Folktales are told in Persia, Arabia, and India that will form the basis of The Thousand and One Nights.

The tales reach Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid Empire.

Haroun al-Rashid rules as the fifth Abbasid caliph and greatest leader of the Abbasid Empire.

Al-Rashid appears as a character in some of the tales of The Thousand and One Nights.

The period of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) has long been recognized as the formative period of Islamic civilization with its various achievements in the areas of science, literature, and culture.

The collection of stories that became Alf Laylah wa Laylah (The Thousand and One Nights) was written down, most likely in Syria.

The Syrian archetype copy was written down.

Oldest known manuscript of 1001 Nights, from fifteenth-century Syria. Galland’s notations in French are visible in the marginalia. (Source: BnF MS Arabe 3609)

The tales circulate throughout the Middle East, including Cairo, where copyists record the tales. These versions become the basis for later editions.

Antoine Galland’s pathbreaking translation is published.

Edward Lane’s English translation is published.

Lane uses the Bulaq, and edits the stories to make them “decent.”

Richard Burton’s English translation is published.

Burton uses the Bulaq, and adds florid language, together with copious ethnographic notes, using the tales to explain Islam and Middle Eastern customs.

Buy the new and enhanced leather-bound edition that collects the beloved tales of Arabian Nights, translated by Sir Richard Burton.

This collection features more than twenty stories and full-colour illustrations by Renata Fucikova and Jindra Capek.