The Legend of Leyli and Majnun
Nizami, poet of the most famous version of "Leyli and Majnun."

"Leyli and Majnun" is an immortal love story sometimes compared to "Romeo and Juliet" though it predates Shakespeare in oral tradition by more than 1,000 years. Today, it is still one of the most popular epics of the Middle East and Central Asia among Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans, Tajiks, Kurds, Indians, Pakistanis, and, of course Azerbaijanis.

The story's influence extends beyond Eastern tradition. If we go back to the Middle Ages at the time of the troubadours and crusaders of the 11th-13th centuries, we discover that much of Western courtly literature can be traced to Oriental literature which, in turn, has influenced more recent works such as the 13th century German epic by Gottfried von Strassburg "Tristan und Isolde," the early 13th century French fable, "Aucassin et Nicolette," as well as William Shakespeare works of the 16th century and innumerable others.

http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/63_folder/63_articles/63_legendleyli.html


Layla and Majnun, also known as The madman of Layla - in Arabic مجنون ليلى (Majnun layla) or قيس وليلى (Qays and Layla), in Persian: ليلى ومجنون (Leyli and Madjnun) and Leyla ile Mecnun (Layla with Majnun) in Turkish - is a classical Middle Eastern love story. It is based on the real story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mullawah (Arabic : قيس بن الملوح ) from the northern Arabian Peninsula,[1] in the Umayyad era during the 7th century. There were two Arabic versions of the story at the time.[2] In one version, he spent his youth together with his cousin ,Layla, tending their flocks. In the other version, upon seeing Layla he fell passionately in love with her. In both versions, however, he went mad when her father prevented him from marrying her; for that reason he came to be called Majnun Layla, which means "Driven mad by Layla". To him were attributed a variety of incredibly passionate romantic Arabic poems, considered among the foremost examples of the Udhari school.

This romantic love story can be dated back in its original form to the second half of the 7th Century. The content of the romance, insofar as it can be extracted from the ancient versions, is relatively simple. However, from the start there have been two different versions:

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In one, the two young people spent their youth together tending their flocks; while in the other, Madjnun [meaning madman] whose actual name according to the narrators was Qays, meets Layla, [commonly named Layli in Persian] by chance at a gathering of women, and the effect on him is devastating...

He kills his camel as a contribution to the feast, and Layla falls in love with him from the start. Subsequently he asks for her hand in marriage, but her father has already promised her to another. Gripped by the most violent anguish, Qays loses his reason and sets out to wander half-naked, refusing nourishment and living among wild animals. His father tries to make him forget Layla, by taking him on a pilgrimage , but his madness only intensifies.

He does, however, show moments of lucidity in his poetry about his lady-love, and while talking about her to those curious people who have come to see him...

He dies alone, only meeting Layla one more time.

PARDON! leyli and majnun are pure persian>> not arabic>> arabic is not involved at all>> thank you>>

a beautiful story>>