Her name is plastered all over this blog. Genie from Aladdin name-drops her in “Friend Like Me.” But who is Scheherazade exactly—and why is she so inspiring for artists like myself?

Well, Ali Baba had them forty thieves,
Scheherazade had a thousand tales.

—”Friend Like Me,” Aladdin

Scheherazade (also known as Shahrazad) is a fictional character and storyteller supreme in The Arabian Nights (also known as One Thousand and One Nights). As the story goes, a Persian king named Shahryar discovered that his wife was cheating on him. As a result, he decided to marry a new virgin every day and have her killed the next morning to keep her from ever being unfaithful to him. This continued for some time. As you might imagine, there was great turmoil in the land.

Enter Scheherazade, the vizier’s daughter and one of the wisest women around. In Husain Hadawy’s masterful translation of The Arabian Nights, we are introduced to her as follows:

The older daughter, Shahrazad, had read the books of literature, philosophy, and medicine. She knew poetry by heart, had studied historical reports, and was acquainted with the sayings of men and the maxims of sages and kings. She was intelligent, knowledgeable, wise, and refined. She had read and learned.

While her father expressed disapproval, Scheherazade wished to spend one night with King Shahryar so that she might “either succeed in saving the people or perish and die like the rest.” She got her wish and was taken to the palace of the murderous king. However, before anything transpired that night, Scheherazade asked if she could bid her younger sister farewell. After the sister arrived—and at her sister’s request—Scheherazade told her a bedtime story while the king was still present. Suffice it to say, Shahryar was completely enthralled. Yet as the night wore on, the wise storyteller stopped in the middle of her story, in hopes that the king would ask her to continue. He did.

However, Scheherazade did not continue her story just then. She promised the king an even more entertaining conclusion if she could only continue the following night. And so the king spared her life until that next night, where Scheherazade not only concluded her earlier story—she also told half of another riveting tale.

In this way, Scheherazade armed with stories staved off death night after night. Finally, 1,001 nights and 1,000 stories later, she finally told King Shahryar that she had no more tales left to tell. But by that point, the king was so smitten with love that he spared her life completely and made her his queen.

Crazy stuff, huh? In this way, Scheherazade distinguishes herself as a strong female hero of ancient literature, akin to Queen Esther of Old Testament fame:

“When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

—Esther 4:16

But besides this parallel, it’s clear why Scheherazade is such an inspiring figure. She is selfless, willing to endanger her life for the sake of her people; she is “intelligent, knowledgeable, and wise.” Then there’s her considerable storytelling prowess—and the stories themselves.

In Scheherazade and The Arabian Nights, we see the power of stories to challenge, inspire, instruct, and entertain all at once. More specifically, we see the murderous rampage of kings halted, a precious people saved from destruction, priceless wisdom dispersed to old and young, and hearts made merry in the face of disaster. That’s incredible. No wonder leaders throughout history have used the power of stories to further their ends. And as a person of faith, Jesus telling all those parables really starts to make sense…

While we are far removed from such a time and place as ancient Persia, Scheherazade opens my eyes to what stories can accomplish even here and now. I seek after such wisdom. I aspire to such skill. I hope for such compassion. I pray for such resolve.

Read Carlo’s introductory post inspired by Scheherazade here. It’s a darkly humorous prologue that sets the stage for everything that follows.