Ramadan Arabian Nights 2026: The Tale of King al-Nu’man “ Ep.3”

Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.

Before we continue our tale and learn what will happen to Prince Sharkan on the battlefield, it is time for our quick chat.

*Spoiler*

Tonight, we will be introduced to a new set of characters — Byzantine figures, or as they were known in our region, the people of El-Rūm, the Roman Byzantines.

The people we call “Byzantines” today never used that term themselves; they called themselves Rhōmaioi — Romans.

As I was reading the original tales, I was reminded of the legendary Amazon warrior women of Greek mythology — that enduring image of the warrior princess.

Historically, however, Byzantium did not have its own Amazonian female military force. After all, we are speaking of a society deeply shaped by the structures and moral authority of the Christian Church.

Yet Byzantium, like Rome before it, inherited and absorbed Greek culture — including Greek mythology and its fascination with warrior women.

That Greek influence even appears in Byzantine epic poetry. In the tale of Digenes Akritas, for example, we encounter the female warrior Maximo, who is described as having Amazonian ancestry.

I will pause here, because this is a long episode — and I hope you will enjoy what comes next.

So without further delay, here is the third episode of our story: The Tale of King al-Nu’man, the 93rd night of One Thousand and One Nights, as broadcast on Egyptian State Radio.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2026: The Tale of King al-Nu’man “The Daughter of Kanaan Ep.2”

Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.

Before we continue our tale and learn the fate of Princess Atrashan, it is time for our quick chitchat.

Unlike other tales, King al-Nu’man got names and places inspired by real names and places, especially in Pre-Islamic times.

Starting with King Kanaan, Atrashan’s father, it is a good introduction to speak about the land of Canaan.

Kanaan is the Arabic version of Canaan, and it is associated in Egypt with the Levantines as a name popularly till this day, and it is not a coincidence at all.

Starting with King Kanaan, Atrashan’s father, this serves as a good introduction to speaking about the land of Canaan.

Kanaan is the Arabic form of Canaan, and, in Egypt, the name has long been associated with Levantines — a connection that persists even today, and it is no coincidence.

The first known historical appearance of the name Canaan (or Kanaan) was in ancient Egyptian sources during the New Kingdom of Egypt, beginning in the 15th century BCE.

The term — written in Egyptian hieroglyphs as something like kꜣ-n-ʿ-nꜣ — appears in inscriptions referring to a region in the Levant.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2026: The Tale of King al-Nu’man “The Temple of Maidans”

Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.

Now that we’ve finished the story of King Sajur and his sons — which was certainly not your usual Arabian Nights “Aladdin gets the princess” tale — I am proudly presenting to you The Tale of King al-Nu’man.

This story is not one of the later additions or so-called “orphan tales.” It is an original saga from the core Arabic text of One Thousand and One Nights.

To be precise, it is based on The Tale of King Omar al-Nu’man — the longest single tale in the entire book. Yes, it is truly a saga in every sense of the word.

I was genuinely surprised to learn that Taher Abu Fasha and Mahmoud Shaaban adapted this story for a general Egyptian and Arab radio audience. The original tale of Omar al-Nu’man is absolutely 18+. It is, without exaggeration, the true Game of Thrones of the Nights. It was one of my earliest shocks when I first read the original Arabic edition.

For me, the saga of Omar al-Nu’man is among the most explicit stories in the collection. It combines epic wars, rival kings, and — spoiler alert — themes that include incest, same-sex relationships, racism, classism, and misogyny. It is the kind of grand, chaotic epic that someone might enjoy on screen without fully grasping what it is actually critiquing or warning against.

In many ways, it reflects the moral and political decay associated with the later Abbasid era — or at least the literary imagination of that decline — which ultimately preceded the empire’s fall before the army of Genghis Khan.

Many Western readers reduce The Nights to a book of sensuality and exotic eroticism. But in reality, it is also a book of political wisdom — a mirror held up to rulers and subjects alike. The tale of Omar al-Nu’man is one of those early, shocking narratives meant to deliver lessons — especially to a king like Shahryar.

I hesitated to share this story during Ramadan. I wasn't sure how Taher Abu Fasha would handle such heavy material. But after listening to a couple of episodes produced during the tense era of the “War of the Radios” — amid the conflict between Nasser and the Al-Saud leadership of Saudi Arabia and King Hussein of Jordan — I decided to give it a try. 

The themes of war, power, and rivalry felt strangely fitting.

And Taher Abu Fasha — an underrated master writer — did more than simply summarize and dramatize the longest tale in the book for Egyptian radio. 

In my view, he did an extraordinary job preserving the spirit and moral core of the saga, even while applying the necessary censorship to make it suitable for a general audience.

Believe me — you will enjoy this one.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2026: The Tale of King Sajur and sons “Amira’s choice EP.7”

Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.

Before we continue our tale and discover how King Sajur’s sons will save Princess Amira’s life — and whom she will ultimately choose — it’s time for our little chit-chat.

Tonight, we will speak about yet another recurring element in the tales of Taher Abu Fasha: the Magic Carpet.

The idea of magical flying carpets is much older than the One Thousand and One Nights. One of the earliest references appears in legends surrounding King Solomon (dating from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE).

In later Jewish and Islamic traditions—though notably not in the Hebrew Bible itself—Solomon is said to have possessed a green silken carpet (or throne) carried by the wind, capable of transporting him and his entire army across vast distances in a single day.

While the Qur’an (21:81 and 38:36) speaks of Solomon commanding the wind to blow at his order, it does not explicitly mention a carpet. The "flying carpet" detail is a later narrative expansion found in Isra’iliyyat (narratives derived from earlier Judeo-Christian traditions) and Persian storytelling layers.

The concept reappeared in the Persian epic tradition, most famously in the Shahnameh (c. 1000 CE). In this epic, King Kay Kavus builds a flying throne powered by eagles. While these weren't always literal carpets, the imagery of airborne royal platforms became a staple of medieval Persian romance literature.

When it comes to the One Thousand and One Nights, there is a major surprise for modern audiences: the "flying carpet" most people imagine is largely a later European association. 

The famous Prince Hussain’s Carpet does appear in the story of "Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Pari-Banu," but this story (like Aladdin) was one of the "orphan tales" added to the collection in the 18th century by the French translator Antoine Galland.

Now, without further delay, I present the seventh and the last episode of our story—The Tale of Sajur and his sons, or the 201st night of One Thousand and One Nights, as broadcast by the Egyptian State Radio.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2026: The Tale of King Sajur and sons “The road of Which there is no return EP.6”

Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.

Before we continue our tale and discover what happened to our third prince on the road from which there is no return, after knowing what happened to his eldest brothers, it is time for our usual pre-tale chitchat.

*Spoiler alert*

Unlike the previous two nights, tonight we will travel to a city that is very real: the legendary Samarkand.

Located in modern-day Uzbekistan, Samarkand was founded under the name Afrasiyab (circa the 7th or 8th century BCE, its location placing it at the heart of the famous Silk Road.

After the Arab conquest in the early 8th century, Samarkand blossomed into one of the greatest cities of Transoxiana (Ma Wara’ al-Nahr).

Medieval geographers, such as the legendary Al-Muqaddasi, described it as a wealthy, cultivated, and beautifully planned city—a 10th-century oasis of gardens, canals, and monumental walls.

However, Samarkand truly became a "Jewel of the East" in the late 14th century when the conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) made it his imperial capital. Timur transformed the city by bringing architects and artisans from Persia, India, Anatolia, and Syria. Together, they built massive, blue-tiled monuments that defined the Timurid style.

In Persian poetry and later storytelling, Samarkand became a universal symbol of beauty and unattainable splendor.

It appears in the Shahnameh and naturally found its way into the tales of the One Thousand and One Nights.

Today, the city is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, officially titled "Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures."

Now, without further delay, I present the sixth episode of our story—The Tale of Sajur and his sons, or the 200th night of One Thousand and One Nights, as broadcast by the Egyptian State Radio.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2026: The Tale of King Sajur and sons “The road of Regret EP.5”

Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.

After the road of safety comes the road of regret, but before taking that road, we will have a little chit-chat.

*Spoiler alert*

Tonight, we travel to the City of Brass—a recurring location of the One Thousand and One Nights radio show by Taher Abu Fasha.

Unlike the "giants of old" whose legends span every continent, the City of Brass is a uniquely Islamic-Arabian product of the imagination.

The earliest recorded mention of this city dates back to the Umayyad Caliphate (late 7th or early 8th century CE). The legend centers on Musa ibn Nusayr, the legendary governor of North Africa and arguably the "Original Conquistador" of Iberia and Southern France.

Musa was reportedly sent by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan to find the lost "Bottles of Solomon"—the legendary vessels used to imprison djinns. (And you're right to wonder, while Aladdin was a later addition to the Nights, genies in a bottle have very old roots in Middle Eastern lore.)

The city was believed to be hidden deep within the deserts of the Maghreb or the rugged terrain of Andalusia—a myth that I personally believe grew from the awe-inspiring reality of Ibn Nusayr’s sweeping conquests.

Two centuries later, the story resurfaced in the Abbasid era within the monumental History of the Prophets and Kings (Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk) by the legendary Al-Tabari.

Sheikh Al-Tabari did not treat this as a mere fairy tale, but as a documented expedition. He described a city forged entirely of brass, windowless and doorless, surrounded by towering walls. Those who attempted to climb them were said to fall inside laughing—a chilling form of magical madness or enchantment.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2026: The Tale of King Sajur and sons “The road of Safety EP.4”

Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.

Before we continue our tale and discover what the brothers had done on each road in that year, we will have our little chit-chat.

*Spoiler alert*

Tonight, we travel to the City of the Giants — a recurring theme in folklore across much of the world.

Historically, one of the earliest recorded mentions of giant-like beings in literature appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2100–1200 BCE) from ancient Mesopotamia. In the epic, Gilgamesh battles Humbaba, the monstrous guardian of the Cedar Forest, often interpreted as a giant-like being.

Centuries later, giants became prominent figures in Greek mythology and literature. But before turning to Greece, we must note that giants also appear in the Hebrew Bible — specifically in the Book of Genesis — and in the Book of Enoch as the Nephilim.

According to Hebrew biblical tradition, the Nephilim were ancient beings born from the forbidden union between fallen angels and human women in the pre-diluvian world.

After Noah’s Flood, the Nephilim are no longer clearly mentioned as a surviving race. However, the Israelites are described as encountering giant peoples in Canaan after leaving Egypt — including the Amalekites, King Og of Bashan, and later Goliath.

From a historical perspective, it is possible that ancient Hebrews encountered neighboring Levantine groups who were physically taller or culturally perceived as stronger, which over time evolved into traditions of “giant races.”

Enter Greek mythology: the Gigantes, the Titans, and the Cyclopes — colossal beings who battled the Olympian gods and were ultimately defeated. The earliest surviving Greek literary references to such giants appear in the works of Homer (8th century BCE) and Hesiod (c. 700 BCE).