Arabian Literature

Discover the endless fascination of ancient Arabian culture with six ancient tales we selected for you for their power of evocation, wisdom and humor. These stories are from the "Arabian Nights", also known as "One Thousand and One Nights", which is a collection of much more ancient folk tales, fairy tales and poems collected over the centuries. They come from ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Mesopotamian, Indian, and Egyptian folklore and literature. This makes "The Arabian Nights" a priceless treasure, as it takes us to the very roots of humanity's cultural treasures in a delightful and passionate way.

Selections include "The Talking Bird, the Singing Tree and the Golden Water", "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", "The Story of the City of Brass", "The Story of the Fisherman and the Genie", and "The History of the Young King of the Black Isles".

On nights 566 to 578, Shahrazad entertained her sultan with the tale of the City of Brass. She told how a Caliph sent an expedition under Emir Musa to explore in Africa. There they found a vast deserted castle, a jinni imprisoned in a pillar, and finally the City of Brass itself, with its people lying dead in the streets and houses.

There was an old, poor fisherman who cast his net four times a day and only four times. One day he went to the shore and cast his net. When he tried to pull it up, he found it to be heavy. When he dove in and pulled up the net, he found a dead donkey in it. Then he cast his net again and netted a pitcher full of dirt. Then he cast his net for a third time and netted shards of pottery and glass.

Captivating tales of devious magicians, monstrous giants, determined suitors, and a host of other unforgettable characters - now in audiobook format read by award-winning actress Suzanne Toren. Contains "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," and "Abou Hassan."

Jean is the young wife of an American businessman searching for oil near the Persian Gulf in 1952. In the bustle of the market and the dark eyes of her husband’s colleague, Jean is searching for something else: a life far from the one she knows. Then, after one wrong step in a desert gully, Jean finds herself trapped in a cave-in - and she’s not alone. When a legend comes to life and offers a path forward into the unknown, for Jean there is no going back.

"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", "Aladdin", "Sinbad the Sailor": These are just some of the strange and amazing stories that clever Scheherazade tells to captivate her husband, King Shahryar…and to save her own life. Each one is more fantastic than the last, filled with demons and dervishes, caliphs and genies, men transformed into dogs and monsters with eyes that glow. Like the king, children will find themselves enchanted by every tale.

Starring Brian Blessed and Rory Bremner, 1001 Arabian Nights is the first tale from The Opus Pocus: a series of symphonies transformed into funny, action-packed stories helping children to discover the magic of classical music, starting with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's dazzling composition Scheherazade. Here is the first chapter of the first story from The Opus Pocus, 1001 Arabian Nights or The Princess, the Pirate and the Baboon! It's a hairy tale of a princess, a sultan, a genie, and a shipwreck, and an unlucky pirate who keeps getting turned into a baboon!

There was an emperor of Persia named Kosrouschah, who, when he first came to his crown, in order to obtain knowledge of affairs, took great pleasure in night excursions, attended by a trusty minister. He often walked in disguise through the city, and met with many adventures, one of the most remarkable of which happened to him upon his first ramble, which was not long after his accession to the throne of his father.

El sultan ha sido enganado por una esposa y condena a muerte a cuanta mujer se case con el despues de la noche de bodas. Sherezada aplaza su destino contandole cada noche un cuento que se interrumpe en el momento culminante y hace que el sultan, interesado, le vaya perdonando su vida para que ella continue con la historia.

Ali Baba and his elder brother Cassim are the sons of a merchant. After the death of their father, the greedy Cassim marries a wealthy woman and becomes well-to-do, building on their father's business - but Ali Baba marries a poor woman and settles into the trade of a woodcutter. One day Ali Baba is at work collecting and cutting firewood in the forest, and he happens to overhear a group of forty thieves visiting their treasure store. The treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by magic.

There was, in olden time, and in an ancient age and period, in the land of the Persians, a king named Shahzeman, and the place of his residence was Khorassan. He had not been blest, during his whole life, with a male child nor a female; and he reflected upon this, one day, and lamented that the greater portion of his life had passed, and he had no heir to take the kingdom after him as he had inherited it from his fathers and forefathers. So the utmost grief befell him on this account.

Mas historias orientales.

Takrim refuses to be enslaved by the evil djinn temptress Iigwha. He escapes her clutches, but the djinn torments him with a cursed ring that brings him endless pleasure but denies him release. A hunter travelling alone through the Al'inal Forest finds Takrim, half-starved and exhausted. Sadiq tries to help him the only way he can - through pleasure.

Ein romantischer Liebesroman, der die Hörer in den Orient entführt... Rana Stone kann es nicht fassen. Gerade noch raste ein Auto an ihr vorbei, nun liegt es brennt neben der Straße. In letzter Sekunde kann sie einen Mann aus den Trümmern retten. Was sie nicht weiß - der Mann ist Karim Ibn Tariq Shaheen, der zukünftige Emir von Dubai. Sie hat ihm das Leben gerettet, doch eigentlich war sie nach Dubai gereist, um einen neuen Job anzutreten... und hier fangen die Probleme erst richtig an. Denn nicht nur der Job ist weg, auch kann Rana sich dem Charme des Prinzen kaum entziehen.

The sands are blowing across the desert, it's midnight at the oasis and the bandits in the Souk are ready to bring mind blowing pleasure to another innocent desert rose, without mercy, and always filling her beyond her wildest fantasy until she can't help but fall in love.

The padded footsteps of a white tiger pass a servant girl in the hallway of an Arabian palace. The prince's toys rise up to defend him from a band of mercenaries. A sinister man takes control of the palace while the Sultan is away...but what is his purpose? Another of Raver's tales of hidden magic, The Enchantress is a short story that takes the listener to a fictional land and into the mind of a mysterious young woman.

The Sultan wants to ensure his hundred concubines keep themselves in shape, so he devises a fitness plan with a difference. The losers of his weekly sprinting sessions are to be whipped by his very own lashmaster. When Orla is tricked into coming last in her race, she is fearful. Returning to the harem alone, she encounters Aladdin and his Genie, both of whom are in search of erotic encounters.

Aladdin is a young lad dwelling in ancient China; his parents are in despair, as he is a never-do-well and won't ever do anything. A sorcerer from the Maghreb persuades him to retrieve a wonderful oil lamp from a magic cave. But then, the socerer attempts to double-cross Aladdin, who resists only to find himself trapped in the cave. Luckily, he has kept the magical object and a world of adventures opens before him.

Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance, The Arabian Nights has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Shahrazad, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Shahrazad always withheld the ending: A thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever.