Theme: Hospitality

In many ancient and classical cultures, hospitality was considered sacred. Though this collection does not make many explicit comments on hospitality, it is nevertheless a recurrent and important theme. In particular, hospitality in these stories suggests an individual's connection to his greater community. For instance, Sinbad the Sailor feeds Sinbad the porter every single night as he tells his story, and gives him a large sum of money as he leaves. Further, his stories have an implicitly didactic purpose - he wants to teach the impoverished porter what he has learned about life. Similarly, Sinbad received wonderful hospitality from the many kings he encountered during his journeys.

The collection does not always present positive instances of hospitality, however. It can certainly be exploited, usually to the detriment of the exploiter. In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," the thief captain takes advantage of Ali Baba's hospitality, and ultimately dies in the attempt. Without making an explicit comment on the theme, The Arabian Nights reflects its culture by presenting hospitality as sacred.