Layla Majnun

The Archaic Allegory Volume LXXI

She loves fresh mangoes! The tree is tall but I will climb it for her. No world exists where the prince Qays will not fulfil the requests of queen Layla! She will be here any minute. Hurry, I must hold onto the barks firmly. I hate breaking leaves but worry not, Oi. I will use them to make a crown for her, two gifts will put a smile as beautiful as these ripe mangoes on her face.

Besides hitting me with a stick for every minor mistake of mine, Father also taught me how to use the stick to write poems in the sand. He broke all of them on me but worry not Oi! I have a tree but I must be careful to hide my favourite one under the leaves here. If I take it home, he will take it from me to write unpleasant poetries on my back. Mine disappear as soon as wind blows, his take time to fade away.

Layla arrives

There you are! I have two gifts for you, miss Layla but you must close your eyes first.

Okay, you can open them now. I made this crown for you, it falls apart a bit at the back but the rest of it is perfect! And of course I remembered that you liked mangoes. Once I hear about something or read something, I never forget it! They speak wonders of my brain, they tell me I have a huge potential too!

Everyone expects the world from me but I am so young. You know what I want to do? I want to just write poems and be with you all day. Perhaps eventually one day, you will be able to beat me at hide and seek. You know what else I want to do? Have a big big house made of feathers with so so many fruits filled in every corner of the house! I want a thousand pages and so much ink and quill, I want to write poems forever.

“Do you write any poems for me, Qays?”

For you? No! Why would I write for you? You’re not special!

“Oh, if not for me then what do you write about?”

Uh…Um, I…I write about…about trees, yeah. I write about trees and ripe mangoes and grass and a heaven above clouds where I can touch stars and feel the moon next to my cheeks. But not about you Layla, not about you.

“Mhm, okay then. Its late, I must leave now, Qays. I will see you tomorrow! Goodbye”

Layla departs

Where did my stick go? Ah, there it is. I almost got caught today.

The heaven I spoke of exists in her eyes
her skin feels like stars dancing in commotion
the moon does not resemble her at all
for she is not scarred
Whenever I close my eyes, the curtain of the night
billows to imprison my sight
I do not know what darkness is, what nothing feels like
but I feel pain whenever I close my eyes
for I cannot see her until I am fast asleep
when I am, she returns to me in my dreams
Layla sings sweet lullabies, runs her fingers through my hair
my father’s shouts lay me awake but I am still fast asleep
I get beaten by the stick that embodies my father’s hatred
but within, thinking of her rids me of the pain
I cannot wait to see her again.

We spend all of our days together. Under the shadow of trees or basking in the sun, Layla’s laughter grows roses in barren lands. Through seasons we have been together and I yearn for the day where we will be betrothed to one another. For all of the life that there is to live, for all the treasures that there are to be found and the sights that are to be seen, I want Layla to be there with me.

Many seasons have passed
I could only hide my love for her for so long
some dreams of mine have come true
all of them have her in them
With her, I become whole
without her, a wanderer
I wander asking the question
to which, she is the answer
and last winter, she answered
She loves the crowns I make for her
she loves the poetries I write for her
Layla is mine and I am hers
For all time, always.

Today is the day. The speech? Prepared. I look good.

O Allah, I beg of you to turn the tides of favours to my side of the sea, for Layla rules my world but unfortunately, her father rules hers.

Layla’s father stands eye to eye in front of Qays

“I will not give my daughter to an imbecile, a Majnun! I have heard the stories the village men speak of you. You of an unsound mind, you spend your hours writing for and obsessing over my daughter. In your love, she will starve. In your love, she will die. You are not worthy of her.”

No! I will-Layla tell him! I-

“Enough! I will marry Layla to a man I deem fit. Go away Majnun!”

LAYLA! Come with me, let him be. We will make a run for the desert! No one will be able to find us! A city lives beyond the voyage of soil. A city where love reigns free! COME!

Some time has passed and Layla has been married off to another man against her will.

“Forget about her. He has married him off to a wealthy family in a different city that you will never be able to see. Return home, your father awaits for you.”

LIES! She is still with me. Tell them Layla, we are still together. We will laugh at the world as it points fingers at us, these neanderthals are beneath us. Let us go at once, the journey is long.

You knew I would come under this tree to collect leaves and make a crown for you, didn’t you? Here! You look as beautiful as the day I first saw you. Come now Layla, we have no more time to waste. We must travel to the city beyond the desert where love lives free.

I took with me a stick as well! Why? Well of course, to write poetry. Mmm, I know the winds will take my poetries with them but who cares? Now you are here with me and you can read them as soon I as I write them.

Careful though. My family still searches for me but soon they will stop. Home? You are my home Layla. Wherever you are is where my home is. Do you know that I see my love for you in this sand? Ah, stop laughing. Let me tell you how. Alike this sand when held in a closed fist, my love for you too is uncontainable, nothing can stop it from finding you. Alike the grains of sand, my love for you is innumerable, uncountable and alike this sand, it flows freely in whichever direction of you.

Do you know something? Look at this sand, look at how this blows in different directions. When I will die, I will turn to ashes and alike this sand, my ashes will fly in your direction Layla. Even in death we will be inseparable.

Ouch! I am sorry, I know you don’t like when I speak of myself that way.

They called me Majnun but I do not care. For you, I will become the sky. For you, I will become the land. For you, I would cover paths you walk on with rose petals. Mhm, I will find you in any life. If prince Qays is Majnun, he is that for only queen Layla. I’ll do anything for you except find mangoes. I know you love them but you can’t find mangoes in a desert, my heart. I promise to get you one hundred mangoes once we reach the city of love.

Qays walked for days in pursuit of a city that never existed as he vomited blood and his feet bled. He knew his death was near whereas Layla had taken her own life out of the pain of being separated from Qays.

One last poem with a stick for you, Layla. The city is near, I see it. I will get a quill and hundreds of papers. I remember, mangoes for you first, quill and paper for me after.

Love is a good night’s sleep
if you’re not with me in the golden morning,
I will stay awake for all eternity
Love is the blooming flower in my hands full of blood
Love is the potion of life I wish to die by
Love is the evening that cures my lonely nights
Love is the thread I hang on for dear life
Love is pain, love is responsibility
Love is a wound, love is the medicine
Love is what hurts, love is what heals
Love is a drug, I am its devout slave
Love is a compromise, love is apology
Love is betrayal, love is rekindling
In love, many were destroyed
In love, died many
will my name be mentioned at least once?
will my name be mentioned even at least once?
As they walk her down the aisle, walk me down to the pyre
as she bathes in flowers, bathe me in the fire
I am in heaven, your eyes shine bright
Layla O meri Layla
I will write us forever and hopefully,
you will read it in my arms one day.

As Majnun wrote his last line, his breathing slowed down and he fell to the ground. He found himself in a graveyard in the night. As Majnun took his last breaths beside a grave, he glanced at its stone and smiled as it said:

Here lies Layla

Layla took her life on the day she was forcibly married against her will and she was buried in her wedding dress. This edition was narrated from the eyes of Qays/Majnun as pain can only be felt, never conveyed.

From the moment they were separated, Qays lost all sense & sanity. He wandered to his death believing that Layla was with him through each step of the journey. He saw her illusions, felt her hand touch his rotten skin and heard her voice sing melodies that healed his wounds.

Qays wandered through the desert and in his last moments, he found himself in a graveyard which was located in the city where Layla was married off in.

Qays loved writing poetry, Layla loved reading it.

— the end.