Layla and Majnun
Love is known to be an overwhelming,
all-consuming, intense passion. But just how intense can love be? No one knows
the answer, and examples of such a love are rare. But whenever one talks about
the depth of love, the intensity of passion, two names almost immediately come
to mind- Laila and Majnu.
The love story of Laila and Majnu is a
very famous one and is no less than a legend. Even today, people know them as
Laila Majnu; the “and” in between is missing. They were two in flesh, but one
in spirit. It is based on the real story of a young man called Qays ibn
al-Mullawah from the northern Arabian Peninsula ,
in the Umayyad era during the 7th century. The love story of “Laila and Majnu”
is an eternal one albeit a tragic one.
Laila was a beautiful girl born in a
rich family. Being no less than a princess, she was expected to marry a wealthy
boy and live in grandeur and splendor. But love is born from the heart; it
knows no rules. Laila fell in love with Qays and he too loved her dearly. Qays
was a poet and belonged to the same tribe as Laila. He composed splendid love
poems and dedicated them to his lady-love, telling in them his love for her and
mentioning her name often. Qays’ friends knew about his affair with Laila and
they often teased and made fun of his love. But such taunts had no effect on
Qays. He was deeply in love with Laila and it was her thoughts alone that
possesed his mind for all time.
“ I pass by these walls, the walls of
Layla
And I kiss this wall and that wall
It’s not Love of the houses that has
taken my heart
But of the One who dwells in those
houses”
It had been for quite sometime that Qays
toyed with the idea of seeking Laila’s hand in marriage from her parents. One
day, he went up to them and put the big question before them. But Qays was a
poor lad. And when he asked for Laila’s hand in marriage, her father promptly
refused him as he didn’t want her daughter to marry below her status. It would
mean a scandal for Laila according to Arab traditions.
As fate would have it, the two lovers
were banished from seeing each other. Soon after, Laila’s parents married her
off to a wealthy man and she went on to live in a big mansion.
When Qays heard of her marriage he was
heartbroken. He fled the tribe camp and wandered in the surrounding desert. His
family eventually gave up on his return and left food for him in the
wilderrness. He could sometimes be seen reciting poetry to himself or writing
Laila’s name in the sand with a stick. Day and night, he pined for her.
Laila was no better. Seperated from
Qays, she was shattered in mind, body and spirit. Not long afterwards, in 688
AD, she moved to Iraq
Not much later, , their search for him
came to an end. Qays was found dead in the wilderness near Laila’s grave. On a
rock near the grave, he had carved three verses of poetry, which are the last
three verses ascribed to him. Qays went mad for his love; for this reason he
came to be called “Majnu”, or “Majnun Layla”, which means “Driven mad by
Layla”. Such a love is hard to find today. So if ever you love someone, try to
love like these two did. Even today, lovers swear by their name. It is their
love affair that has made Laila and Majnu immortal in the accounts of great
love stories.
