What is “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights,” how and when was it created, and where did Scheherazade’s tales come from? “One Thousand and One Nights” is not a work by a single author or compiler—its collective creator is the entire Arab people. In the form we know it today, “One Thousand and One Nights” is a collection of tales in Arabic, framed by the story of the cruel king Shahryar, who each evening took a new wife and killed her in the morning. The origins of “One Thousand and One Nights” are still not fully understood; its roots disappear into the depths of centuries.