In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, who bestows His mercy on all! Praise be to Alish, the Beneficent King, the Creator of the Universe, Lord of the Three Worlds, and grace and blessing be upon Our Lord Mohammed, Prince of the Apostles!

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This delightful selection of tales from The Thousand and One Nights are masterpieces of the art of storytelling.

The beautiful Scheherazade saved her life by entertaining the brutal King Shahryar with these tales of magical transformations, genies and wishes, terror and passion. Here are the famous adventures of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", as well as less familiar stories, such as "Prince Behram and the Princess A1-Datma", a charming early version of The Taming of the Shrew.

The tales have their origins in the cultures of India, Persia and Arabia, and this edition, based on Richard F. Burton"s unexpurgated translation, gives the reader all the sensuality and lushness of the original Arabic.

Exotic, bawdy and humorous, these stories-within-stories continue to captivate readers as they have done for centuries.

1. The Story of King Shahryar and

His Brother

  The Tale of the Ox and the Donkey

2. The Tale of the Merchant and the Jinnee

  The First Sheikh"s Story

  The Second Sheikh"s Story

  The Third Sheikh"s Story

3. The Fisherman and the Jinnee

  The Tale of King Yunan and the Sage Duban

  The Tale of King Sinbad and His Falcon

  The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot

  The Tale of the Prince and the Ogress

  The Tale of the Enchanted Prince

4. The Ebony Horse

5. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

6. "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

7. Julnar the Mermaid and Her Son Badar Basim

of Persia

8. The Tale About the Thief of Alexandria and

the Chief of Police

9. Prince Behram and the Princess AI-Datma

10. The Tale of the Three Apples

  The Tale of Nut al-Din All and His Son