function of the heritage in “al-malik howa-l-malik” play by sa’dallah wannous

since the beginning of the nineteenth century onward , arabic drama has preserved a close relation to the heritage. one of the most famous dramas s using the classical elements is “al-malik howa-l-malik” ( the king is the king) written by the syrian dramatist “sa’dallah wannous”. in composing this drama ,he has been inspired by one of one thousand and one nights fables namely “an-naim wa-l- yaghzan” (asleep one and awake one). this paper aims to analyze the function of heritage and steps of its changes in this drama . the paper considers all dramatic elements of the play, including the plot, theme, characters, words, dialogue etc.. moreover, it discusses how the heritage has been utilized in this piece of work. accordingly it concludes that “wannous” has got the original idea of his drama from the story of “an-naim wa-l-yaghzan” however, he has either enforced some changes in the elements of the story ,or evolved it in some aspects.