The Image of the Byzantines (the Rum) and the Franks (the Ifranj) in “The Thousand and One Nights”

Abstract

The memory of the Crusades in the folk culture of the Levant and Egypt remains an under-researched topic. The stories of “The Thousand and One Nights”, which feature the Rum and the Ifranj, form part of the overall narrative of 12th—15th-century Arabic folk culture about Christian attacks on the Muslim world. In these stories, the Ifranj are portrayed as a more aggressive and principled opponent than the Rum, who, unlike the Ifranj, are also mentioned in neutral and occasionally positive contexts, being portrayed as a more civilised entity. The key patterns in the depiction of the Ifranj and the Rum, such as the in-depth study of Islam by the Christian villains in order to gain the trust of the Muslims, the unanimous gathering of Franks from all lands with the aim of attacking the Muslims, and the desire of the leaders of the Ifranj and the Rum to conquer the entire Islamic world while converting all Muslims to Christianity, coincide with similar images in the Arabic folk epics that emerged during the Crusades. This supports the attribution of the stories to the indicated period and strengthens the arguments of linguistic and anthropological analysis, according to which the stories date from the time of the anti-crusader struggle.