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.
I’ve spoken enough. Without further delay, here is the first episode of our story: The Tale of King al-Nu’man, the 92nd night of One Thousand and One Nights, as broadcast on Egyptian State Radio.
Ep. 1 “The Temple of Virgins”
The Ninety-Second Night
And when it was the Two and Ninety Night, and the night that followed, King Shahryar took his seat as on the evening before. And scarcely had a breath passed when Shahrazad entered — like a flower newly opened, or a wandering moth drawn toward flame, or a passing glimmer that startles the dark.
The chamber brightened at her appearing, and the air grew fragrant with her presence. The King rose to meet her, took her by the hands, and said:
“Shahrazad.”
“My lord.”
“What follows now?”
She answered, softly:
“And is there aught beyond death?”
He said:
“I know… yet I remain thirsty — thirsty until I drink.”
“And when shall you drink, my lord?”
“When you have poured.”
Then he praised her voice, and her imagination, and the stream from which her stories seem to flow — “a heavenly spring,” he called it, “whose waters do not diminish.”
But she answered with humility:
“I am but a servant among your servants, O King.”
And when he pressed her, asking whether she herself wove the threads of her tales, she replied:
“It is a garment I do not claim, and an honor I do not seize.”
Then he said:
“It is one of your nights.”
She answered:
“One night only.”
He replied:
“Let it be a thousand.”
And when he wavered — between killing her and keeping her — she said:
“You remind me, O King, of the sons of King al-Nu‘man.”
He started.
“The sons of King al-Nu‘man?”
“Yes. Two kings — like twin stars in a single sky.”
“And what befell them?”
She said:
“A lesson told and retold. Of fate when it mocks, and time when it hoards its secret. Of sons whose swords meet their fathers’ blades.”
And the King leaned forward.
“Tell it.”
And she began.
“It has reached me, O fortunate King, that in ancient days there ruled a mighty sovereign named King Kanaan — broad in dominion and feared in battle. He had but one child, a daughter named ‘Atrashan — unequaled in beauty, and unmatched in grace — and because she was his only light, he feared for her even from the whisper of the wind…..
Near his lands ruled another monarch, formidable and stern, named King Hardub.
And in Hardub’s realm stood an ancient temple, revered by multitudes. Each year there was held there a festival called the Feast of the Maidens. Virgins from distant kingdoms would gather in pilgrimage, and for seven days rites were performed.
But war broke between the two kings.
Seven years the fighting endured.
Roads were severed. Caravans ceased. Pilgrimage was made perilous.
Yet devotion finds its path.
The maidens of Kanaan’s land began to travel in disguise, mingling with strangers, concealing their names, and returning unseen.
And Princess ‘Atrashan desired to go among them.
Though her father trembled for her safety, she persisted, saying:
“Let me go as the others go — veiled among the veiled.”
At last, against his fearful heart, he consented.
She departed with nine noble maidens, each with a nurse disguised, and guards concealed as sailors, bearing merchandise to mask their purpose.
But fate was watching.
When the festival ended and the caravans dispersed, King Hardub’s captain of horse launched a raid upon the desert routes.
He sighted a vessel heavy with goods — and maidens.
They attacked like ravening wolves.
The guards were slain.
The maidens taken captive.
And among them — one whose bearing betrayed nobility.
She bore three strange beads, inscribed with symbols unknown.
The captain brought them before King Hardub.
He beheld ‘Atrashan and was astonished at her beauty.
“What is your name?”
“‘Atrashan.”
“And these beads?”
“Your eye may see them. Your mind must read them.”
He laughed.
“She is fit as a gift for kings.” he said
And he commanded that she be sent, with a letter and escort of a hundred horsemen, as tribute to King al-Nu'man.
Thus was Princess ‘Atrashan borne in humiliation and sorrow, with only her nurse Jullanar beside her.
And thus they journeyed to the court of King al-Nu‘man —
And here the dawn overtook Shahrazad, and she fell silent.
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