What do you think?
Rate this book
The Arabian Nights: By Richard Burton - Illustrated
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.
'So he rose and lighted one lamp after another, till he had lighted the whole eighty and the palace seemed to dance with brilliancy.'
Beginning with the legend of King Shahryr, whose anger at his queen's infidelity leads him to murder a new wife each day, Arabian Nights weaves together ancient folklore and magic in an anthology of fantastical and evocative stories dating from the ninth century.
Rich with suspense, passion and tragedy, Sir Richard Burton's celebrated translation continues to transport readers across oceans, to mystical lands and ancient palaces in tales such as 'The Lovers of Bessorah', The Fellah and His Wicked Wife' and 'The Hunchback's Tale'.
'So he rose and lighted one lamp after another, till he had lighted the whole eighty and the palace seemed to dance with brilliancy.'
Beginning with the legend of King Shahryr, whose anger at his queen's infidelity leads him to murder a new wife each day, Arabian Nights weaves together ancient folklore and magic in an anthology of fantastical and evocative stories dating from the ninth century.
Rich with suspense, passion and tragedy, Sir Richard Burton's celebrated translation continues to transport readers across oceans, to mystical lands and ancient palaces in tales such as 'The Lovers of Bessorah', The Fellah and His Wicked Wife' and 'The Hunchback's Tale'.
Paperback
Published October 27, 2016
18 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Richard Francis Burton
1,627 books245 followersCaptain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages.
Burton's best-known achievements include travelling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's adaptation), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the region, to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A unique feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and unexpurgated information.
He was a captain in the army of the East India Company serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika. In later life he served as British consul in Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG) in 1886.
Burton's best-known achievements include travelling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's adaptation), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the region, to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A unique feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and unexpurgated information.
He was a captain in the army of the East India Company serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika. In later life he served as British consul in Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG) in 1886.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 19, 2025
I’m an open‑minded guy… but there’s a lot of first‑cousins getting married here. Not to mention nephews marrying nieces. Or is that the same thing? Maybe I’m just jealous because all my cousins are fugly (I’m talking about you, Arthur).
Not only that, but for a book which led to the creation of Disney’s Aladdin, there were an awful lot of orgies. It’s making me look at Jaffar in a completely different light. Randy old b*stard.
Not only that, but for a book which led to the creation of Disney’s Aladdin, there were an awful lot of orgies. It’s making me look at Jaffar in a completely different light. Randy old b*stard.
January 24, 2025
Despite some of the archaic language of this translation, I found this a fascinating read that informed me on so many aspects of medieval Middle Eastern culture I had never even considered before. Some of the stories were excellent, with wild magical happenings and extremely tender yet provocative subject matter. I found the tales most successful when they stayed short, making the characters and events feel a lot more vivid. The longer stories felt convoluted and often had less intriguing plots, however my opinion on this could of course change upon further study.
Currently reading
October 10, 20238 October, 2023
So i think i finished the first tale yesterday (7 Oct), but started the book a few days (about a week or maybe 10 days or thereabouts) ago.
The preliminary surprised me.. I knew that it was a story within a story, but there was a prelude to Scheherazade..which turns the whole thing to a novel - and so many stories within the story... her father tells her one, and then when she begins one (which was arranged with her sister by design), characters in her stories tell different stories, 3 in the first tale...
The sex was surprising.. so much of it...
The language is not too pleasant..not pleasantly archaic..just archaic and that was surprising.
I guess i shouldn't be surprised that it has racism and sexism..but the thing is the racism is the more disappointing
And this is because, women plays SUCH A PROMINENT ROLE, it cannot be overstated.. and are SO SEXUALLY EMPOWERED..and desperate to go to bed with black slaves (and the racist suggestions here are heartbreaking) and are so powerful in their chocies, Scheherazade desperate to marry Shahryar - risk her life - to save others - and is so competent.. and really has her father do what she wants....and others play important role as well being magjcians .. that it's not as disappointing..but interesting in lots of ways
Especially, the sexism buiit into the basic structure of society, the whole fucking patriarchy..that it's only expected and natural that Shahryar will fuck endless women, but his wife (and all other consorts too probably) will only have to lie with him, and more than that, be as contented as you can be...and this, being thrown into such clear terms, makes it interesting and valuable as well perhaps
Whereas the racism has no excuse. Slavery included perhaps.
9 Oct, 2023
started the second tale, of the Fisherman. It was really good, some archetypes with jinnies in bottles and smokes, maybe originates here, and it was surprising that the jinni didn't help but wanted to kill, but his reasons were sound too! and then the fisherman starts telling a tale, after outwitting him, which was also good.. and i stopped, didn't start the tale within a tale.
So i think i finished the first tale yesterday (7 Oct), but started the book a few days (about a week or maybe 10 days or thereabouts) ago.
The preliminary surprised me.. I knew that it was a story within a story, but there was a prelude to Scheherazade..which turns the whole thing to a novel - and so many stories within the story... her father tells her one, and then when she begins one (which was arranged with her sister by design), characters in her stories tell different stories, 3 in the first tale...
The sex was surprising.. so much of it...
The language is not too pleasant..not pleasantly archaic..just archaic and that was surprising.
I guess i shouldn't be surprised that it has racism and sexism..but the thing is the racism is the more disappointing
And this is because, women plays SUCH A PROMINENT ROLE, it cannot be overstated.. and are SO SEXUALLY EMPOWERED..and desperate to go to bed with black slaves (and the racist suggestions here are heartbreaking) and are so powerful in their chocies, Scheherazade desperate to marry Shahryar - risk her life - to save others - and is so competent.. and really has her father do what she wants....and others play important role as well being magjcians .. that it's not as disappointing..but interesting in lots of ways
Especially, the sexism buiit into the basic structure of society, the whole fucking patriarchy..that it's only expected and natural that Shahryar will fuck endless women, but his wife (and all other consorts too probably) will only have to lie with him, and more than that, be as contented as you can be...and this, being thrown into such clear terms, makes it interesting and valuable as well perhaps
Whereas the racism has no excuse. Slavery included perhaps.
9 Oct, 2023
started the second tale, of the Fisherman. It was really good, some archetypes with jinnies in bottles and smokes, maybe originates here, and it was surprising that the jinni didn't help but wanted to kill, but his reasons were sound too! and then the fisherman starts telling a tale, after outwitting him, which was also good.. and i stopped, didn't start the tale within a tale.
April 8, 2023
DNF at 31%.
This selection of stories from 1001 nights is abysmal. It seems that whoever collected these translations in this edition just chose the stories that were slut-shaming women and painting them all as sex driven whores. I need the better version from Barnes and Nobles were the story isn’t just about promiscuous women 😭
This selection of stories from 1001 nights is abysmal. It seems that whoever collected these translations in this edition just chose the stories that were slut-shaming women and painting them all as sex driven whores. I need the better version from Barnes and Nobles were the story isn’t just about promiscuous women 😭
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews