d Muslims have the ever fresh tale
of the loves and sorrows of Majnun and Layla. Of the ten or twelve
Persian poems extant on this old tale those by Nizami, who died A.D.
1211, and Jami, of the 15th century, are considered as by far the best;
though Hatifi's version (ob. 1520) is highly praised by Sir William
Jones. The Turkish poet Fazuli (ob. 1562) also made this tale the basis
of a fine mystical poem, of which Mr. Gibb has given some translated
specimens--reproducing the original rhythm and rhyme-movement very
cleverly--in his _Ottoman Poems_. The following is an epitome of the
tale of Majnun and Layla:

Kays (properly, Qays), the handsome son of Syd Omri, an Arab chief of
Yemen, becomes enamoured of a beauteous maiden of another tribe: a
damsel bright as the moon,[117] graceful as the cypress;[118] with locks
dark as night, and hence she was called Layla;[119] who captivated all
hearts, but chiefly that of Kays. His passion is reciprocated, but soon
the fond lovers are separated. The family of Layla remove to the distant
mountains of Nejd, and Kays, distracted, with matted locks and bosom
bare to the scorching sun, wanders forth into the desert in quest of her
abode, causing the rocks to echo his voice, constantly calling upon her
name. His friends, having found him in woeful plight, bring him home,
and henceforth he is called Majnun--that is, one who is mad, or frantic,
from love. Syd Omri, his father, finding that Majnun is deaf to good
counsel--that nothing but the possession of Layla can restore him to his
senses--assembles his followers and departs for the abode of Layla's
family, and presenting himself before the maiden's father, proposes in
haughty terms the union of his son with Layla; but the offer is
declined, on the ground that Syd Omri's son is a maniac, and he will not
give his daughter to a man bereft of his senses; but should he be
restored to his right mind he will consent to their union. Indignant at
this answer, Syd Omri returns home, and after his friends had in vain
tried the effect of love-philtres to make Layla's father relent, as a
last resource they propose that Majnun should wed another damsel, upon
which the demented lover once more seeks the desert, where they again
find him almost at the point of death, and bring him back to his tribe.

[117] Nothing is more hackneyed in Asiatic poetry than the
comparison of a pretty girl's face to the moon, and not
seldom to the dispar