Arabic Love Poetry from the Desert: Majnun Leyla, Arabic Text, Commentary and Translations

by Joyce Akesson

The main body of the present book is a presentation of 62 Arabic poems in the original from the 7th century of the work of Qays b. al-Mulawwah (d. 688), also known as Majnün Leyla “the one who was mad about Leyla”. Each Arabic poem has an English translation on the facing page. The English text has footnotes referring to comments that are placed at the end of the work. The poems tell the story of Qays’ love to his cousin, Leyla bint Mahdıy (d. 688), better known as Leyla al-Amirıya, and provide insights into themes that were prevalent in the ashar al-ghazal al-udhrı "platonic or virginal love poems" during the Ummayad era and onwards. A consuming passion emerges from the versions that have inspired countless of people more than 1200 years ago and throughout the centuries.

Genres: Poetry

190 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2012

About the author

Joyce Akesson has studied the Semitic languages at Lund's University, Sweden and has previously been a lecturer there during many years. She is the author of nine books about foreign linguistics: "Causes and Principles in Arabic", "A Study of Arabic Phonology", "The Basics & Intricacies of Arabic Morphology", "The Phonological Changes due to the Hamza and Weak Consonant in Arabic", "A Study of the Assimilation and Substitution in Arabic", "The Essentials of the Class of the Strong Verb in Arabic", "The Complexity of the Irregular Verbal and Nominal Forms & the Phonological Changes in Arabic", "Arabic Morphology and Phonology based on the Marah" and "Ahmad b. Ali b. Masud on Arabic Morphology, Part One: The Strong Verb".
She has also published several articles about Arabic linguistics in two Journals, the Journal of Arabic Linguistics (the ZAL or Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik) Wiesbaden, and the previous Acta Orientalia, Denmark. She has also written a lemma about sarf "morphology/phonology in the Encyclopaedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, vol. 4. Leiden: Brill, 20.
She is also the author of three books of poems "Love's Thrilling Dimensions", "The Invitation" and "Majnun Leyla: Poems about Passion".
Two of her poems have also been selected in an Anthology in the UK, "The New Poetry: In Love".

Reviews

[Laura Cunha · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://leiturasdelaura.blogspot.com/...

Para os que gostam de literatura e cultura árabe, a história de Majnun Leyla é bastante famosa, sendo contada e recontada inúmeras vezes em diversas versões. É a história de amor entre Qays Al-Mulawwah e Leyla, onde eles se apaixonam, mas Leyla é obrigada a se casar com outro, deixando Qays louco de paixão e amor não correspondido, o que dá o seu título de Majnun (louco em árabe).

O interessante dessa história é que ela é real, o poeta Qays Al-Mulawwah viveu no século VII na Península Arábica, e escreveu uma grande quantidade de poemas dedicados ao seu amor por Leyla, e em sua maioria eles sobreviveram. E eu consegui encontrar esse livro, que contem as versões originais em árabe e uma tradução bem arrumadinha para o inglês.

Apesar do livro da sueca Joyce Akesson propagandear que tem comentários, eles são bem escassos e se limitam quase que exclusivamente a apontar qual é a rima e a métrica utilizadas no texto original em árabe. Sendo que a rima é bastante óbvia se você lê árabe, e essas informações não fazem a menor diferença se você não lê. Os comentários mais úteis, sobre os nomes dos locais mencionados e questões culturais são bem poucos e poderiam ser muito mais ricos.

Mas independentemente disso, só do livro ter os textos originais e uma tradução corretinha já vale a compra e a leitura.

[Ajla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my second experience with the story of Layla and Majnun (my first was Nizami's rendition), so I cannot evaluate the wealth of the collection of poems per se. I found it difficult to truly experience the poems in English. Very nice that this book includes the Arabic version of the poem along with the English interpretation. English interpretation still is able to convey feelings of pain, longing, and platonic love. Collection of poems was enough to tell Majnun's whole story, from falling in love to his death. I preferred it over Nizami's book because it left out [what I thought were] superfluous details and conveyed only the very core of Majnun's heart through his own poems. Overall pleasurable read :)

[Abidah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking!!!