Layla and Majnun

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Majnun in the wilderness

Layla and Majnun (ليلى ومجنون), or Leyli and Madjnun, is a classical Middle Eastern love story. It is supposedly based on the real story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mullawah in the Umayyad era during the 7th century. There were two Arabic versions of the story at the time.^[1] In one, the he spent his youth together with Layla tending their flocks. In the other version, upon seeing Layla, he fell in a most passionate 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, literally "Crazy for Layla". To him were attributed a variety of incredibly passionate romantic Arabic poems, considered among the foremost examples of the Udhari school.

From Arab folklore it passed into Persian literature, and the Azerbaijani poet Nezami wrote a famous adaptation of their love story in the 12th century. In his adaptation, the young lovers become acquainted at school and fall desperately in love but they cannot see each other because of a family feud, while at the same time, Laila's marriage is being arranged to another man.^[2]

It is a tragic story of undying love much like the later Romeo and Juliet, which was itself inspired by Layla and Majnun to an extent. In Azerbaijan, the story was made into an opera first staged on January 25, 1908 by Uzeyir Hajibeyov.The myth has been influential to Middle Eastern poets, especially Sufi writers in whose literature the name Leyli/Layla suggests a reference to their concept of Beloved. The name also found its way to the modern occult literature in connection with the archetype called Babylon or Babalon, though these writings use the spelling Laylah which also suggests the Arabic and Hebrew words for night. It also served as the inspiration for the title of Eric Clapton's famous song, "Layla". In Turkey, the phrase "To feel like Layla" is used to mean the feeling one gets when one is completely "out-of-it" and dazed. This phrase originates from the above love story.