The Man Who Made the Nights Immortal: The Tales of the Syrian Maronite Storyteller Ḥannā Diyāb

Hannā Diyāb is the internationally most influential early modern storyteller known by name. Originating from the Syrian town of Aleppo and born to a Christian Maronite family, he narrated the tales of “Aladdin” and “Ali Baba” (and others) to Antoine Galland, who included them in his enlarged version of The Thousand and One Nights. The present contribution introduces the storyteller and his tales, accompanying the first complete English translation of the summaries Galland took down in his diary from the storyteller’s performance