151 Tales From Arab World

Caliph Harun-al-Rashid saw the old blind beggar on the street and stopped to ask him how he lost his sight. The man was named Baba Abdullah. The old man said he had been orphaned when he was very young, but slowly he began to learn to trade and soon became the owner of eighty camels. […]

Near the coast of Persia was an island ruled by King Shahzaman. He had a son named Qamar-ul-zaman. When he was fifteen, the King told him to select a bride, but the Prince refused to marry. The King was angry and imprisoned him in a castle tower! The castle was inhabited by a female genie,

The Caliph of Baghdad had a task for Sindbad to perform, so he sent for him one day. The King of the Indies had sent him lavish gifts and he wished to reply with equal courtesy to that gesture. So, reluctantly, Sindbad went to the Caliph’s court to receive his orders. The Caliph gave him

Husain, Ali and Ahmed were the sons of the Sultan, who also had a beautiful niece, Noor-un-nihar, an orphan whom the Sultan brought up. The three Princes loved Noor, but the Sultan didn’t want them to marry her, for fear that they would quarrel. But when the Princes asked him to decide which of them

When Aqib came to the throne, he went all over his kingdom and then decided to visit the islands around so that he might meet all his subjects. Having been over all his own islands he set off to explore further lands in a fleet of ships. Things went peacefully for forty days and then

Sindbad decided to travel over land routes to a port in India and then sail from there. It was a very safe and useful journey and he and his friends traded well along the way. The ship sailed from an Indian port and kept going well, till a storm came up, carrying it off its

Khusroshah came to the throne and went in disguise with his Vazir around his kingdom to see if all was well. One day, he overheard three sisters chatting about the person each of them wished to marry. The eldest said that she wished to marry the Sultan’s baker. “I wish to marry the Chief Cook

When Mustafa, a poor tailor, died, his wife was left to care for her lazy son, Aladdin. He did nothing but play in the streets. A stranger watched him and one day, posing as Aladdin’s uncle, he wept and hugged him and gave him costly gifts. Aladdin and his mother were puzzled, for they had

In Baghdad, there lived a very poor man. He struggled to make both ends meet by working as a porter or a labourer whenever he could, returning to his house completely exhausted. One night he fell asleep as usual, but was troubled by dreams. In the dream, an old man appeared and said, “What are

A humble porter lived in Baghdad. He sat every morning in the market with his large basket, ready to be hired for work. One day, a veiled lady asked him to follow her to the shops. She bought many things: a jar of wine, meats, breads, fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices and perfumes. Carrying the heavy

Sindbad built his own ship and invited merchants from other countries on his next voyage. Then they set sail, trading along the way for many weeks till they arrived at an island that seemed deserted. They came upon a roc’s egg about to hatch. The merchants would not listen to Sindbad who told them to

A traveller on a camel, passing through a thorny forest, saw that an old camp-fire had caused a forest fire. A large snake was caught in the fire and was crying out for help. The compassionate traveller took a saddle-bag from the camel’s back and opening its mouth he fixed a spear into it and

In Baghdad, Shahbaz inherited as much wealth as his brothers, but he did not use it wisely. He was very polite and well-behaved and knew how to please people, but he wasted the money and had to beg for food and money. He thought it would serve his purpose, if he made friends with servants

In a small town, a long time ago, there lived two neighbours. One of them envied the other very deeply. The man who was envied decided to shift to a different town to avoid the envious man. So, outside the capital of the kingdom, he found a small house with a well in the courtyard

It was not long before Sindbad sailed away again, this time from a Persian port. Their ship was, however, wrecked by a violent hurricane wherein most of the people died. Sindbad was one of the fortunate survivors who reached the shore of an island. After sleeping, the men awoke to search the island for help.