Layli and Majnun

  60. Zahhak: a demonic king, from whose shoulders snakes grew; here, a metaphor for night.

  61. Bu Qubays: a mountain to the west of Mecca.

  62. And bit his finger in astonishment: This is a traditional gesture in Persian poetry and painting; in Persian miniatures that depict something extraordinary, at least one observer of the scene is often shown biting his finger.

  63. His shout was sharp: an example of syllepsis (see note 36). It’s typical of the often complex convolutions of Nezami’s rhetoric that he takes an element in a real situation (the knife about to cut the deer’s throat) and makes a metaphor from it (the doctor cutting a lesion to make it bleed), which is used to illustrate metaphorically the “sharpness” of the next real event (Majnun’s shout).

  64. If you’re afraid . . . ascend the skies: that is, God will hear the sighs of the “wretched sufferers” and move to exact retribution.

  65. the copious tears he cried: It’s not quite clear whether the tears are those of the deer (later on it is described as weeping) or Majnun himself.

  66. Your scent evokes her fragrance: See note 13.

  67. Like Joseph’s face within his darksome well: referring to the Qor’anic (and biblical) story of Joseph being hidden in a well by his brothers before they sell him into slavery. Because of his beauty, Joseph is often compared to the full moon.

  68. Kosar’s stream: a stream in paradise.

  69. he rested from his seeking / From hearing nothing and from always speaking: again, a hint of Sufism, as getting rid of this inattentive self-absorption is one of the first requirements for setting out on the way of Sufism.

  70. A jet-black stone within a turquoise rim: This can be read as an image of the black raven surrounded by the green leaves of the tree in which it is perched (although less valued than its blue counterpart, green turquoise is also used in Middle Eastern jewelry), or the turquoise could be the blue of the sky against which Majnun sees the raven.

  71. not a crazy madman . . . deserve a prison cell: Madmen were often chained up (see note 26); the woman is saying the man is neither a madman nor a criminal.

  72. gladly sacrifice myself . . . I’ll be like Esma’il, rather than be / A brute convicted of apostasy: that is, rather than be an apostate from the religion of love; in the Qor’an, it is Esma’il (Ishmael) whom Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice, rather than Isaac, as in the Hebrew Bible.

  73. narcissus eyes: This is a common metaphor for eyes in medieval (and subsequent) Persian poetry; the comparison is to a narcissus with white petals surrounding a brown center.

  74. And seeing they were both lost equally: “they” refers to Layli and Majnun.

  75. To shield her honor’s glass from every stone: In Nezami’s day, glass was almost as valuable as the pearls and silver to which he has just compared Layli. Her “honor” here indicates her reputation and her virginity; the fact that they are compared to glass threatened by stones indicates that both can easily be lost/broken.

  76. He brought such gifts it seemed they’d never cease: Luxurious and fabulously expensive and extensive marriage gifts are traditional in Persian romances, which have almost exclusively royal protagonists. In keeping with the Persian romance tradition, Nezami has given the Arab families of his Layli and Majnun quasi-royal status (when Layli dies he calls her “a princess”), and the wealth appropriate to such status. The specific model for Nezami here is probably the gifts given to Vis’s family by King Mobad (who like Ebn Salam is the “rival” who marries the poem’s heroine) in Gorgani’s Vis and Ramin.

  77. Jesus’s reviving breath . . . back from the point of death: In Islamic lore Jesus’s breath could bring the dead back to life.

  78. To place the moon within the dragon’s jaws: The moon is Layli, the dragon’s jaws refer to Ebn Salam’s possession of her, or more broadly to an unwelcome fate. The expression is often used in poetry to describe an eclipse of the moon: usually the metaphor describes the moon escaping from the dragon’s jaws, indicating the end of the eclipse; here, in describing the moon being placed in the dragon’s jaws, the metaphor indicates that Layli’s “eclipse” is just beginning.

  79. heaven’s bride: the sun.

  80. Jamshid’s goblet: Jamshid was a mythical pre-Islamic king whose story is recounted in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh; in his goblet the whole world could be seen.

  81. Sugar was ground and sprinkled: See note 58.

  82. That lovely garden, and that lamp that glowed: The garden and the lamp are both metaphors for Layli.

  83. whose liver smoldered . . . in passion’s ardent flame: The comparison of a lover’s heart or liver to meat that is being grilled or roasted was conventional in medieval Persian poetry. Both the heart and the liver were associated with love and desire; in so far as there was a distinction, the heart was associated with affection and sentiment, the liver with animal vitality and physical longing.

  84. Majnun, proprietor of a little town . . . all tumbled down: The “little town” is a metaphor for Majnun’s wretched condition as someone whose “civilization” is in ruins.

  85. A sallow color: See note 12.

  86. Women have more desire than men, for sure: an Islamic cliché, as it was of ancient Greek civilization (summed up by the remark attributed to the blind prophet of Greek myth, Tiresias, who had been both a woman and a man: “Of ten parts of sexual pleasure a man enjoys only one”).

  87. The bride’s maidservant . . . to the world outside: This refers to the woman who dresses and prepares a bride for her wedding. Nezami is comparing her to the poet (that is, himself) who “dresses and prepares” his story in verse, and leads it out into the world (as the maidservant leads Layli from her litter). The tenth - eleventh-century poet Ayyuqi uses this metaphor in his romance Varqeh and Golshah, which is probably where Nezami found it.

  88. China’s wealth and Africa’s are there: Her black hair represents Africa and her pale face China.

  89. Washed Africans can’t change to Turkomen: that is, we cannot change how things are by their nature. Nezami is continuing the metaphorical juxtaposition of dark- and fair-skinned peoples (see note 88); this contrast is quite commonly used in the rhetoric of medieval Persian verse.

  90. Know death . . . Before the body’s subsequent demise: The necessity of dying before death comes—that is, to “kill” the self and its physical desires—is a tenet of Sufism.

  91. So what’s this ghoul’s behavior that I’m seeing: Majnun is behaving like the ghouls that are believed to live in the wilderness.

  92. yellow sunset must appear: Yellow is associated with weakness and illness in Persian poetry (see note 12), which is why Majnun’s father refers to the sunset of his life as “yellow” (rather than as red or purple or any other color).

  93. I’ll wear dark blue, I’ll weep a Nile for you: Dark blue was the color of mourning; the Persian word for “Nile” also means the color indigo.

  94. And bruised and blind: bruised by grief, blinded by tears.

  95. Majnun, that basil in a barren land: Basil is a herb that is particularly loved in Persian culture (and cuisine), and in poetry it is sometimes associated with love and so with a lover like Majnun. The word for “basil” in Persian is sometimes used to mean “wine,” but it seems likely that the herb is the main association here.

  96. I ought to be her veil . . . I’m just the shell: Majnun is saying that Layli and her reputation should be shielded by him, as the association of an unmarried girl’s name with a lover would bring scandal to her and her family. But a Sufi meaning is also implied—Layli represents the hidden mystery, the reality behind the veil of earthly appearances (of which he is one).

  97. Rabe’eh: The reference is to Rabe’eh Adawiya, an eighth-century female mystic from Basra, who was said to be the first important female Sufi (not to be confused with the tenth-century poet Rabe’eh of Balkh). Rabe’eh Adawiya was also revered
as the first person to emphasize the central role of divine love in Sufism, and she was known as someone who for a time lived in the wilderness, surrounded by animals who had befriended her because of her vegetarian diet. Her biography is obviously relevant to Majnun’s situation, and in the following few lines Nezami draws an implicit parallel between his protagonist and Rabe’eh by describing Majnun’s life in the wilderness, his vegetarianism, and his retinue of friendly animals. The implication of the parallel is that Majnun is, in some sense, a male Rabe’eh, concerned with love as it was seen by Sufis like her, as much as with carnal love.

  98. And as their own King Solomon they crowned him: In Islamic lore Solomon was able to converse with animals (ants and birds are mentioned specifically), and they had a special affection for him.

  99. A gift of foodstuffs for devotion’s sake: Because of the peace he has established among his animal companions, Majnun is seen by passers-by as a saint to whom it is appropriate to make charitable offerings.

  100. Beneath the sky’s six vaults: The universe is conceived of as in the Ptolemaic system, with spheres or vaults nesting inside one another like Russian dolls, at the center of which lies the earth.

  101. You’d say . . . missiles strike: This couplet and the ten that follow it use the description of the night sky to praise the king who commissioned Nezami to write the poem, Shirvanshah Akhsetan I (r. 1160–97). (For more on this, see the Introduction, this page).

  102. As pale as Joseph hidden in his well: See note 67.

  103. the breeze / Was like the breath of Jesus in the trees: See note 77.

  104. A dragon’s jaws: a metaphor for bad luck.

  105. I saw that serpent, and I fear a rope: proverbial. The origin seems to be the Buddhist story of a monk who sees a rope and recoils in fear, thinking it is a snake. In a later version the person involved had previously been bitten by a snake, which is why he quickly assumes that anything resembling a snake is in fact a snake—a case of “Once bitten, twice shy.”

  106. that bowl / That shows the world as an enchanted whole: a mythical bowl or goblet mentioned in the Shahnameh, originally belonging to King Jamshid, in which the whole world and all that was happening in it could be seen. See also note 80.

  107. Her eyebrows met: Eyebrows that met in the middle were considered especially attractive.

  108. as though / The sun were flooded with the moonlight’s glow: The sun is Layli’s face, the moonlight’s glow her tears.

  109. Dressed in dark blue: the color worn in mourning (see note 93).

  110. O stream of Khezr: Khezr is a figure from pre-Islamic Middle Eastern mythology whom Qor’anic commentators identified with a companion of Moses mentioned in the Qor’an. His name means “the green man” and his “stream” is the water of eternal life. From being a fertility figure associated with flowing water, in the Islamic world he became associated with Sufism and arcane mystical knowledge, as well as being a secret helper of those in distress. Some scholars have linked him to Utnapishtim in The Epic of Gilgamesh.

  111. The sacred water that Khezr guards for me: See previous note.

  112. This inn: that is, the world.

  113. I bear your burdens, toiling in despair—/ Whose is the earring that you humbly wear: that is, “I am your slave; whose slave are you?” (for an earring as a mark of slavery, see note 18).

  114. You are a pearl dropped in a glass of wine: A pearl dissolved in wine was said to have medicinal properties (although it is apparently very difficult to dissolve a pearl in wine). Nezami probably has Majnun use the phrase to describe Layli because of a metaphorical meaning for a pearl (a virgin) and another for wine (the pleasure associated with love making).

  115. You are a treasure . . . guarded by a snake: Treasures were proverbially guarded by snakes (or dragons). The motif is common in Indo-European epic narratives; for instance in the Icelandic Volsunga Saga a treasure of gold is guarded by the dragon Fafnir.

  116. Eram’s garden: See note 54.

  117. Tell me the pale moon will break free at last / From the fell dragon that has held her fast: For the moon and the dragon, see note 78. Layli is the moon and her husband the dragon.

  118. the treasure’s guardian snake: See note 115.

  119. guarded by / Your dragon will, your untouched treasures lie: a metaphorical example of the topos of the dragon or snake guarding a treasure (see note 115).

  120. this fine young man: Ebn Salam, Layli’s husband.

  121. apple chin: The comparison of a pretty chin to an apple is relatively common in Persian love poetry.

  122. Apologized for their poor quality: It is still customary in Persian culture to apologize for the poor quality of a gift.

  123. A Tale: It’s clear from Majnun’s reaction that this tale is told by Salim, although Nezami does not actually say that it is.

  124. My face is black: that is, “I am ashamed.”

  125. He would not leave the jewel without the mine: The jewel is Majnun, the mine is his mother. The paradox of bringing the mine to the jewel is deliberate, as this kind of reversal of a metaphor’s implications (one would expect the thing that had been contained to be brought to the container, rather than vice versa, and how does one “bring” a mine anywhere?) is particularly valued by the more rhetorically elaborate writers of Persian poetry.

  126. The red rose had turned yellow, rust had shrouded / The mirror’s brightness now grown dim and clouded: that is, Majnun looked ill (for “yellow” see note 12); the metaphor is of a metal mirror tarnished by rust—a frequently used Sufi metaphor for the state of an unenlightened soul, though here the primary meaning is physical, that is, his body was in a dreadful state.

  127. My soul is like a trapped bird: a common Sufi simile.

  128. those four elements: earth, air, fire, and water.

  129. Like rosewater their tears revived Majnun: Rosewater was used as a kind of smelling salts to revive those who had fainted.

  130. Mount Qaf: a legendary mountain of fabulous height, sometimes identified with the Caucasus mountain range.

  131. like Khezr, a man both wise and holy: See note 110. Khezr’s association with Sufism seems relevant here, as he was said to appear to would-be Sufis who had no available teacher in order to instruct and lead them.

  132. Joseph in his well: See note 67.

  133. Drink from your source like Khezr, like Alexander / Traverse love’s world and be its sole commander: For Khezr, see note 110. Alexander is Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king who conquered Iran in 334 bce. Again there is a Sufi implication, as Alexander was seen in Islamic lore as a kind of proto-Sufi who traveled the world for spiritual enlightenment as much as for conquest (see also the Introduction, p. xx) and met Khezr during his travels.

  134. feeling he’d found / Life-giving water welling from the ground: Again, the old man is being implicitly compared to Khezr (see note 110).

  135. I claim it’s Rakhsh I ride upon: the marvelous horse owned by the hero Rostam in the Shahnameh.

  136. heals me in the way that mummia heals: Mummia is a medicinal substance—originally a kind of bituminous pitch, and later supposedly made from the flesh of mummified bodies—referred to in both European and Asian medieval texts.

  137. And like a harp: that is, a small medieval harp that could be held on the knee.

  138. I grasp your apple chin: See note 121.

  139. You are my qebleh: A qebleh is the niche in a mosque that shows the direction of the ka’bah (see note 28) in Mecca and toward which Moslems pray.

  140. Only my friend exists—all else is gone: Because God is often referred to by Sufis as “the friend,” Majnun’s utterances about Layli often sound like Sufi references to God, and this seems to be intentional on Nezami’s part, especially toward the end of his poem.

  141. I place one step beyond both worlds: that is, this world and the world to come.
The “wise philosopher” is explicitly recommending divine love as greater than either earth or heaven, and as preferable to earthly love, which is gone in a moment.

  142. Taraz: a town in what is now Kazakhstan that was famous for the beauty of its women.

  143. Her mouth was tiny as an ant, and where / Her waist was seemed as narrow as a hair: In medieval Persian poetry (as also in some medieval European poetry), a very small mouth was considered beautiful, as was an exceptionally slim waist.

  144. Her chin was like an apple that’s more green / Than any senna Mecca’s ever seen: The medicinal herb senna when grown in Mecca was said to be the most effective. The metaphor plays with two meanings of “green,” one literal (for the herb), one metaphorical (for Zaynab’s chin, as a descriptor of which it means “fresh, young, charming”). For the chin as an apple, see note 121.

  145. How this unrivaled ruby could be mined: that is, how she could be separated from her family so that he could have access to her.

  146. Like one whose earring marks him as a slave: See note 18.

  147. This village: that is, the world.

  148. this ruined place: that is, the world.

  149. I leave this grave by going to my grave: “this grave” is the world, which Majnun says he leaves by dying; the line implies that by dying to the (physical) world he lives spiritually.

  150. A treasure with a serpent coiled around her: for the treasure–serpent topos, see note 115; here the treasure is Layli and the serpent is her husband.

  151. Confined within the dragon’s slavering lips: See note 78.

  152. An earthquake . . . buried him beneath the rubble: a metaphor for the ravages of Ebn Salam’s last illness.

  153. All of the world . . . Is a fire-temple: The world is compared to a Zoroastrian temple where a flame, which here represents man’s suffering, burns perpetually.