Monday, May 18, 2020

Ahmad Al-Khatat writes

Layla's Disappointment

Layla, I do not laugh effortlessly 
Layla, I do not weep skillfully 
Layla does not your name mean
-- the night, or blues?

We no longer have the possibilities 
Our story made the entire universe 
--rain, as well as the students in the 
classroom, I weep as I read it today 

When I visit your tomb in the graveyard 
I remember how the war forced the 
--survivors, to transform our memories 
into gray clouds of ash 

Layla’s disappointment is everyone's tale 
It is touching and sad to realize she 
got married at a young age, then she 
became a widow, before she died in the refugee 
camps.
Heart Broken Majnun Bonds With The Beasts - nazmiyal
Heart Broken Majnun Bonds With The Beast [carpet] -- Aboul Ghasem Kermani

1 comment:

  1. In the 12th century Jamal ad-Dīn Abu Muḥammad Ilyas ibn-Yusuf ibn-Zakki (better known as Nizami Ganjavi) from Azerbaijan adapted a traditional 7th-century love story about the 7th-century Najdi Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mullawah, who was thwarted in his efforts to marry Layla bint Mahdi (or Layla al-Aamiriya); his obssession gained him the nickname "Majnun" ("possessed by Jinn," or crazy). She married a rich merchant from another tribe and eventually died of heartbreak. Majnun fled into the desert and was found dead near her grave in northern Arabia in 688 after he carved 3 verses on a nearby rock.

    I pass by these walls, the walls of Layla
    And I kiss this wall and that wall
    It’s not Love of the walls that has enraptured my heart
    But of the One who dwells within them

    Nizami's "Leyli o Majnun" was published in 1192 and helped cement his reputation as the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature.

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