E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Aladdin’s Window.
To finish Aladdin’s Window—i.e. to attempt to complete something begun by a great genius, but left imperfect. The genius of the lamp built a palace with twenty-four windows, all but one being set in frames of precious stones; the last was left for the sultan to finish; but after exhausting his treasures, the sultan was obliged to abandon the task as hopeless.
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Tait’s second part of Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel is an Aladdin’s Window.
