I am reading The Arabian Nights after having bought the book more than 10 years ago. And it is a completely different point of view to the modern view of equality of the sexes and in particular, the stories that we see in romantic movies – both Bollywood and Hollywood.
I will not address the topic of equality of sexes as it is too controversial and not something I have enough expertise to comment on. But on the subject of romance (as portrayed in movies) I have something to say from my own experience.
When I was young I was much influenced by such movies and had a few escapades with high society girls. I can say that these incidents turned out to be a disaster for me for which I am still suffering till this day. But when life closes one door it opens another. I am quite happy with my life as it is now.
But back to romantic movies. The movies I saw were pure escapism and did not give me any idea of what the real world is like. I agree that I was (supposedly) educated and should have been able to filter out what was unreal and what was not. But I was unable to do so and I think I am not the first or only person to make such mistakes.
I wish I had been lucky enough to have read The Arabian Nights when I was in my teens. I also needed the sense to take what I had read seriously.
The reason why Arabian Nights remains a classic many hundreds of years after it was first written is that it describes the world and human nature as it really is. The stories are fantasies of course with djinns and ifrits appearing in many of them.But the human characters portrayed behave in a true to life way which gives you an understanding of human nature.
The true nature of both sexes is illustrated in the stories with women cuckolding their husbands and men deserting their wives after robbing them of their money. Here are a few excerpts of what I found to be particularly meaningful:
Do not put your trust in women
Or believe their covenants.
They make a false display of love,
But their clothes are stuffed with treachery.
Take a lesson from the tale of Joseph,
And you will find some of their tricks,
Do you not see that your father, Adam,
Was driven out from Eden thanks to them.
This passage has helped me be more accepting and less judgmental of the women that I have had relations with. Here is another sound piece of advice:
We did them good; they did its opposite,
And this, by God, is how the shameless act.
Whoever helps those who deserve no help
Will be like one who rescues a hyena.
Human nature is still the same as what it was when the Arabian Nights was written. And that’s why people still read them more than a thousand years after they were written. Compare that with romantic movies. How many of them will still be watched even 20 years from now?
I’ll end with another quote that will give you a taste of what you can expect from this book:
My story is a marvellous one which, were it written with needles on the inner corners of the eyes of men, would serve as a warning to those who take heed.
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