Ali, the cairene merchant by unknown author

Ali, the cairene merchant is belonging to the epic One thousand and one night stories that were collected for several hundred years in the middle ages.

This is a tale involving treasures and destinies. When the young Ali has wasted away his inheritance, he leaves his family in a safe place and embarks on a quest. Eventually, courage earns him not only one but two fortunes. Naturally, there's a king and a princess thrown in there, as well. Rather entertaining.

Theses stories give insight into the eastern culture in the middle ages. Even though most of it is fiction, the culture back then probably influenced the tales. It's interesting to discover fragments of how these countries looked like and functioned. The society seems to have been very harsh and unfair, especially towards women and slaves. They were often treated worse than animals. Another matter worth mentioning is the rich culture back then, which is fascinating since it consisted of many fragments that originated before the time of Islam, such as magic and mythical creatures.

Abu Muhammed the Sluggard by unknown author

One thousand and one night is a collection of Asian stories and folktales from around the middle ages, collected over several centuries. The initial story that serves as introduction to the tales is about a Persian ruler, Shahryar. After being betrayed by his wife and thinking all women are bad, he takes a new wife every day and executes her the morning after. Then, he marries Scheherazade, who tells stories for 1001 nights, leaving him in suspense every morning so he will keep her alive to the next night. After 1001 nights, he has regained his trust in women and lets Scheherazade live.

Abu Muhammed the Sluggard is one of the One thousand and one night stories. The character Abu Muhammed has a great adventure, involving a voyage, a monkey, and supernatural creatures like jinn and marids.

The story is entertaining, but it's short, and it would have been nice to read more about the characters and what is on their mind. The story has a moral message, and the purpose is not evolved characters, but it's difficult to imagine a character that loves someone, and in the next second, threatens to murder the same person. 

The injustice is immense. Even though it is written so long ago, during a certain culture, it's still irritating that no one seems to care about the slaves or the fate of the women. They are treated as if they have no human value, given away as merchandise or rewards.

Vathek by William Beckford

The Caliph, Vathek, and his mother, Carathis, are cruel and ruthless in their search for knowledge and supernatural powers. Listening to Giaour, who claims to be an Indian merchant and has earned Vathek's attention, they abandon their faith, Islam, to live in sin and murder innocent people to sacrifice to Giaour - who work for the Devil, Eblis, and whose name means blasphemer - to be able to achieve these powers. Of course, it's not that easy.

Written in 1786, by the English author William Beckford, "Vathek" is one of the first gothic novels. One might view the book as a moral tale, or just a fascinating story about abandoning reason and empathy to achieve a goal that perhaps is superfluous. At the same time, the negative view of thirst for knowledge - apart from the cruel crimes committed to achieve it - is interesting.

Being a great inspiration to many authors, the expectations might be high. Unfortunately, the book, which is only 120 pages, is a heavy read and the character development, except from the main characters - is almost non-existent, which makes it difficult to maintain interest.

Rhampsinitus and the Thief by Herodotus

The story is one of many myths and fairytales collected in a volume. This particular tale involves a builder making a chamber of stone in the home of king Rhampsinitus, the biblical Ramses. But he disposes one of the stones in such a manner that it could be taken out easily. When he is old, he tells his two sons how the gold can be found. The story is brutal, somewhat bloody and lacking in humanity and respect for other people.

Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (c.484 BC – c.425 BC). He was considered the "father of history" in Western culture and the first historian known to collect information in a certain way, to test their accuracy and arrange them. He learned this tale in Egypt around 440 BC, perhaps by priests. Herodotus didn't believe it to be true but never the less reported what he was told. It's fascinating to read such ancient stories that have influenced people and perhaps literature, culture and believes as well. It resembles the tales of "The Thousand and One Nights", but this one, with only three pages, is too short to manage much of a captivating ability.

The Ebony Horse

One tale of the 1001 Nights, "The Ebony Horse" is an ancient story about kings, kingdoms and beautiful princesses. In a kingdom far away, in Persia, a prince receives a present from a wise man. The present is a magic horse, which can fly if managed in the right way. The prince visits many places, and finds a princess in Yemen. But he is not the only one that falls in love with her, and a chain of events follows.

1001 Nights is believed to originate as Sanskrit tales in ancient India. Then, before the ninth century, at the latest, they were translated into Persian. It narrates fascinating stories with great fantasy, but it also serves as a reminder of a past with no room for women's opinion and choice, and where women more often then not were treated as property, a piece of jewelry and merchandise.

Ali Baba and the forty thieves killed by a slave girl

This edition is one tale of the collection translated by Malcolm C. Lyons. "Ali Baba and the forty thieves killed by a slave girl" is one among many stories forming a sequence that lasted 1001 nights. Ali Baba is a woodcutter, less fortunate than his brother, well off married Qasim. One day, Ali Baba happens to witness a band of thieves opening a cave with the word "Open, Sesam", a phrase with which the world is familiar. In the cave, he meets glimmering gold. What happens next is a series of fortunate and unfortunate events which include Ali Baba and his relatives, the band of thieves and the inhabitants of the village. As is suggested by the title, a slave girl is the true hero of the book, which is surprising and fascinating considering the age of the book.