three or four have attained European
fame. Firstly, the book known in Arabic as 'Kalilah wa Dimnah,'
containing the celebrated Indian apologues, or the so-called fables of
Bidpay, on the origin of which several dissertations have been
written.

In 'Early Ideas' (W.H. Allen and Co., 1881) mention was made of the
fables of Bidpay, or Pilpai, as being the traditionally oldest-known
collection of stories in Hindustan, and that from them the 'Pancha
Tantra,' or 'Five Chapters,' and the 'Hitopodesa,' or 'Friendly
Advice,' are supposed to have been drawn.

In 'Persian Portraits' (Quaritch, 1887) it was noted that the Persian
work called 'Kalilah wa Dimnah' is said to have been originally
derived from the fables of Bidpay, and that it led to the longer and
larger works known in Persian literature as the 'Anwar-i-Suheli,' or
'The Lights of Canopos,' and the 'Ayar-Danish,' or 'The Touchstone of
Knowledge.'

It is highly probable that this work of 'Kalilah wa Dimnah'
(translated from Persian into Arabic by Ibn Al-Mukaffa about A.D.
750), and another Persian work, not now extant, but known as the
'Hazar Afsaneh,' or 'Thousand Stories,' were the first sources from
which were commenced to be compiled the best collection of tales and
stories in Arabic literature, and called 'The Thousand and One
Nights,' and popularly known in this country as 'The Arabian Nights.'

As regards the 'Hazar Afsaneh,' or 'Thousand Stories,' it is much to
be regretted that all trace of this work has disappeared. It is,
however, mentioned by Masudi, and An-Nadim, the author of the
'Fihrist,' but whether they had actually seen and perused the whole
work is uncertain. It may have been completed during the rule of the
Sasanian dynasty in Persia (A.D. 228-641), some of whose kings were
patrons of letters, and the work, or portions of it, may have been
destroyed along with a large quantity of other Persian literature at
the time of the conquest of the Persian Empire by the Arabs in A.D.
641. At all events, it has not yet been found, though it is still
hoped that it may turn up some day.

As regards the 'Nights' themselves, it is impossible to fix any exact
date to them, neither can they be ascribed to any particular authors.
From the book as it has come down to us; there is ample evidence to
assert that the collection of all the tales and stories occupied many
years, and that the authors of them were numerous. As great progress
was made in Arab literature