An Arabic source of a famous scene in Hamlet

Abstract EN

This research deals with the hypothesis that William Shakespeare was influenced by an Arab source in Hamlet, specifically in the scene of murdering Hamlet the King by dripping poison in his ear while sleeping in the orchard by his uncle Claudius (Act I, v: 59-79).

The supposed Arab source that influenced Shakespeare is in one of the oldest Arabic books in prose containing tales on the tongue of animals, i.

e.

, The Book Kalilah and Damnah by Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa, which he translated from Palhevi into Arabic in 750, i.

e.

, 851 years before Shakespeare wrote his play in 1601.