Previous   Next
Home » Images » 0004 Pictures From History » CPA0001870

Arabia: Depiction of Layla and Majnun, the ill-fated lovers from the classic Arabic story, with a poem by Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami (c.1570).

Arabia: Depiction of Layla and Majnun, the ill-fated lovers from the classic Arabic  story, with a poem by Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami (c.1570).

Often thought of as an Arabian version of Romeo and Juliet, Layla and Majnun is a classical story of star-crossed lovers based on the true story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mulawwah from the northern Arabian Peninsula during the Umayyad era in the 7th century. In one version, he spent his youth together with Layla tending their flocks. In another version, upon seeing Layla he fell passionately in 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, a synonym in Arabic for 'madman'.

Quick links to other images in this gallery: