Answer:
THE STORY OF LAYLA AND MAJNUN
By Nizami Ganjavi (1192) also called Layla and Magnun or Leili o Majun is an epic love poem composed in 584 / 1188 by the great Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. The poem is based on a semi historical and mystical Arabian love story about 7th century Nejdi Bedouin poet Qays ibn Al-Mulawwah and the woman he loves Layla bint Mahdi (also known as Layla al-Aamariya.) It is sometimes referred to as the “Romeo and Juliet” of Iran. Below we have the complete story in English for your enjoyment.
I.
LaylaOnce there lived among the Bedouin in Arabia a great lord, a Sayyid, who ruled over the Banu Amir. No other country flourished like his and Zephyr carried the sweet scent of his glory to the farthest horizons. Success and merit made him a Sultan of the Arabs and his wealth equalled that of Korah.
He had a kind heart for the poor and for them his purse was always open. To strangers he was a generous host and in all his enterprises he succeeded as if good luck were part of him, as the stone is part of the fruit — or so it appeared to be.
Yet, though respected like a caliph, to himself he seemed like a candle, slowly consuming itself without ever spreading quite enough light. The heart of this great man was eaten by one secret sorrow; he, who otherwise possessed everything he desired, had no son.
He had remained childless. What did glory, power and wealth mean to him, if one day they would slip from his hands, without an heir to receive them?
Was the caliph fated to wither, did the branch have to die? If the cypress tree fell, where would the pheasant build his nest?Where would he find happiness? Where shade and refuge?
He only is truly alive, who in his son’s memory survives his own death. Thus the noble man brooded and, the older he grew, the greater became his desire. Yet for many years his alms and prayers were in vain. The full moon which he so eagerly awaited never rose in his sky and the jasmin seed which he sowed would not
germinate.
Still the Sayyid was not content to bow to his fate. For the sake of one wish yet unfulfilled he thought but little of everything else that heaven had granted him. That is how humans are made!
If prayers remain unanswered, do we ever reflect that it may be for our good? We feel sure that we know our needs, yet the future is veiled from our eyes. The thread of our fate ends outside the visible world and what today we mistake for a padlock, keeping us out, we may tomorrow find to be the key that lets us in.
Much, of course, can happen in the meantime.
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