Characters
King Shahryar, the King Who Listened
- Rules
- a great kingdom, from the Sasanian family of kings
- Brother
- Shah Zaman, king of Samarkand
- Name means
- "City-friend" (Burton's note)
- First appears
- the opening story
King Shahryar is the king who listens to every story in the Arabian Nights. The book calls him one of the kings of the Sasanian family, who ruled Persia (now Iran) from the year 224 to 651.
At first he is a fair and loved ruler. Then he learns that his queen has been dishonest with him, just as his brother Shah Zaman learned about his own queen. Shahryar's heart turns hard. He makes a cruel law against his brides, until Scheherazade comes to the palace with her stories.
Each night he lets her live one more day, because he wants to hear how her story ends. Read how it all began.
In the notes to his translation, Richard Burton says the name Shahryar is Persian for "City-friend".
In our pictures, Shahryar wears a crown with a globe on top and long ribbons, the way Sasanian kings are shown on their coins and carvings.
Appears in
The beginning · King Shahryar and ScheherazadeThe Brave Storyteller: How Scheherazade Began the Thousand and One NightsWhy did Scheherazade tell the king a new story every night? A gentle retelling of how the Arabian Nights begin, for children aged 6 to 12.
Night 1 · The Merchant and the JinniThe Merchant Who Kept His PromiseA merchant throws away a date stone and a furious jinni appears. Night 1 of the Arabian Nights, retold for children aged 6 to 12, with comic panels.
See also
Scheherazade
Shah Zaman
The VizierFrom the book
- Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume 1 (1885), story and note 3.
- Sasanian Empire, Wikipedia, for the dates.
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