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.
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 with her husband,
where she fell ill and died eventually.
When Qays' friends came to know about
Laila's death, they went looking for him
all over to give him the news. But they
could not find him.
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.
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