In The Great Khan's Tent Episode 32: The Arabian Nights Part 30

About this episode

In this episode, we reach the exciting conclusion of the story of “The Story of Ghanim, the son of Ayyub, the Distracted Slave of Love” with Nights 44 and 45. We then begin a thrilling and exciting epic story, one of many within the One Thousand and One Nights, titled “The Story of Sultan Umar al-Nu’man and his sons Sharkhan and Dau’ al-Makan and the Strange and Remarkable things that happened to them” which continues Night 45 and goes into Night 46. This story is on the same level as any of the Greek Heroic tales, as this episode sets up the story of the three main characters, Sultan 'Umar, Sharkhan, and Dau' al-Makan and their secondary companions so far, the concubine of Sultan Umar, Sufiyeh, and the Vizir Dandan. It is interesting to note here that this is the first appearance and reference to the Byzantine or Greek characters appearing in the story as well as the first appearance of the historical region known as Lesser Armenia centered around the old city of Caesaria or Mazaca. However, note the setting this story takes place in. This was before the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik ibn Marwan (685-705 CE), which was still in the Umayyad dynasty and Baghdad is t