Syracuse University Press

Chapter Title: On Hajj

Book Title: Chronicles of Majnun Layla and Selected Poems

Book Author(s): Qassim Haddad
Published by: Syracuse University Press. (2014)
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1j5dfrf.27

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On Hajj

Various stories have transmitted to us situations that Qays

encountered when he was on hajj, suggesting that he travelled to
the Holy Sanctuary more than once.

However, our Shaykh Abu Salah Khalaf al-Ghassani—having

heard from a villager near the shrine who himself had heard
anecdotes about Qays—related:

“He went no more than once, or so we think. And I say ‘went,’

because he never intended fulfilling hajj. He performed none of
our rituals and ceremonial rites. I repeat, this pilgrimage, led by
his father who hoped to cure his predilections, was the only one.
The trustees of hajj and the custodians of the Holy Kaaba, know-
ing his awful deed, forbade him entry again into the sanctuary.
He acted strangely, reciting poetry—an unprecedented behavior
amounting to heresy. This turned people against him, as if he
had stirred up the very stones of the Kaaba. If you ask me, Qays
came not to publicize his passionate love for Layla and dissemi-
nate his amorous poetry—deeds not infrequent during this time.
Rather—and God knows best—he came for another purpose.
On that day, despite their reticence, many attended to Majnun’s
poetry, and were touched with a wonder akin to having been
charmed. Had it not been for God’s almighty power, it would
have turned into sedition.”

He said, “The villager informed me that when Qays was brought

to Mecca, he spent a night talking to himself, like someone rav-
ing in his sleep, reproving a woman who was present, though no
one saw her. When asked the woman’s identity, he swore it was
Layla—not as a person but as a she-ass. She was leading an enor-
mous herd of cattle around a turbulent spring that gushed hard
upon them, washing but also striking them with force. The cows

On Hajj 45

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were driven to circumambulate this spring. They raised a voice to
God begging Him to rescind Layla’s wrath and to elicit her mercy.
But the she-ass did not stop her furious running. Qays asked why
she was taking this shape. She said, ‘There is in the she-ass some-
thing of the scent of prophets.’”

Also it was said that when Majnun’s father instructed him to

hang on to the Kaaba’s sacred drapes in order to forget his love,
he obeyed. But no sooner did his hands touch the velvet than
he sensed a mysterious life behind them, something spreading
between his hands and in front of his eyes, piercing him with
sparks of desire. He began wallowing in the drapes as if upon a
luxurious couch and cried out so loudly that it shook the entire
courtyard of the sanctuary; those on mountaintops heard him:

“O, such enormous clothes! The tiny essence behind this mag-
nificent, spacious chemise is she!” As if in a fever, he began to
rhapsodize, sweat flowing over his brow. No one understood how
satisfying the moment was for him.

“Another version: ‘Ali ibn Muhammad said, ‘Then Qays was run-
ning between Safa and Marwa, when a call came from above a
boulder. Pilgrims stopped running. They hovered around him. I
approached and saw a person, whom I learned later to be Majnun;
he was calling for a temple to be constructed within the hearts
of the people. No sooner did his construction reach to undo the
actual stone and mortar temple than I felt my limbs cracking. I
was unable to carry myself. My body collapsed from the vehe-
mence of what I heard. My friends carried me to the side, sprin-
kling water over me to bring me back to consciousness. That was
the last I knew of Majnun.’”

46 Chronicles of Majnun Layla

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