Aladdin (/əˈlædɪn/; Arabic: ‫عالء الدين‬, ʻAlāʼ ud-Dīn/ ʻAlāʼ ad-Dīn, IPA: [ʕalaːʔ adˈdiːn], ATU 561, ‘Aladdin')

is a folk tale of Middle Eastern origin. It is one of the tales in The

Book of One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights), and one of the best known—despite not being part of the original Arabic text. It was added to the collection
in the 18th century by the Frenchman Antoine Galland, who acquired the tale from Syrian Maronite storyteller Hanna Diyab.[2] Historians consider Diyab the original author
of "Aladdin", with the tale partly having been inspired by Diyab's own life.[3] Since it first appeared in the early 18th century, "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" has been one of
the best known and most retold of all fairy tales.

Known along with Ali Baba as one of the "orphan tales", the story was not part of the original Nights collection and has no authentic Arabic textual source, but was
incorporated into the book Les mille et une nuits by its French translator, Antoine Galland.[4]
John Payne quotes passages from Galland's unpublished diary: recording Galland's encounter with a Maronite Syrian storyteller from Aleppo, Hanna Diyab.[2] According to
Galland's diary, he met with Hanna, who had travelled from Aleppo to Paris with celebrated French traveller Paul Lucas, on March 25, 1709. Galland's diary further reports
that his transcription of "Aladdin" for publication occurred in the winter of 1709–10. It was included in his volumes ix and x of the Nights, published in 1710. Payne also
records the discovery in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris of two Arabic manuscripts containing Aladdin (with two more of the "interpolated" tales). One was written by a
Syrian Christian priest living in Paris, named Dionysios Shawish, alias Dom Denis Chavis. The other is supposed to be a copy Mikhail Sabbagh made of a manuscript
written in Baghdad in 1703. It was purchased by the Bibliothèque Nationale at the end of the nineteenth century.[5]
As part of his work on the first critical edition of the Nights, Iraq's Muhsin Mahdi has shown[6] that both these manuscripts are forgeries—"back-translations" of Galland's
text into Arabic.[7][8]
Hanna Diyab was long known only from brief mentions in the diary of Antoine Galland, but the discovery of Diyab's manuscript autobiography in 1993 dramatically
expanded knowledge about his life.[9] It chronicles his travels from Syria to France, and confirms that he met Galland and told him the tale of "Aladdin". Contemporary
historians consider Diyab to have been the original author of "Aladdin" and believe the tale to have been partly inspired by Diyab's own life, as his records of his
adolescent adventures during his journey from Syria to France show parallels with "Aladdin". For example, Diyab recorded that during his journey he met the French
traveller Paul Lucas, who claimed to have magical powers and enticed Diyab to assist him on his treasure-hunting expeditions with an empty promise of offering him a
position at the French court. During their first tomb-raiding expedition together, Diyab discovered both a ring and a lamp; the story of a poor boy whose life is transformed
by the discovery of a lamp parallels that of Diyab's life. His account of the wonders of Versailles, when he first arrived there, also parallels the descriptions of palaces and
princesses in "Aladdin". He also expressed sympathy for people who were impoverished, persecuted, and socially marginalised, such as his description of the poor in a
famine-stricken Paris during the winter of 1708-1709.[3]

Aladdin is an impoverished young ne'er-do-well, dwelling in "one of the cities of China". He is recruited by a sorcerer from the Maghreb, who passes himself off as the
brother of Aladdin's late father, Mustapha the tailor, convincing Aladdin and his mother of his good will by pretending to set up the lad as a wealthy merchant. The
sorcerer's real motive is to persuade young Aladdin to retrieve a wonderful oil lamp from a booby-trapped magic cave. After the sorcerer attempts to double-cross him,
Aladdin finds himself trapped in the cave. Aladdin is still wearing a magic ring the sorcerer has lent him. When he rubs his hands in despair, he inadvertently rubs the ring
and a jinnī (or "genie") appears who releases him from the cave, allowing him to return to his mother while in possession of the lamp. When his mother tries to clean the
lamp, so they can sell it to buy food for their supper, a second far more powerful genie appears who is bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp.
With the aid of the genie of the lamp, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries Princess Badroulbadour, the sultan's daughter (after magically foiling her marriage
to the vizier's son). The genie builds Aladdin and his bride a wonderful palace, far more magnificent than the sultan's.
The sorcerer hears of Aladdin's good fortune, and returns; he gets his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdin's wife (who is unaware of the lamp's importance) by offering
to exchange "new lamps for old". He orders the genie of the lamp to take the palace, along with all its contents, to his home in the Maghreb. Aladdin still has the magic ring
and is able to summon the lesser genie. The genie of the ring cannot directly undo any of the magic of the genie of the lamp, but he is able to transport Aladdin to the
Maghreb where, with the help of the "woman's wiles" of the princess he recovers the lamp and slays the sorcerer, returning the palace to its proper place.
The sorcerer's more powerful and evil brother plots to destroy Aladdin for killing his brother by disguising himself as an old woman known for her healing powers.
Badroulbadour falls for his disguise and commands the "woman" to stay in her palace in case of any illnesses. Aladdin is warned of this danger by the genie of the lamp
and slays the imposter. Everyone lives happily ever after, Aladdin eventually succeeding to his father-in-law's throne.