Another example is the rather mysterious figure of Nasreddin, a trickster who often plays jokes, of a sort, on his neighbors.

Similar to the Nasreddin jokes, and arising from a similar religious milieu, are the Bektashi jokes, in which the members of the Bektashi religious order — represented through a character simply named Bektaşi — are depicted as having an unusual and unorthodox wisdom, one that often challenges the values of Islam and of society.

* In China, " Effendi " ( 阿凡提 ) often refers to Nasreddin.

Some regions independently developed a character similar to Nasreddin, and the stories have become part of a larger whole.

Nasreddin was the main character in a magazine, called simply Molla Nasraddin, published in Azerbaijan and " read across the Muslim world from Morocco to Iran ".

While Nasreddin is mostly known as a character from short tales, whole novels and stories have later been written and an animated feature film was almost made.

* Nasreddin, Medieval Middle Eastern literature has a character similar to Eulenspiegel

Perhaps the most popular figure in the tradition is the aforementioned Nasreddin ( known as Nasreddin Hoca, or " teacher Nasreddin ", in Turkish ), who is the central character of thousands of jokes.

: Nasreddin was walking in the bazaar with a large group of followers.

* Mullah Nasiruddiner Galpo ( Tales of Mullah Nasreddin ) collected and retold by Satyajit Ray, ( in Bengali )

Nasreddin ( / ALA-LC: Naṣraddīn Juḥā, Turkish: Nasreddin Hoca,,, Nasreddīn Hodja Bosnian: Nasrudin Hodža ) was a Seljuq satirical Sufi figure, sometimes believed to have lived during the Middle Ages ( around 13th century ) and considered a populist philosopher and wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes.

* 600 Mulla Nasreddin Tales, collected by Mohammad Ramazani ( Popular Persian Text Series: 1 ) ( in Persian ).

In Leonid Solovyov's well-known Russian novel Tale of Hodja Nasreddin ( translated to

Traditional examples for Turkish folk literature include the stories of Karagöz and Hacivat, Keloğlan, İncili Çavuş and Nasreddin Hoca, as well as the works of folk poets such as Yunus Emre and Aşık Veysel.

Nasreddin also reflects another significant change that had occurred between the days when the Turkish people were nomadic and the days when they had largely become settled in Anatolia ; namely, Nasreddin is a Muslim imam.

The Sufi influence, for instance, can be seen clearly not only in the tales concerning Nasreddin but also in the works of Yunus Emre, a towering figure in Turkish literature and a poet who lived at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, probably in the Karamanid state in south-central Anatolia.

His books in English include two collections of his poems (" Shadows of Love ", published in Canada, and " A Last Lullaby ", published in the United States ), Contemporary Turkish Literature, Modern Turkish Drama, Living Poets of Turkey, three books of the 13th century Anatolian mystic folk poet Yunus Emre, Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes ( with Metin And ), Suleiman the Magnificent-Poet, Turkish Legends and Folk poems, Tales of Nasreddin Hodja, and others.

English as The Beggar in the Harem: Impudent Adventures in Old Bukhara ), a central plot element is the protagonist's efforts to rescue his beloved from the Harem of the Emir of Bukhara – an element not present in the original tales of the Middle Eastern folk hero Nasreddin, on which the novel was loosely based.

Erickson's metaphorical strategies can be compared with the teaching tales of the Sufis ( those of for example the Nasreddin ) and the Zen tradition of Koans, each also designed to act on the unconscious mind.

* Nasrudin or Nasreddin, legendary wise man in Islamic tradition

Within the Islamic tradition, some of the tales concerning Nasreddin bear some similarity to the practices of the Malāmatiyya, insofar as Nasreddin's wisdom is rather well hidden behind a foolish façade.

In the Swahili and Indonesian culture many of his stories are being told under the name of " Abunuwasi " or " Abunawas ", though this confuses Nasreddin with an entirely different man – the poet Abu Nuwas, known for homoerotic verse.

Since there are thousands of different Nasreddin stories, one can be found to fit almost any occasion.

: Some children saw Nasreddin coming from the vineyard with two basketfuls of grapes loaded on his donkey.

The tower was designed and supervised free of cost by Nasreddin Murat-Khan, an architect / engineer hailing from Daghestan.

A 17th century miniature of Nasreddin, currently in the Topkapi Palace Museum Library.

A Nasreddin story usually has a subtle humour and a pedagogic nature.

The International Nasreddin Hodja fest is celebrated between 5 – 10 July in Aksehir, Turkey every year.

Many sources give the birthplace of Nasreddin as Hortu Village in Sivrihisar, Eskişehir Province, present-day Turkey, in the 13th century, after which he settled in Akşehir, and later in Konya under the Seljuq rule, where he died in 1275 / 6 or 1285 / 6 CE.

The alleged tomb of Nasreddin is in Akşehir and the " International Nasreddin Hodja Festival " is held annually in Akşehir between 5 – 10 July.

As generations have gone by, new stories have been added to the Nasreddin corpus, others have been modified, and he and his tales have spread to many regions.

Although most of them depict Nasreddin in an early small-village setting, the tales, like Aesop's fables, deal with concepts that have a certain timelessness.

The oldest manuscript of Nasreddin dates to 1571.

Today, Nasreddin stories are told in a wide variety of regions, especially across the Muslim world and have been translated into many languages.

In many regions, Nasreddin is a major part of the culture, and is quoted or alluded to frequently in daily life.

1996 – 1997 was declared International Nasreddin Year by UNESCO.

Many peoples of the Near, Middle East and Central Asia claim Nasreddin as their own ( e. g., Turks, Afghans, Iranians, and Uzbeks ).

Shanghai Animation Film Studio produced a 13-episode Nasreddin related animation called ' The Story of Afanti '/ 阿凡提 ( 电影 ) in 1979, which became one of the most influential animations in China's history.

The Nasreddin stories are known throughout the Middle East and have touched cultures around the world.

Superficially, most of the Nasreddin stories may be told as jokes or humorous anecdotes.

But it is inherent in a Nasreddin story that it may be understood at many levels.

: Once Nasreddin was invited to deliver a sermon.

So Nasreddin said Let the half who know what I am going to say, tell it to the half who don't, and left.