The adventure tale of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" was added to the traditional collection of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights by its European transcriber, Antoine Galland, an 18th-century French orientalist who had heard it in oral form from a Maronite story-teller from Aleppo. This story has also been used as a popular pantomime plot.

Story Summary

Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter, happens to see and overhear a large band of thieves - forty in all - visiting their treasure store in the forest where he is cutting wood. The thieves' treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by magic - it opens on the words "Open, Sesame", and seals itself on the words "Close, Sesame". When the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave himself, and takes some of the treasure home.

Ali Baba's rich brother, Kasim, finds out about his brother's unexpected wealth, and Ali Baba tells Kasim about the cave. Kasim goes to the cave to take more of the treasure, but forgets the magic words to get back out of the cave, and the thieves find him there, and kill him. When his brother does not come back, Ali Baba goes to the cave to look for him, and finds the body, bringing it home. With the help of Morgiana, a clever slave-girl in Kasim's household, they are able to give Kasim a proper burial without arousing any suspicions about his death.

The thieves, finding the body gone, realise that somebody else must know their secret, and set out to track him down. The first several times they are foiled by Morgiana, who is now a member of Ali Baba's household, but eventually they are able to ascertain the location of Ali Baba's house.

The lead thief pretends to be an oil merchant in need of Ali Baba's hospitality, bringing with him mules loaded with 40 oil jars, one filled with oil, the other 39 with the other thieves. Once Ali Baba is asleep, the thieves plan to kill him. Again, Morgiana discovers and foils the plan, killing the 39 thieves in their oil jars by pouring boiling oil on them. When their leader comes to rouse his men, he discovers that they are dead, and escapes.

The lead thief, disguised as a merchant, befriends Ali Baba's son (who is now in charge of his late uncle's business), and is invited to dinner at Ali Baba's house. He is recognised by Morgiana, who performs a dance with a dagger for the diners and plunges it into the heart of the thief when he is off his guard. Thus, the story ends happily for everyone except the forty thieves and Ali Baba's brother.

Iraq War

Drawing on the fictional character described above the name Ali Baba is often used as slang by both U.S. and friendly troops in Iraq to describe individuals suspected of a variety of offenses related to theft and looting, later expanding to general insurgents during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation much the same way that Charlie was slang for the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War. Ironically, due to interaction of the two peoples, the term Ali Baba was adopted by the Iraqis to describe foreign troops suspected of looting, and English-speaking mainstream press reported the slang to be native to the locals.

External links

• "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" (e-text, in English)
• Waller Hastings, "Ali Baba and the forty Thieves": essay