In The Great Khan's Tent Episode 32: The Arabian Nights Part 30

In the Great Khan’s Tent

In this episode, we reach the exciting conclusion of the story of “The Story of Ghanim, the son of Ayyub, the Distracted Slave of Love” with Nights 44 and 45. We then begin a thrilling and exciting epic story, one of many within the One Thousand and One Nights, titled “The Story of Sultan Umar al-Nu’man and his sons Sharkhan and Dau’ al-Makan and the Strange and Remarkable things that happened to them” which continues Night 45 and goes into Night 46.

This story is on the same level as any of the Greek Heroic tales, as this episode sets up the story of the three main characters, Sultan 'Umar, Sharkhan, and Dau' al-Makan and their secondary companions so far, the concubine of Sultan Umar, Sufiyeh, and the Vizir Dandan.

It is interesting to note here that this is the first appearance and reference to the Byzantine or Greek characters appearing in the story as well as the first appearance of the historical region known as Lesser Armenia centered around the old city of Caesaria or Mazaca.

However, note the setting this story takes place in.

This was before the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik ibn Marwan (685-705 CE), which was still in the Umayyad dynasty and Baghdad is the central place of Sultan Umar’s Empire. The storyteller and the subsequent writer may have wanted to tell the tale in a setting far removed from the Abbasid court and in a time when there was still tribulations and anarchy in the Umayyad Caliphate due to rebellions and various movements within the shaky foundations of the Caliphate which was only to fall a mere 50 years later to the Abbasids in 750 CE.

While it is certain that there was no Sultan Umar in Baghdad, this story could have its roots in the porous border regions of the Caliphate and Byzantium and would be an attempt to explain to the listeners of the time period the issues that were being faced at this time.

Finally, it should be noted that this story does not appear in the Edward William Lane’s translation of the One Thousand and one night without any explanation.

This will be the focus on an upcoming Special Episode coming out soon.