One of the most famous paradigms of the “foreign” and the “other” in European literature is the oriental story collection of the Arabian Nights or the 1001 nights (arabic Alf layla wa-layla), that has developed a rich history of textual migration throughout Europe over the past three centuries. The article re-evaluates important stages of this migration from the origins of the Arabic manuscript tradition, through the tradition of French translations by Antoine Galland and Joseph Charles Mardrus, up to the impact of the collection in modern French, Maghrebi and Arab literature. The huge variety of modifications, changes and re-interpretations observed on closer examination of these stages of reception point to the extraordinary suitability of the collection for cultural incorporation. This is not least due to a single original source which is missing, to the variability of different versions and to its anonymous authorship. At the same time, the phenomena of transcultural migration observed question the limits of traditional methodological approaches by translation studies, comparative literature and cultural transfer, thus allowing for the observation of hybrid forms on a transnational level.