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Scheherazade and Shahryar - Story Telling Queen and The Murderous King

Shahryar is a mythological ruler of the Persian empire. He ruled over a Persian Empire that extended to India, over all the adjacent islands, and a great way beyond the Ganges as far as China. Shahryar had a brother named Shah Zaman, who ruled over Samarkand. On a day when Shah Zaman was about to visit his brother, he witnessed his wife in bed with a cook. Angered by what he just saw, Shah Zaman killed both his wife and the cook. He then continued his journey to see his brother.

Then, while staying with his brother, he discovers that Shahryar's wife is unfaithful as well. Shah Zaman informed his brother of his unfaithful wife. Just as Shah Zaman, Shahryar killed his wife and her lover. The two brothers judged that all women are deceitful. Shahryar decided to remarry, but he vowed that he would kill his bride after spending one night with her. He tasked his vizier, Jafar, who is the political advisor of the Persian court, to bring him a new bride, and to execute her the day after the first night. For three years, Jafar brought Shahryar a new bride, and executed her the next day.

But over time, finding virgins in the kingdom became very hard. This led many to focus on Jafar’s two daughters, Scheherazade and Dunyazad. To save her sister, Scheherazade volunteered to marry the king. Jafar was heartbroken by his daughter’s decision, so he told her the tale of the bull and the ass, hoping it would dishearten his daughter, and she would give up. But instead, Scheherazade became determined and memorized the story her father told her.

She was not just beautiful but also very wise. She asked her sister Dunyazad to visit her on the night of her wedding, and to ask Scheherazade to tell her the story of the bull and the ass. So on her wedding night, Scheherazade requested her new husband Shahryar to let her see her beloved sister before she dies. The king grants her request and allows Dunyazad to see her sister. Just as Scheherazade advised, Dunyazad asks her to tell her the story of the bull and the ox. Scheherazade made sure that her husband could hear her telling the story. As Scheherazade expected, the story caught the interest of the king.

The night passed by, so Scheherazade stopped the story in the middle. The king became very interested in the story and asked her to tell him how it ends. But Scheherazade pointed out there was no time since the dawn is breaking. So Shahryar postponed her execution, to hear how the story ends. On the second night, Scheherazade ended the first story but started another. Again she stopped halfway through when dawn breaks. Scheherazade continued this routine of starting a story in the middle of the night and ending the night with a cliffhanger.

As time passed by, Shahryar became kind and wise because of her stories. Scheherazade even gave birth to 3 sons. The storytelling continued for 1000 days. On the 1001st night, Scheherazade could not find another story to tell her husband. But by this time, Shahryar has already fallen in love with her. So he spared her life and made her his queen.

Shahryar informed his brother of his wise queen and the tale she told him. Just as Shahryar, Shah Zaman became interested in the stories, and decided to stay with his brother to hear more. During his stay, Shah Zaman fell in love with Dunyazad, after seeing her beauty. So he marries her. This is how the famous collection of middle eastern folk tales found in “One thousand and one nights” also known as “Arabian nights” was recorded.

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