Magic and the Supernatural in 1001 Arabian Nights

Introduction: The Enchantment of Arabian Nights

As Bruno Bettelheim states in The Uses of Enchantment, the fables depicted in Arabian Nights are of a specific character that has been shown to be part of the universal nature of stories of enchantment. For centuries, such stories have been woven into the fabric of various cultures and civilizations for a multitude of reasons — not least being the fact that they provide a kind of moral framework by which children and adults can gauge the natural world and their place in it. This paper analyzes and assesses three stories from 1001 Arabian Nights and shows what the aspect of magic and the supernatural reveals about life not only at the time of Arabian Nights but across all the years that the Arabian Nights fables have remained popular.

The structure of Arabian Nights is one of tales told within tales. The central story of the book concerns King Shahrayar and the virgin queen Shahrazad, whose life depends upon her telling a tale each night — the conclusion of which is suspended until the following night, whereupon a new tale is begun and the king is "forced" to spare her life for another night until he can hear how the story ends. The cycle is thus repeated for the duration of the work. One theme that runs through many of the stories is the use of magic and the supernatural. In "The Tale of the Ox and the Donkey," there is a merchant who can speak the language of the animals; in "The Tale of the Merchant and His Wife," the merchant learns how to make his wife submissive through a conversation between animals; and in "The Story of the Merchant and the Demon" — in which several tales are told — the supernatural world of spirits constantly interacts with humankind.

The Frame Narrative and the Role of the Supernatural

Such themes of magic and supernaturalism pervade the Nights, and the Nights have in turn pervaded the canons and thought of Western literature and civilization — not least during the great age of Science that ended the medieval era and introduced the modern. As Saree Makdisi observes, "The Nights … added a supernatural dimension to the Enlightenment; the tales offered an avenue into modernity through its magical opposite, an alternative to European identity, and an antidote to neoclassicism" (4). Since the Western world had become thoroughly dissatisfied with the ancient traditions of its culture, it is no surprise that it looked to the East to supply those forms that could hold its moral compass in check.

The Nights had helped do as much — in a sense, and to a limited extent — in the East for as long as they had existed. As Bettelheim argues: "It should be recalled that in Hindu medicine — and the Thousand and One Nights cycle is of Indian-Persian origin — the mentally deranged person is told a fairy story, contemplation of which will help him overcome his emotional disturbance" (88). Thus the king, who has been betrayed by womankind, requires 1001 nights of storytelling to free him from the melancholy that has warped his perspective and turned him into a slaughterer of women. The magic of the fairy tale, as Bettelheim suggests, is illustrative of the Arabic sense of what is today known as "magical realism" — a kind of cross between the real and the hyper-real, in other words, the natural and the supernatural.

Such themes are readily seen in the tales noted above, and in the central tale itself, as the king is mesmerized each night by another fable. The implication is that magic does leave us all spellbound — as it certainly appeared to do for the ancient Arabic world.

Faith, Spirituality, and the Islamic Dimension

However, such themes also offer a glimpse into the moral order that the ancient Arabic world perceived as part of natural law. Through the use of a kind of magic, the merchant is able to learn the language of the animals, which in turn helps him manage his own domestic affairs. The implication is that nature contains lessons that we may use to our advantage.

Faith in the supernatural plays an integral part in the Nights. "The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon" is one tale in which Moses is referenced and the spirituality of old is given great significance. Robert Irwin notes that "the Muslim faith … pervades the stories of Nights and in some cases even dominates them. Those who venture into the world of the Nights learn of the doom of mighty dynasties by the decree of Allah; they are taught to be patient in suffering and to trust in Allah; and they are told of the inspiring deeds of Sufis and other holy men" (ix). Such faith infuses the tales and the thematic structure of the work overall. Without the incredible perseverance of Shahrazad there may be no such work at all — and without the unfailing grip that the magical tales have over the king, there would be no Shahrazad. Therefore, the entire collection is a kind of ode to the mystical element of nature. Arabian Nights may thus be considered one of the earliest records of magical realism to exist.

The Arabic world must indeed have been a place of deep spirituality — as much of the world was at that time. In fact, it was a contention of ideologies that drove the wedge between East and West, between Christian and Mohammedan Empires. Neither ideology was as devoid of spirituality as the modern ideology of today, which insists upon skepticism and naturalism to define humankind's existence. Yet the emergence of magical realism in places such as Latin America and the spread of it throughout Europe and America can mean only that the ancient traditions in which the spiritual plays a primary role, though long buried, are being unearthed again. What held true for the Arabic world holds true for our own — stories of magic captivate as though made of magic themselves.

Conclusion: Magic as a Window into the Arabic World

Arabian Nights offers a glimpse into the reality of the Arabic world through the use of magical realism, magic, and the supernatural. The Mohammedan faith of the Arabic world is implicit throughout much of the work — and that insistence upon the supernatural plays a part in the overall theme and structure of the collection. From smaller tales such as "The Ox and the Donkey" to the central tale of the king and Shahrazad, the recurring theme of captivation and conquest through the use of spellbinding and magic shows how deeply the Arabic world had invested faith in such ideas. The fact that the Nights remains popular today suggests that we, too, continue to share that investment.