Leyli's Tents

Majnun flees from the world where men perceive him to be mad because of their ignorance of Real Love.

The wild beasts can understand Majnun's tormented heart torn by grief and they console him.

After hiding amongst the sheep and goats hoping to catch a fleeting glimpse of his beloved, Majnun’s heart impels him to seek Layla in the wilderness. Majnun speaks to a stag as he frees its legs from the noose of a hunter:

Excerpted from Nizami's: "Layla and Majnun"

“…Majnun approached the animal as gently as a father his child. Stroking and caressing it he said, ‘Like myself, are you not also separated from your beloved? Quick-footed runner of the steppes, dweller of the mountains, how vividly you remind me of her! Go, hurry, search for her, your mate. Rest in her shadow — there is your place. And if in your wanderings you should pass Layla’s tent, perhaps even encounter her, give her this message from me:

I am yours, however distant you may be!
Your sorrow, when you grieve, brings grief to me.
There blows no wind but wafts your scent to me,
There sings no bird but calls your name to me.
Each memory that has left its trace with me
Lingers for ever, as if part of me.’”

Majnun’s plea to his beloved Layla:

“…In life, your greetings did not reach me, and your hands did not stroke my hair. But now there is hope. Maybe you will look at me while you kill me with your arrow, and then put your hand on my head? Maybe you will draw your sword, allowing me to rest my head on your threshold like an animal to be sacrificed? I will be as trusting as Ismael before Abraham! Why should I be afraid, if it is you who cuts off my head? My heart burns like a candle — if you cut the wick, it burns even brighter! As long as I am alive there is no way that could lead me to you; save yourself, therefore, save me from myself, and let me rest at your feet in eternal peace.”

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