إذا نظـرت نحوي تكلم طرفهـا
وجاوبـها طرفي ونحن سكـوت
فواحـدة منهـا تبشـر باللقـا وأخـرى لها نفسي تكاد تـموت
إذا مت خوف الياس احياني الرجا فكـم مرة قد مت ثـم حييـت
ولو أحدقوا بي الإنس والجن كلهم لكي يـمنعوني أن أجيك لجيـت
فواحـدة منهـا تبشـر باللقـا وأخـرى لها نفسي تكاد تـموت
إذا مت خوف الياس احياني الرجا فكـم مرة قد مت ثـم حييـت
ولو أحدقوا بي الإنس والجن كلهم لكي يـمنعوني أن أجيك لجيـت
قيس بن الملوح
من ديوان مجنون و ليلى
When she turned an eye towards me, it spoke;
& with a look, I answered mutely back:
one glance from her is the chance
of an encounter, another’s almost dying:
when despair terrified me to death, this little ghost
revived me (how many times I've died only to live).
So if the men & jinn begird me
to defer my journey, I'll still come.
Qays ibn al-Mulawwah, from "Majnun and Layla"
(“The fainting of Laylah and Majnun,” a Persian illustration of
a scene from Nizami's adaptation of the poem. Source: Library of Congress)
The majnun (or madman) of "Layla and Majnun" is actually the poet himself -- the work is an outpouring of poetry dedicated to Layla -- unlike the Persian adaptation of the work by Nizami, Qay's work really doesn't contain a solid narrative structure -- bearing more resemblance to Petrarch's Canzoniere (though Qays was around nearly 9 centuries before Petrarch!).
a scene from Nizami's adaptation of the poem. Source: Library of Congress)
The majnun (or madman) of "Layla and Majnun" is actually the poet himself -- the work is an outpouring of poetry dedicated to Layla -- unlike the Persian adaptation of the work by Nizami, Qay's work really doesn't contain a solid narrative structure -- bearing more resemblance to Petrarch's Canzoniere (though Qays was around nearly 9 centuries before Petrarch!).
