Alf Leyla Wa Leyla a very popular, classic, Egyptian ballad made famous the incomparable
Egyptian singer, Oum Kalthoum, whose active career spanned five decades, and whose
popularity continues today.  In Arabic, “Leyla”, means “night”, and “Alf Leyla Wa Leyla”
means “One Thousand and One Nights”.  Although the full version of the song can last well
over half an hour, the gist of the song is that it is the story of two lovers who were able to
spend but just one night together.  Despite the fact that it was just one night, the passion they
felt made it seem like they had been together for 1001 nights.  I originally fell in love with a
remixed modern version of the song, because of its easily recognizable intro (LINK).  I
realized later that it is some of the more classic recordings that evoke the most emotion and
allow for a deeper artistic expression as a dancer.
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (كتاب ألف ليلة و ليلة in Arabic or هزار و یک شب in
Persian), also known as The book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, 1001 Arabian Nights,
or simply the Arabian Nights, is a piece of medieval Middle-Eastern literature. The nucleus
of these stories is formed by an old Persian book called Hazâr Afsâna (the Thousand
Myths) (in Persian هزارافسانه).


The story starts with the Persian Shahryar, king of an unnamed island "between India and
China" (in modern editions based on Arab transcripts he is king of India and China), being
so shocked by his wife's infidelity that he kills her and, believing all women to be likewise
unfaithful, gives his vizier an order to get him a new wife every night (in some versions, every
third night). After spending one night with his bride, the king has her executed at dawn. This
practice continues for some time, until the vizier's clever daughter Shahrazad (the name is
perhaps better-known in English as "Scheherazade" or "Shahrastini", which is a Persian
name) forms a plan and volunteers to become Shahrayar's next wife.  The first night of their
marriage, Shahrazad begins to tell the King a story – a story of epic proportions, of love,
hate, war, and peace, rippling with excitement and suspense.  When dawn came, she
paused her story with a cliff-hanger, and persuaded the king to postpone her execution so
that he could hear the rest of the tale.  And so this went, night after night, with Sharhazad
continuing to weave her tales for 1001 nights.  When she finally had exhausted her
imagination and told her husband that there was no more story to tell, she had given birth to
three sons, the king recognized her faithfulness, realized that had had indeed found a true
and faithful companion in Shahrazad, and they lived happily ever after.

(Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
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