Arabian nights: The Slave of the Ring appears to Aladdin. Drawing by H. J. Ford for 1908 edition of THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS, edited by Andrew Lang. The Thousand and One Nights (alf layla wa layla) or The Arabian Nights, as they came to be known, owes its origins to three distinct cultures and storytelling traditions: that of India, Persia and the Arab world. The Arabian Nights first appeared in its Arabic form around 850 AD and it has been considered a remarkable mystery in Classical Arabic Literature. Although many scholars deny its literary importance, The Arabian Nights can be viewed as a valuable source of Middle Eastern social history, being composed of the most extensive and intimate recordings of the medieval Islamic period. Generations of Arabic readers have appreciated the versatile and imaginative use of Arabic and the mixture of the classical and colloquial language in many of the stories, a style which helped diversify the characters from the narrative. While chroniclers from the 10th century maintain that the tales were derived from a Persian book of folk tales called, 'Hazarafsaneh' (A Thousand Stories) the exact origins of The Arabian Nights is not certain and academic opinions are divided. Like many folk tales, The Arabian Nights may have originated from true stories which were embellished over time for entertainment value. The success of The Arabian Nights stories over many other forgotten folk tales may be due to their blend of popular themes; heroic and romantic adventures are littered with mystery, old wisdom and exciting struggles between good and evil. - ?TopFoto / Fortean