Forbidden love, muslim romance. Qaas and Laila were two star crossed lovers.
Qays ibn al-Mulawwah ibn Muzahim, was a Bedouin poet. He fell in love with Layla bint Mahdi ibn Sa’d (better known as Layla Al-Aamiriya) from the same tribe. He soon began composing poems about his love for her, mentioning her name often. When he asked for her hand in marriage, her father refused as this would mean a scandal for Layla according to local traditions. Soon after, Layla married another man.
When Qays heard of her marriage, he fled the tribe camp and began wandering the surrounding desert. His family eventually gave up hope for his return and left food for him in the wilderness. He could sometimes be seen reciting poetry to himself or writing in the sand with a stick.
Layla moved to present-day Iraq with her husband, where she became ill and eventually died. Qays was later found dead in the wilderness in 688 AD. near an unknown woman’s grave. He had carved three verses of poetry on a rock near the grave, which are the last three verses attributed to him.
Many other minor incidents happened between his madness and his death. Most of his recorded poetry was composed before his descent into madness.
Among the poems attributed to Qays ibn al-Mulawwah, regarding Layla:[1]
| “ | I pass by these walls, the walls of Layla And I kiss this wall and that wall It’s not Love of the houses that has taken my heart But of the One who dwells in those houses |
“ |
It is a tragic story of undying love much like the later Romeo and Juliet.[2][dead link] This type of love is known in Arabic culture as “Virgin Love” (Arabic: ?? ????), because the lovers never married or made love. Other famous Virgin Love stories are the stories of “Qays and Lubna“, “Kuthair and Azza“, “Marwa and Al Majnoun Al Faransi” and “Antara and Abla“. The literary motif itself is common throughout the world, notably in the Muslim literature of South Asia, such as Urdu ghazals.
