One Thousand and One Nights: A Metaphor

The title "One Thousand and One" the the alternative to Arabian Nights is a metaphor.  Alfa Layla wa Layla is not to be taken literally. 1001 is symbolic representation of a vast number.  A hyperbole to emphasize large volume of stories.  The addition of one gives it a poetic touch, implying something even more than complete. A story that never ends.  So it is metaphor for infinity, continuity, or the eternal act of storytelling. Shahrazad use it to keep away death by never concluding. 

It has an Indian parallel in Panchatantra and Kadhasaritsagara. 
The latter claims itself to be a part of a greater collection of seven hundred thousand stories, the idea of an inexhaustible treasury of tales. The Sanskrit number Sahasra is a poetic exaggeration - a way to say innumerable or countless. 

So, the Indian model also presents the structural idea of stories that never end.  A pastime to keep the listeners engaged forever. 

When these stories reached Middle East around 8th to 9th centuries CE they were adapted to a different life and circumstances. They came to be known as Hezar Afzan meaning a thousand tales. 

In Arabic numerology and literature 1000 represents completeness and perfection.  Adding one means surpassing the perfection. It is a metaphor for the power of storytelling.

The Persians inherited these ideas and assimilated to their own Zoroastrian outlook of fate and dualism.

In Panchatantra tales are a tool of wisdom for survival in crisis. In Kathasaritsagara Somadeva tells the story to soothe the queen's melancholy.  Here Time is as fearful as Death. Filling time is deferring death.



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