The analysis of the origin of English words that were borrowed from the Arabic is given in the article. The base and reference point of this study is the work of art "One Thousand and One Nights" in its modern translation by Penguin Classics. The choice of this particular collection of stories is justified by the fact that, in opinion of many researchers, as a product of folklore, this book incorporated many aspects that are largely a reflection of the Arab worldview and mentality. Therefore, it was interesting to study some of the Arabisms in English in that context. For visual simplicity of perception, a schematic “history” of its penetration into English is attached to each described word. The relevance of this study is due to the low degree of knowledge of Arabic borrowings in the context of literary works. Based on this fact, the problem arises of the lack of comprehensive works analyzing the degree of use of words of Arabic origin in English literature. To create the analysis base, fifteen most common and used words with Arabic roots were chosen. The main methods used: comparison, abstraction, analysis and synthesis, descriptive method. Based on the analysis, it was revealed that most of the Arabisms came to English not directly, but through other European languages, to a greater extent through French. Based on this, we can conclude that the French language had a significant role in the formation of English vocabulary, and in particular the main "transmitter" of Arabisms.