from the commencement of the rule of the
Abbaside dynasty in A.D. 750, it maybe inferred that the work itself
dates from that period, and that it had been put together in a certain
form before the fall of Baghdad in A.D. 1258. After that date other
stories were probably added, and the whole repertoire was perhaps put
together again in its present shape either at Cairo or Damascus, with
numerous alterations and additions.

It is believed that the fables and apologues are the oldest part of
the book. These bear on their face a decided impress of the Farther
East; indeed, they are quite of the nature of the stories told in the
'Pancha Tantra,' 'Katha Sarit Sagara,' 'Hitopodesa,' and 'Kalilah wa
Dirnnah,' many of them being either the same, or bearing a very great
resemblance to them. Animal fables generally may have originated in
India, where the doctrine of metempsychosis obtains currency to this
day; but, still, Egypt, Greece, and other countries, have also
produced stories of the same nature. From the time of the early
Egyptians, the fable has ever been the means of conveyance of both
instruction and amusement to mankind. And as years rolled by the fable
grew into the tale or story, which later on expanded into the romance
and the novel.

After the fables the oldest tales in the 'Nights' are supposed to be
the Sindibad, or the tale of the king, his son, his concubine, and the
seven wazirs; and that of King Jali'ad of Hind, and his wazir Shimas,
followed by the history of King Wird Khan, son of King Jali'ad, with
his women and wazirs. These tales have also an Indian flavour about
them, both with regard to the animal stories in them and to the
sapient remarks about the duties of kings and their ministers, often
referred to in the Katha Sarit Sagara, of which more anon.

The remaining tales and stories in the 'Nights' may be of Persian,
Arabian, Egyptian, and Syrian origin, some earlier and some later. The
adventures of Kamar Al-Zaman and the jeweller's wife, and of Ma'aruf,
the cobbler, and his wife Fatimah, are considered to be two of the
very latest stories, having been assigned to the sixteenth century.
The story of Aboukir, the dyer, and Abousir, the barber, is quoted by
Payne 'as the most modern of the whole collection.'

Certain stories of the 'Nights' were first introduced to Europe,
between 1704-1708, by Antoine Galland, a Frenchman, whose biography is
given by Burton in his 'Terminal Essay,' vol. x., and mos