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The name ALADDIN is Arabic in origin and means’ Nobility of faith’.
The story of Aladdin was originally told in ‘The Book of One Thousand and One Nights’ (Arabian Nights) by its French translator, Antoine Galland, who heard it from a storyteller from Aleppo. Galland's diary (March 25, 1709) records that he met the scholar, by name Youhenna Diab ("Hanna"), who had been brought from Aleppo to Paris, France by Paul Lucas, a celebrated French traveller. Galland's diary also tells that his translation of "Aladdin" was made in the winter of 1709–10.
Although it is considered an Arabic tale either because of its source, or because it was included in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, the characters in the story are neither Arabic nor Persians, but rather are from "China". The country in the story is however an Islamic country, where most people are Muslims. Everybody in this country bears an Arabic name and its monarch seems much more like a Persian ruler than a Chinese emperor. The country of the tale is a fabled place in a distant land, definitely eastwards , but of course has little or no relationship to a "real" or historic China. This is very common in fairy tales |
Genie is the English translation of the Arabic term jinni. The English word comes from French génie, which meant a spirit of any kind or guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at birth.
Genies are said to be creatures with free will, made from 'smokeless fire' by God. According to the legends of Genies they have communities much like human societies: they eat and marry etc. They live in tribes and have boundaries. They follow religions as humans do, and follow the same ranks in armies as humans do. Genies can settle in a vast area to a tiny hole, as they are without mass and can be fit into any space they find sufficient for them. They are invisible to humans, but they can see humans. Sometimes they accidentally or deliberately come into view or into contact with humans. Genies have learned to live in the human world when they desire to do so. In many cases they live unnoticed among people marked only by the rather unusual or somewhat secretive practises they keep. Genies can take on the form of humans and other animals. They can also be summoned by humans. Humans attempting to perform black magic on others call Genies specializing in dirty deeds to perform the magic. Such black magic on humans (to influence a marriage etc) can only be undertaken by DARK GENIES in exchange for money. Thus, a person often pays a magician, who then calls upon a DARK GENIE, who then performs the magic. |
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