One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern, West and South Asian stories and folk tales. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights. The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, South Asia and North Africa. The tales vary widely: they include historical tales, love stories, tragedies, comedies, poems, and burlesques. Numerous stories depict jinns, ghouls, apes, sorcerers, magicians, and legendary places.