This renowned collection gathers a vast body of tales shaped over centuries across the Middle East and South Asia, reflecting narrative traditions from Arabia, Persia, India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the medieval Islamic world.

United by the frame story of the ruler Shahryar and the resourceful Scheherazade, the work unfolds through nested narratives, standalone episodes, and interlinked cycles that exemplify classical storytelling structures. Emerging in written form between the ninth and tenth centuries, the collection occupies a central place in world literature, later gaining prominence in Europe through influential translations. The themes range from power, fate, and justice to wit, endurance, and the transformative force of storytelling itself.

This translation presents a landmark English rendering of a foundational literary treasury whose narrative architecture and enduring motifs continue to illuminate the cultural imagination from which it arose.