Halloween Special - The City of Brass (1001 Nights)
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- This video differs quite dramatically from my usual ones. Here, I am reading a full story from A Thousand and One Nights entitled "The City of Brass", which fits in well with the Halloween theme of today!
I have shortened the tale slightly, for example by removing the whole story that the Jinn in the pillar tells about the way he ended up there. A story that includes a Lord of the Rings-style war between the King/Prophet Solomon, with jinn, birds and reptiles on his side, and the forces of evil. Which is of course.. awesome, but was cut to keep the narrative coherent.
Also keep in mind that this tale, AND its translation, is quite old and thus can feature some statements that appear offensive to some.
All music is my own, some of which you can find here: open.spotify.c...
You can read the whole translation I used here: www.bartleby.c...
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Or through a one-time donation: / letstalkreligion
#CityofBrass #ArabianNights #Halloween
I'm glad you guys seem to like the video!
All music is my own, some of which you can find here: open.spotify.com/album/41mTdTektb2f7O2pHz26WU?si=gqiel8IISpCydPT3hlXWpQ&
Beautiful!!! ❤ keep on the good teachings! As-salamu alaykum 🥰
Can you do an episode about FalunGong? What is their real religion?
Happy Dipawali Flip
Wow, I was wondering where you sourced this beautiful music. You’re incredibly bright and talented.
@@laylaoresme6704 Thanks Layla! 😊
I read a watered down version of this story as a child but knowing the story in much more detail is truly an amazing experience as was this episode. Please upload more storytime videos
That was captivating, thank you. Reminded me of my grandmother who is a huge fan of 1001 Nights. She has definitely told me some of these stories (in Polish) when I was little. In Poland, we celebrate the all saints holiday and the day of the dead. It was always a very sad holiday though. We would simply go to the graves with flowers and candles at night. The mood was incredible though - wondering around the candlelit graveyards is something I'll never forget. Once I wandered away from my mum, towards an unlit graveyard where war soldiers were buried and almost fell into an empty grave!!! Freaked me out.
Wow.
Thanks for sharing!
Same in Slovakia. We always did two walks at the November 1st until my grandma became too weak. It was so magical.
Its suprising to me that for Mid-Eastern Europe (im also from Poland) the 1001 Nights Tales are much more popular than for Western Europe/US. Is it due to Leśman and Kornel Makuszyński?
I love these stories takes me back to my childhood. A friends father had a terrible stutter which would disappear when he told us these magical tales 😊 Many thanks 👻🎃
You should make a second channel that just does book readings 😊 This was amazing.
It wouldn't be monitizable for the most part. I'd rather him be able to feed himself and continue making content. Would be nice though.
Yes, he should make an audio book about religion.
And a full series of 1001 nights
Listening to this story, I felt like I was playing a video game like _Metroid Prime_ or _Bioshock,_ moving through a dead city and finding inscriptions and accounts of what happened there. Then I remembered that some of the guys who worked on _Bioshock_ did an Arabian Nights themed game about a lost city of djinn, and looking it up it was specifically based on the City of Brass, a 2017 game titled _City of Brass._
*jinn
Mind, blown
You have a really solid grasp of poetic meter as you deliver that opening scene, it very much suits the rhythm of the many honorifics in it
i almost never click the thumb up and like videos on youtube, i had to do it with this one, extremly captivating, and Filip, man, i must say i just absolutely ADORE your channel, as a muslim i learned a great deal about somewhat a different aspect of the history of my religion thanks to you, i wish you the best with the channel and in life in general.
I almost always click the thumbs up-whether I love the video or not. It’s my way of saying thanks to the creator for their effort.
@@judea5340 i admit it's a bad habit i have, i just don't have the reflex to do it
@@judea5340 same here heh. It's my way of saying good job, whenever I am entertained, learnt something or smiled a little. I appreciate the work they put in.
My thoughts exactly! Philip is indeed phenomenal.
I love how you give each religion their due respect.
The world needs more people like you may we all get the same accompanying attitude as you.
The story is not even spooky, it is amazing. Glory be to God, the most benevolent, and the most merciful.
My goodness!!! You're full of surprises. Your channel is a cornucopia of all my most insatiable appetites... ancient history, world religions, language etymology and the value of frequency... all steeped in detailed accuracy. I'm so very thankful to have found your channel.
this is my new fav channel. the shocker series is freaking awesome, prob my fav but have been addicted to this whole channel since i found it.
Thanks; a haunting tale, well told! The same moral as in the king in the poem poem 'Ozymandias', whose inscription read, 'I am Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!' His statue, destined for the ages, had fallen into what was now desert. Or as the Romans had it, 'Sic transit gloria mundi' - So passes away the world's glory.
I remember being 6 or 7 and getting this book from my Uncle's self. It was bound in leather with golden lettering. He let me borrow it and I read the whole thing that week. (My very Christian father had obviously not read the actual book and thought it was a tame fairy tale.) I was so happy my dad didn't know the book well enough to tell me no! This and some Greek mythology I read very young have a special place in my heart. Thank you for all these great videos. Happy Samhain!🙏🥰
Happy Samhain!
Salaam alikum everyone,
This story is captivating… Thank you for reading it out to us.
A aleikum as salaam rahmatullah brother!
@@NovemberRain313 i’m a 🧕 and not a 👨🏽 😂
@@bennymoreira1443 lol, sorry about that! Im a sister too!😊🙂
Thank you for this story, I really enjoyed it. The tone of your voice and mastery of the Arabic names' pronunciation really added to its enchantment, as well as the images and background music. I wish you and all who watch a happy Halloween as well, even though I do not personally celebrate it. I celebrate Día de Muertos instead, but that comes tomorrow and the day after :)
I have never heard this story before. Your channel is a treasure.
I wasn't expecting such a nice way to spend my Halloween evening. Absolutely entrancing and beautiful. Thank you!
I would LOVE more videos in this style, I'm sure there are so many stories to choose from!
I LOVE THIS FORMAT. Your channel is one of my favorites and I always learn something deep and meaningful. This was really fun. Thank you!!
I love the background music. It went well with your voice.
I really liked the Episode and the format :) and I'd love to hear more stories read like this it was absolutely lovely to listen to
In México 🇲🇽 we celébrate November 1 “day of all saints ” and 2 day of the dead people.
We put altars with candels, photos, food and sugar skulls, cempasuchil flowers, special bred covered with sugar, pumping dessert……. Bendiciones para ti Filip!
It would be great addition.
@@PiatteIIa some do some don’t, my grandma has an Ofrenda
i used to have a Mexican penpal who lived in a town where a lot of the Day of the Dead crafts were created. i love the Day of the Dead tradition. i feel like it gives people a way to mourn and celebrate those they have lost, whose absence is still missed, on an ongoing basis, which i believe is redemptive and more realistic about the ongoing reality of losing important people in your life, perhaps taking some pressure off the idea that there can only be one mourning rituals immediately after a person passes away. At this stage you've barely had a chance to come to terms with your loss. But when you lose someone very close to you, you actually continue to have a relationship with their loss as you grow and change as a person.
i lost my penpal's details but she was awesome. It's interesting and mildly surprising to see denial in the thread that the Day of the Dead is a thing in Mexican culture. I'm not Mexican and can't speak for the culture, but certainly my penpal. was into it, as we discussed it. She actually raised the subject so i didn't get the impression it was something put on for tourists. This town was also near a place that hosted an annual gothic film festival
🦇🎥🎞️🎬☠️
i wish i could have visited, it sounded cool. ✌️
Wishing you all the best for the Day of the Dead, Pilar. 🖤
@@PiatteIIa I don't wish to contradict you as I'm not Mexican, but i did have a Mexican penpal who spoke to me about these celebrations, if you see my comment above. From my recollection i didn't raise the subject, she started talking to me about it. Why, do you regard it as something commercial that is just for tourists?
@@PiatteIIa Mexican
So good, you always knock it out of the park during Shocktober.
I grew up with these stories,,, My grand mother is an awesome storyteller,, those long summer nights of my childhood,, and yes it was called “1001 Nights” when I was a kid.
It was a great story and rather inspires me to actually get and read a copy of the "One thousand and one nights".
extraordinarily beautiful language. Great poetry. Let's Talk Religion, thank you so much for doing this. It is much appreciated.
This story is very interesting it opens my eyes to be prepared and to fair the living God, glory to the most high God
I tried reading this twice but only got about a quarter of the way through. It's nice to finally hear the full tale. You have a very good voice for storytelling and the background music created a nice mood. More tales from the 1,001 nights read by you would be awesome! Many thanks!
Many thanks sharing this story. It was a wonderful story and a great Shocktober. Love this channel.
This story was recounted excellently. Message is eternal and happy Halloween to you.
I would really listen to more! Maybe a second channel idea ;) ! Thank you for another great video!
Listened it all. Very good. Thank you. It atracted my attention that the story is told in a realistic way. I know that this story is told for telling people that we are all mortals so we must not love this world too much. But I want to talk about another use of this kind of stories. Human kind owes lots of things to this kind of stories. Because it's these stories which gave enthusiasm to the adventurers, scientists and leaders for making new discoveries.
I love your channel! I'm very interested in ancient literature and I always look to your videos to discover great writers, poets and thinkers that I had never heard of. It's a shame that here in the so-called West, Arabic and Persian literature is so underapreciated. Every time I see one of your videos (specially those concerning some of those thinkers from the Golden Age of Islam) makes me get mad / sad that it's been so long in my life that I never heard of these works. Hope your channel keeps growing and reaching many more people!
Also, I was wondering if you could recomend (here or in the future) some of your favorite works of literature.
Cheers!
@Ghost Ghost! Yes literature of those regions are in fact underappreciated, which is why aside from 1001 nights, you probably won't be able to mention any other works. When in reality there are many.
A most excellent reading! I recently obtained a more modern translation of the Thousand and One Nights, and enjoyed this tale very much. Your voice does it many favors.
Which edition did you get?
And did it contain this story?
@@LetsTalkReligion Husain Haddawy translation, the 2010 reprint by Norton & Co. It does contain this story, along with a number of short stories and essays inspired by/responding to the Thousand and One Nights after the main body of tales. Great for me, since I'm a bit rusty on my cultural context these days :> (your channel helped a lot with that as well)
@@kae5717 Really? I have the Haddawy translation, or at least one edition, and I couldn't find the City of Brass in it!
@@LetsTalkReligion I could be misremembering... Read it recently, but I have two other editions (a children's version and the one you read from) and my memory gets fuzzy
@Let'sTalkReligion which translation would you recommend? I've been humming and hahing for years wanting a full edition but without a bookshop with lots of editions to thumb through and look at it's impossible to choose without guidance 🙂 and my 13year old daughter and I love your channel. We agree with all the people asking for you to read more bedtime stories, you have a beautiful voice. Echoing from a clean heart I suspect 😉
Wonderfully read with awesome pictures and befitting music! It was a great joy to listen and watch.
Bravo 👏👏👏👏 beautifully told. It's the very first time I've heard this story.
Fun fact , thousand years ago in Arabia the phrase a thousand thousand was used to express what we say million today or beyond, the concept of million didn’t exist so they would use a thousand thousand
Just want to share my understanding of the lesson from this story....life is unoredictable, no matter how much money one may have , a human is always dependant on God(Allah) as the sole provider, from the point that they had so much money but still were unable to buy food. It is more of a humbling story, of how tiny and helpless humans realy are, no matter how much money they collect, no matter how much independant they feel they are, we all are dependant on God. The second lesson would be greed never has a good end... as learnt from the end of the city people and the guy who got decapitated when he didnt respect the dead and got greedy.
Loved your reading, very captivating!!! 💖💖💖
Hi. Fun to see you relating to lighter things...Certainly a part of my American childhood!
I love the way you tell sort of jokes with such a straight face.
This is great, thanks! Never heard this story before. Going to download it as a book
Man what a great channel, hope you do more stories in the future, peace!
A great story from a great book. Thank you so much for the reading. I love this bookالف ليلة و ليلة so much. I really wish you could do it justice and dedicate a whole episode to its origins, publication and translation. I read most of it and was highly entertained by its wisdom, poetry and flights of imagination.
Love this, really evokes the manner these stories have been handed down to us. They’re meant to be told. Good choice too.
Thanks for reading this to us, I enjoyed it a lot!!
This video is a treasure; thank your for posting it !
Could you please read the entire book and make series of it? It will be great. Thanks a lot for you work
This was beautiful, the edit, story etc, enjoyed it , especially 1001 nights tales
Beautyfully read. Wonderfull story, really enjoyed. Thank You.
Need more story nights like this 🙏
..Late to the listening, but the story was Great to hear!👏👏👏 Wonderful and Wondrous and Profound! Thank You for the reading.❣️
I love the part where the people of the city melt down a bunch of their treasures and send people out looking desperately to try to trade it for some food, but all in vain.
Mass sudden death phenomenon and repentance story aside, this reminds me of some unseen cities in my country. When they who come from the other side came to us, we try to find some signs from their appearancs; usually on their lips.
Can you elaborate please?
Excellent narration and illustrations! Thank you.
So this is where SA Chakraborty got ideas for the Daevabad trilogy from. 😁
I would really love more of these. This was awesome
Great video! I keep wishing I could turn on a reading lamp for you haha
"And after reading the true telling of the Little Mermaid, the Emir Musa wept until he became senseless."
That guy had some mighty tear ducts!
@@MendTheWorld lmao I think he can only cry inconsolably
The unintended meme of this story for sure
People explode into fountains of tears and tear their own garments in half in dismay for any possible reason in 1001 nights..its a theme
@@rushrants8761 lmao it's a good meme
I'm reading the Count of Monte Cristo and it's kind of the same deal. Old literature was hella dramatic and it's hilarious with a modern perspective.
@@monsieurdorgat6864 see if we were in the arabian nights universe now id be happy with what u said to the point where id recite poetry to answer it.... but im a rapper and i dont drop bars for free 😅😅
This is like a D&D adventure module, complete with a quest giver, traps, monsters, puzzles, difficult terrain, treasure..
The Arabian Nights were the Arabic copies of the original Persian collection called *"Hazar Afsaneh" (1000 Tales),* which was compiled during the reign of 3 Persian *Shahanshah* (King of Kings), *"Shapur II" (309-379 CE),* *"Bahram V Gur (420-438 CE)* and finally the collection was fully completed under *"Khosrow Anushirwan" (531-579 CE)* of the *Sasanian Persian Empire* around 540 CE.
Million dollar story telling! Fantastic!
"It belonged to the king of Alexandria..."
me: Oh, I know that one
"...Darius..."
me: Oh, so its *that* one
"...The Greek"
me: ...what?
maybe Ptolemaic, if that's a word? Eg Cleopatra was Greek. i thought Darius that i was familiar with was associated with perhaps a completely different region. I'm refusing to Google. My brain is saying either Persepolis/former Persia, Central Asia region or modern Iran, or somewhere that ISIS have subsequently blown up the ruins of, but it's stupid o'clock so I'm refusing to Google. Especially since there has probably been more than one Darius and there's probably a rabbithole out there with my name on it just waiting for me to fall in it, rather than get any sleep at all.
Anyway, i may not be right, but basically, Alexandria is in modern day Egypt but Egypt at one time had Greek rulers, the Ptolemies, which i actually tend to forget. It's weird to remember that Cleopatra technically wasn't Egyptian as such, although she might have been born there. i am not googling, I'm on a Google strike, i figure she was but you know what i mean, her heritage was Greek and i probably would have forgotten still if i hadn't watched a video on someone using AI to attempt to reconstruct a portrait of her features using a bust thought tp be a close likeness for reference.
But yes, in the memories i have of Darius, he would probably be somewhere much further to the East? Egypt if i remember correctly is up in Africa's business and Persia and Central Asia were further to the West more towards China, Turkey and Greece. But i suppose Darius could have moved? :v i dunno. Wasn't he associated with Timur r something? I'm grasping at straws here. i just think of a prince who became king as being from a different region and perhaps paying more attention to his father? But like i said there could be more than one throughout history.. i haven't even listened to the story yet..
@@mothratemporalradio517 I think what you are referring to are the various Darius who ruled the Achaemenid Empire, including Darius the Great (under whom the Achaemenids reached their greatest extent and power) and Darius III (the guy who Alexander the Great beated up). Both Alexander and the Seleucids (descendants of one of Alexander's generals who carved for himself a realm in Persia and Mesopotamia after Alexander's death) tried to maintain a sort of continuity with the previous Persian dinasty, so that's possibly where the confussion originated.
@@MaylocBrittinorum thanks for your comment! You could be right. i will look into this later, and that gives me a much better framework for consideration. Overall it makes sense if there was more than one Darius and it would be interesting to brush up on everything you mention once o have a chance, do thanks for that! Appreciated. 🙏✌️
@@MaylocBrittinorum Wait…. Is it “various Darius”? Or “Darii varii”?
I was just looking into this. It seems that the author doesn't actually mention Alexander in the source material but rather "Thu Al Qarnin", meaning the man with horns. People often conflate this Islamic/Quranic figure with Alexander the Great, but nothing substantial has ever surfaced.
This was fantastic! Thank you Filip.
Although hard to follow at times, this story is beautifully written. The horror in it seems quite Lovecraftian to me.
Loved This! I've watched it twice!!
May God continue to Bless you in these efforts!! Ameen.
Can you make a video about al Hidr?
By the way i love your videos and content. I am very happy i found your chanel. Keep up the good work.
More of the please. More of this! 🥹
Wonderful!! Thank you and Greetings 👋
Talking about legendary city
You should do a video about Iram of the Pillars
I’ve been curious about what it actually is for a long time
When Doris Lessing was a guest on Desert Island Discs, her chosen book - apart from Shakespeare and the Bible - was The Thousand and One Nights. The Arabic title can be re-arranged as 'mother of tales', or even 'source of records'.
Just curious-what would the Arabic be for the two potential titles you mention? I studied Arabic at the university level in the US and the Middle East and I can’t figure out what that would be.
"امُ الحِكايات" و "مَصدرُ السِجلاَت/المَصادِر"
Yes but the poster claimed the title الف ليلة وليلة could somehow be rearranged to give those alternate titles. Sorry I’m not seeing it.
Not that those alternate titles can’t exist.
@@judea5340 hi I speak arabic, I don't know so much about what you're asking but usually with many arabic things sometimes they give multiple titles, they don't replace the main one of course which is the 1001 nights but they're like extra nicknames or side expressions which refers to the same thing it's the nature of arab culture a lot of poetic fluidly expressions and less strict categorical.
The bit about the fisherman pulling the brass bottle out, is wildly similar to a line in Gos. Thomas
A bit lovecraftian at times, thank you for the reading!
PLEASE do more of this!
beautifully narrated story. please take my money and more story narrations.
Amazing story.
I'm lucky enough to be able to read it in its original language.
But hearing it like this is even better
Thank you for the wonderful reading.
I enjoyed this very much. Thank you ❤❤❤
I’ve been binging your videos all week, and I am absolutely hooked. I also can’t help but feel that if you were the white man I chose to marry, or perhaps another white man like you, my Muslim parents would never have disowned me. Lol. I’d be willing to bet there’s not many white men like you, however. I am clearly developing quite the crush. lol. 🤓
Is this story about arabs going to Egypt? Cause the 7 years of strife sounds like what happened in Egypt. And the beauty of the city sounds like the legends of Egypt back then😊
I swear to all the gods, the old and the new, I did not know of this tale, neither any chant nor no example of it had ever reached my mind, in awareness of day or dreams of the night, when I wrote my own of a city dead and dead were all her dwellers, from the lowest of slaves to the king and his men, all that lived on was their greed, and the gold which fed the monster ever since their fall to it...
Awesome video brother thank you
excellent. Keep it up you are a great orator.
This was sooo cool!!
Nice format! I've read it in Arabic and German, now I'm listening to it in English
Happy Dipawali to Flip and everyone
It is not Halloween now but I enjoyed the reading of this cautionary tale.
Please record yourself reading the whole book! I would gladly hear your voice reading these wonderful stories ! Gladly pay for it too
WoW. Thank You for reading this.
Perfect story after lunch.
Amazing brother
I don't know about it not being famous. There's a MTG card based on it, and the plane of fire in D&D has a city of brass ruled by effreets. So somebody at WotC has read this story.
Yeah I thought it was just a dnd thing until now
That was a captivating listen.
it just gets ever more grim
Among all the chambers they visisted, did they, by any chance, entered into the 36th Chamber of Shaolin?
if what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu Tang could be dangerous..
wu tang clan aint nuthin to F with
Damn dude the Emir Musa love to cry huh? he's a sensitive man in touch with his emotions.
Like a god fearing man.
Mossa was Governor of Spain they used to call alundalas or mugrab means West old ppl were more spiritual and God fearing
How touching at end of the tale the Prince had the accumulated treasures the Emir brought back divided up amongst the Muslims.
In the modern world, everyone seems thinks the hearse carrying their casket to the cemetary has luggage racks on top carrying all their worldly riches....the Prince in Syria was a wise man.
I loved this episode
👁️👄👁️ Thank you for the bedtime story💜🤗
Love your videos♥️
Thanks, enjoyed this.