The Prologue sets up the narrative framework for Tales from the Thousand and One Nights through the story of two Sassanid brothers and kings, Shahriyar and Shahzaman. King Shahriyar, the elder of the two brothers, invites his younger brother, who is the king of Samarkand, to visit him. Upon excitedly leaving for this visit, Shahzaman discovers that his wife is having an affair with an African slave and kills both. Later, Shahriyar notices that his brother is distressed but leaves him be and goes on a hunting trip. While his brother is hunting, Shahzaman observes Shahriyar’s wife and her courtiers having sexual intercourse with their African courtiers, which reminds him of his own slain wife. Upon his brother’s return, Shahzaman recounts to Shahriyar what he had witnessed and tells him his own story.

Once the brothers hatch a plan and catch Shahriyar’s wife in the act, they resolve to “renounce [their] royal state and roam the world until [they] find out if any other king has ever met with such a disgrace” (18). On their travels, the brothers encounter a jinnee, a spirit, who has also been trapped and deceived by a seemingly devious woman.