Tales From The Thousand And One Nights

Offering unexpurgated translations of the best-loved tales, including classics like Sindbad the Sailor, Tales from the Thousand and One Nights — also known as Arabian Nights — is translated with an introduction by N.J. Dawood in Penguin Classics. The tales told by Scheherazade over a thousand and one nights to delay her execution by King Shahryar are among the most popular in Eastern and Western literature. From adventures of Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp to tales like The Young Woman and Her Five Lovers and The Tale of the Hunchback, the stories depict a world of sorcerers, jinns, and princesses. They are richly imaginative yet rooted in everyday life, offering a vivid record of medieval Eastern culture. N.J. Dawood’s translation preserves their lively style in modern English, and his introduction discusses their origins, differences from classical Arabic literature, and their history in English translations.