In the introduction, the work is presented as a translation from Arabic,
although some scholars disagree, stating that pre-existing Islamic story collections
were used in the production of an original collection. In one manuscript (Bibliothèque Nationale, Manuscrits turcs, no. 378),
the date of composition is followed by the date of 533, interpreted in the catalogue as a possible date of
composition for the Arabic original. Story collections known under the name Forty
Viziers exist in the Indian, Persian and Arabic lands. The frame story of all of
these resembles that of the Sindbād-nāma.
Scholars have also pointed to borrowings from the corpus of the One Thousand and One
Nights. In the frame story, the king of Persia is seduced by the tales of his
conniving young wife into killing his son, while the king’s forty viziers try to
dissuade him also by telling stories. The work consists of 80 stories, forty of them
told by the wife, forty told by the viziers. Each story ends in counsels, thus
teaching about the responsibilities of the shah towards his wife and son. Show more
The old code for the manuscript is Regius 1372. The date of composition is
followed by the date of 533 in the
manuscript, interpreted in the catalogue as a date of composition for the Arabic
original. According to the catalogue, the manuscript may have been directly recopied
from Aḥmed-i
Mıṣrī's original, as suggested by a deteriorated last folio.
