Love, Madness & Mysticism: The Story of Layla and Majnun

Nizami Ganjavi’s The Story of Layla and Majnun is a classic love story based on one of the best-known legends of the Middle East. Often compared to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Layla and Majnun are ‘two ill-fated lovers separated by feuding families’. Majnun, whose real name is Qays, became known as majnun (Arabic for mad) as a result of his extreme love for Layla. His mad passion has been admired by mystics and poets as ‘an example of perfect love’, and is the reason why ‘the two lovers of this classic tale are remembered to this day in the poems and songs from the Caucasus to the interior of Africa, and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean’ (Sinha).

Written in 1188, but based on a legend dating back to the 9th-century, the story is a familiar one; boy meets girl, boy admires girl and soon enough, a mad passion is ignited:

Whose heart would not have filled with longing at the sight of this girl? But young Qays felt even more. He was drowned in the ocean of love before he knew that there was such a thing. He had already given his heart to Layla before he understood what he was giving away… And Layla? She fared no better. A fire had been lit in both — and each reflected the other