The Arabian Nights is a collection of stories compiled over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. Though an original manuscript has never been found several versions date the collection's genesis to somewhere between 800-900 AD.
What is common throughout all the editions of The Nights is the initial frame story of the Persian Shah, Shahryar ,and Persian Queen, Scheherazade , and the framing device incorporated throughout the tales themselves
The main frame story concerns a king and his new bride. The king, Shahryar, upon discovering his former wife's infidelity had her executed and then declared all women to be unfaithful. He begins to marry a succession of virgins only to execute each one the next morning. Eventually the vizier cannot find anymore virgins, and so must offer his daughter. Scheherazade agrees to marry the king, and, on the night of their marriage, tells him a tale, but does not end it. The king is thus forced to keep her alive in order to hear the conclusion. The next night, as soon as she finishes the tale, she begins (and only begins) another. So it went for 1,001 nights.
The stories proceed from this original tale; some are framed within other tales, while others begin and end of their own accord. Some editions contain only a few hundred tales, while others include 1001 or more stories and "nights."
Well known stories from The Nights include "Aladdin," "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor."
