Oh, imagine a land, it’s a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam
Where you wander among every culture and tongue
It’s chaotic, but hey, it’s home.
These are the lyrics to Will Smith’s opening performance in the 2019 live remake of Aladdin – a crowd-favorite movie, colorfully portraying the charm of the Orient of Scheherazade. The intertwining streets packed with merchants of spices, silk, bread, pottery, baskets, etc., the opulent garments, the magical sound of the oud and the qanun mixing with the woodsy, smoky perfume scent. The whole picture reminds us of a distant past, way back in Medieval times, when art, mysticism and science braided together to create the magical world of One Thousand and One Nights.
One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled during the Islamic Golden Age. Each one of the stories is told by Scheherazade to her husband, the ruler Shahryar. The legend says that after Shahryar discovers his wife has been unfaithful and executes her, he resolves to marry a new girl every day and has her executed at dawn. Led by her courage, the daughter of the chief vizier, Scheherazade, decides to put an end to this unjust cycle and marries him. On their wedding night, she arranges for her younger sister Dunyazad to come to them to the chamber; as agreed, she asks Scheherazade to tell a story, which she deliberately leaves unfinished at sunrise. Mesmerized by her storytelling and eager to hear the ending, Shahryar postpones her execution until the evening when she finishes the story and starts a new one, repeating this for 1001 nights. Over time, he falls in love with Scheherazade, and his desire for vengeance fades away.
Among Scheherazade’s most famous characters are Aladdin, Ali Baba and the forty thieves, Sinbad the Sailor, Maruf the Cobbler, the Barber of Baghdad and many more who had to overcome obstacles, prove their bravery and integrity, and take on daring adventures. The core part of every tale, however, is magic: it appears by a dint of genies, sorcerers, magical creatures, objects, and places, testing the characters’ determination, quick wit and pure heart. Magic is deeply integrated in Middle Eastern culture, yet it’s not used as an escapism tool, but rather as a mirror of society, expressing its fears and dreams.
In rigid class systems, the less fortunate pictured themselves climbing the societal ladder with the help of some external force. Where in real life such a jump is not possible, in the stories magic takes over and drives social mobility. Aladdin goes from rags to riches thanks to the help of the genie and the magical lamp; the genie recognizes his good heart, and he gets to gain untold wealth and marry the sultan’s daughter. He deserves to be the hero because of his cleverness, skills and lack of impious intentions. Since justice and honor are core ideas in Oriental culture — power must not be abused, thus those who use their position selfishly, out of greed or desire for revenge, are always punished at the end of the tale. Indeed, the evil sorcerer who tricks Aladdin at the beginning of the tale returns to get the lamp back after he hears about the boy’s success, but clearly gets defeated. The natural triumph of good over evil shows the moral and social values that the leader should be wise and just. Historically, the most respected rulers were the ones under whose ruling laws were created to protect the people and ensure justice; therefore, tales use magic as a force to correct real-life injustice.
Another defining aspect of the culture of the Orient is the belief in destiny. The world is like a breathing organism combining the visible and invisible realms in perfect harmony. Creatures like genies and other spirits are believed to influence even the smallest aspect of everyday life. Coexisting with these supernatural forces portrays the thought that there’s always something bigger than you, which can both have a positive and an unfortunate effect on your life. Taking this a step further, human power is even more limited when it comes to destiny: even magic would be helpless if the intention with which it is used doesn’t comply with the path redrawn by faith. The so-called kismet portrays the individual road a person’s life will go down, no matter how hard they may try to escape it. If perceiving life as a picture, destiny has drawn the contours, while people are left with coloring inside them. The picture would be the same at the end, but whether it will be beautiful and harmonious depends on one’s personal actions. Sinbad the Sailor plans all of his voyages very carefully and seems prepared for whatever the sea throws at him, but his destiny disproves him by hurling him on magical islands, challenging him with monsters like the giant Roc bird, and constantly raising him to the highest of wealth, only to bring him down again. Sinbad manages to survive thanks to his quick wit and bravery, which proves that he cannot escape his destiny, but can survive it by proving his character.
The magic in One Thousand and One Nights is not limited to only lamps, genies, and mythical creatures. It is used to portray the core pillars of the culture of the Orient – the strive for justice and wisdom, the privilege of the good-hearted, unselfish and brave, and the ultimate power of one’s destiny. The magical veil lifts only to reveal a timeless system of beliefs and societal structures, holding great value and protected by the storytelling mastery throughout the centuries.
