"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is a folk tale in Arabic added to the One Thousand and One Nights in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popular Arabian Nights tales, it has been widely retold and performed in many media across the world, especially for children.
Poster for 40 Thieves at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 1886
A depiction of the Forty Thieves.
The Forty Thieves attack Cassim.
Antun Yusuf Hanna Diyab was a Syrian Maronite writer and storyteller. He originated the best-known versions of the tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves which have been added to the One Thousand and One Nights since French orientalist Antoine Galland translated and included them, after which they soon became popular across the West.
14th-century Arabic manuscript of Arabian nights
Historical view of Aleppo in the 18th century
Title page of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, by Max Liebert, 1912