banana Splits Show called Arabian Knights, a team of heroes saving their lands from an evil emperor. In 1982, an X-rated adaptation entitled “A Thousand And One Erotic Nights” was produced, starring Annette Haven as “Scheherezade”. The most commercially successful movie based on ''The Nights'' was '' Aladdin'', the 1992

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

movie by the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, which starred the voices of

Scott Weinger Scott Weinger (born October 5, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known as the voice of the Disney character Aladdin in the 1992 animated film and various follow-ups, and as Steve Hale on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' and its Netflix sequ ...

and

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

. The film led to

several {{Short pages monitor