Alf Layla wa Layla (Arabian Nights)

‘The collection of Arabian Nights,’ is the title of the prominent collection of fairytales and other stories of global renown. Like most of folk tales, Arabian Nights has no clear origin. However, most scholars agree that the collection is a composite work, where the earliest tales came from India and Persia, probably in the early 9th century. The earliest recognizable source of the collection is the Persian work entitled ‘Hazār Afsān’, which, in Arabic means ‘Alf Khurafah’ (A Thousand Entertaining Tales). These tales, perhaps originally written in Sanskrit and/or Persian, were later translated into Arabic under the title Alf Layla wa Layla‘A Thousand Nights and a Night’. Al-Masʿwdī (d. 965) and Ibn al-Nadīm (d. after 988), were among the earliest historians to refer to the book and its content in some detail in their bibliographical collections.319

The collection of Arabian nights was translated into Arabic, either in the eighth or ninth century, likely in Iraq.320 However, the oldest Arabian text that has survived is

317_{Al-Shirwānī, Aḥmad, Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafā, 2.}

318_{Brokelmann, Geschichte der Arabische Litteratur, G.I,213, S. I, 380.}

319_{Brockelmann, Geschichte der Arabischen Littratur, S.II, 59; Ulrich Marzolph, “The Persian Night:}

Link between Arabian Nights and Iranian Culture,” in Ulrich Marzolph, The Arabian Nights in Transnational Perspective (Wayne State University Press, 2007), Pp. 221-260, 222; Muḥsin Mahdī,

Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla min Uṣūlihā al-ʾAwlā (Leiden: Brill,1984), 26.

320_{Brockelmann, Geschichte der Lrabischen Littratur, Vol. SII; 59; Mahdī, Kitab Alf Layla wa Layla,}

126

the Syrian manuscript, in three volumes, which dates back to the 14th _{century, and is} currently held in the National Library in Paris (under the Nr. 3611-3609 Arabic).321 _It first reached Europe during the 14th _{and 15}th _{centuries, when travelers between Italy} and the East brought some of its stories.322 _{By the 18}th _{Century, the whole text had} reached Europe. For instance, it was the French Orientalist scholar and traveler, Jean Antoine Galland, (1646-1715) who first translated and published a part of the original Arabian Nights into French under the title “Les mille et une Nuits, contes Arabes Traduitsen François” (The Thousand and One Nights, Arabian tales translated in French).This edition whose first part included the tale of Sindbad the sailor was gradually printed in Paris, from 1704.323 _{Since then, several editions appeared in} Europe, in German, English, and other languages.324 It is worth mentioning that, as a composite collection, there are various different versions depending on the tales that the editors decide to include in their respective edition. As such, it is noted that there is no one complete version, and that number of tales included changes the volume of the text.

There are four main modern non-identical editions of the Arabic publications of Alf Layla wa Layla. According to some studies, these versions are recorded as follows:

The first version is known as the first Calcutta Edition (Calcutta I) or ‘Al-Shirwānī’s text. This version, which included two hundred nights, was published over two stages, in two volumes, in the years of 1814 and 1818 respectively. It was published with some

321_{Saree Makdisi and Felicity Nussbaum, The Arabian Nights in Historical Context: Between East and} West. (Oxford University Press, 2008),1.

322_{Brockelmann, Geschichte der Arabischen Littratur, Vol. SII, 59; E. Littman,“Alf Layla wa Layla,”} TheEncyclopedia of Islam, Vol. I, 359.

Mahdi has another opinion about this matter: he thinks that the first stories of collection of ‘Alf Layla wa Layla’ reached Europe after the 16th _{century. For more detailed see: Muhsin Mahdi, The Thousand} and One Nights (Leiden. New York; Köln: E.J.Brill, 1995), 6-7.

323_{Mahdi, The Thousand and One Night, 27; Littman,“Alf Layla wa Layla,” TheEncyclopedia of Islam,}

Vol. I, 359.

324_{Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla,14; Kamran Rastegar, Literary Modernity between the Middle East} and Europe: Textual Transactions in Nineteenth-century Arabic, English, and Persian Literature, (London: Routledge, 2007), 56.

127

alteration, under the supervision of al- Shirwānī, in Calcutta, by Pereira at the Hindoostanee Press.325

The second version is known as the Breslau Edition. As with the earlier version, this edition was also gradually published over two stages over a period of 20 years, but under the supervision of two different professors. This edition included a total of 12 volumes, yet the number of nights remains unknown. The first part was composed of eight volumes, from 1 to 8 published, during the period between 1824 and1838 by the German Orientalist, Maximilian Habicht, the professor of Arabic language at the Royal University in Breslau. Later, another four volumes, from 9-12, were published by Professor Heinrich Fleischer, the professor of the Oriental language, in Leipzig University in 1843.326

The third version is the first ‘Būlāq’ Edition, printed in the State Printing Office at ‘Būlāq’ in Cairo in 1251/1835, during the reign of Muḥammad ʿAlī Pāshā. This version was printed from the original manuscript that was found in Egypt and is said to go back to the 17th Century.327

The last version is the Second Calcutta Edition (Calcutta II). This is also well- known as the Turner Macnaghten Edition (1839-42). This text is a composite collection which was based on the Egyptian manuscript that was brought to India by the late Major Turner Macnaghten, Secretary of the British Governor-General in India. This version was edited and corrected by some Indian scholars, including: Mawlavī Aḥmad b. Muḥammad well-known as Aḥmad al-Kabīr, and MawlavīṢahib ʿAlī Khān, in 4 Vol, in 1842.328

Of particular interest is the first Calcutta version of Alf Layla wa Layla, which is also known as al-Shirwānī’s text. It was published in two volumes, by al-Shirwānī, by

325_{Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla, 15; Rastegar, Literary Modernity, 56; Badawī, Maūsūʿat al-} Mustashriqīn, 476-477.

326_{Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla, 15-16; Brockelmann, Geschichte der Arabischen Literatur, GII. 58,}

SI. 572; Littman,“Alf Layla wa Layla,” TheEncyclopedia of Islam, Vol.I, 359-360.

327_{Mahdi, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla.16; Rastegar, Literary; Modernity, 57-59; Mahdi, The Thousand and} One Night, 97.

328_{Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla, 20-12; Brockelmann, Geschichte der Arabischen Literatur, Vol.}

128

Hindoostanee Press, under the patronage of the East India Company’s College of Fort William. The first volume included the first hundred Nights, and was published in 1814 under the title ‘Māʾat Laylah min Alf Layla wa Layla’, ( و ا )329 _or ‘One hundred nights among Thousand Night and One Night’.330 _{The second volume} included the second hundred Nights and the night of Sindbad, published in 1818331 under the title ‘Al-Mujald al-Thānī min Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla wa Yashtamil ʿalā Ḥikāīt al-Sindbād wa al-Hindbād’ و و ا ب ا ُ ا )

ا

د او د ) The Second Volume of Thousand Night and One Night: including the tales of Sindbad and Hindbad.332

Al-Shirwānī accomplished this work in order to meet the requirements of the Government Council of the College of Fort William for a textbook for the purpose of teaching Arabic to Company officers. In the two versions, Aḥmad al-Shirwānī wrote the introductions, where he illustrated the importance of the collection of Arabian Nights ‘Alf Layla wa Layla’, and his method to prepare this text for publishing. He said: ن و .م ا ھأ ن ا و ا نأ ا ب ُ ا ث نأ هأ نأ ُ ا ن ا ط ءا ث ُ ،ب ا ث تار ُ ه و . ًظ ا ا ا ً ُ . جرا ا ب ا م ُ ً ظ أ و ب ا ا ھ ا ُ ا ا . ھ إ ا ا ظ ا ًا ُ َ و إو ،

It is clear that the Author of Alf Layla wa Layla is an Arabic speaking man from Syria (Levant). His purpose for compiling this book is in support of those who want to improve their Classical Arabic, by offering them this accessible text for practice. Therefore, it was written using the simple, daily and colloquial language of the Arabs. So, the reader might notice that there are some colloquial words used in various places and that is not by accident. The author has specifically used such terminology on purpose.333

In his critical comments, Mahdī, stated four points. Firstly, Mahdī criticized al- Shirwānī’s opinion that the work of Alf Layla wa Layla had been authored by a Syrian writer with the intention of facilitating the learning of Classical Arabic. Meanwhile, the

329_{Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla, 89.} 330_{Ibid. 14.}

331_{Roebuck, The Annals of the College of Fort William, 378, 477, 479; Mahdī, KitābAlf Layla wa Layla,}

14.

332_{Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla, 14.} 333_{Ibid. 14.}

129

identity of the author is still unknown and there has been no evidence that this cultural work was for any particular purpose. Secondly, Maḥdī stated that al-Shirwānī did not refer to the original manuscript used.334 _{Here, Mahdī attempted to trace back the} possible sources that al-Shirwānī had relied on. Mahdī postulates that the copy that al- Shirwānī depended on was derived indirectly from the Russell manuscript, which is said to have been transferred from Syria between 1750 and 1771 by Patrick Russell.335 Currently, that copy that al-Shirwānī relied on has been relocated from Calcutta to the Indian Office Library, London, under the No. 2699. In addition, Mahdī indicated that al-Shirwānī had limited access to the French edition, as he could not have read its preface, but it is likely that some of his British colleagues had given him a summary of its content.336

Thirdly, Maḥdī in dictated that al-Shirwānī padded the edition with a number of stories foreign to the Nights:

He [Al-Shirwānī] took the liberty of extensively editing the manuscript from which he was preparing the edition, including modification of the endings of such stories as “The Two Viziers” and “The Hunchback and the King of China”. Also, he padded the edition, supplementing it with a number of stories foreign to the Night, with the overall intention of preparing a useful manual for teaching Arabic at the College and elsewhere.337

Maḥdī annotated about that by saying:

The editor or his superiors had decided that that each volume should include one hundred Nights. In order to complete the first hundred Nights in the first volume, the editor padded it at the end of “The Two Viziers” (Nights 91-93) and added “al-Ma’mun and Buran” (Nights 94- 100). Similarly, in order to complete the next hundred Nights in the second volume, he padded it at the end by copying with but slight modification “The Guile of Women” (Nights 196-200). Although he

334_{Mahdi, The Thousand and One Nights, 91; Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla, 15; Kamran Rastegar,} Literary Modernity,56.

335_{As for the original Syrian manuscript, which is in two volumes. Only the first has survived in the John}

Ryland library, in Manchester, under the No.647. Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla, 15; Roebuck mentioned that al-Shirwānī has been relied on Paris edition to print Calcutta edition. Roebuck, The Annals of the College of Fort William, appendix, 42.

336_{Mahdī, Kitāb Alf Layla wa Layla,}

15;

,

by anonymous author, based on the text of the Fourteenth Century Syrian Manuscript edited by Muhsin Mahdi (New York and London: W.W. Norton &Company, 1990) xiv.

130

had no more Night number to assign to this volume, he could not resist adding also the entire “Sindbad,” which happened to have been published together with “The Guile of Women” by Lngles twice, in 1813 and in 1814, in Paris.338

Finally, Maḥdī pointed out that al-Shirwānī was not committed to the rules of editing, which al-Shirwānī himself has mentioned in his introduction. For instance, Maḥdī mentioned that Al-Shirwānī did not leave what he called the colloquial words as they were in the original copy, but he corrected almost of these words.

In spite of Maḥdī’s critical comments on al-Shirwānī’s edition, it is argued that the significant value is not affected. For all its flaws, it remains the first Arabic modern edition. Moreover, since the objective of this edition was for teaching rather than the intact reproduction of a literary work, it seems reasonable that he may have autonomously found it necessary to make some alterations and to add some stories.