21.
as nawfal approached majnuun
he could not ignore
the tears streaming from those eyes
burning with rage
and in his wrath
his voice rang aloud throughout the valley
the pain of betrayal would not be restrained
“you who twist the dagger
you thrust it into my back again
while i sleep on this bed of roses
strewn with thorns from your very hand
casting me from a celestial dream
into an awakening nightmare
“just as i arrive at the threshold of the heavens
i am torn from this slumber of paradise
into complete horror
i suffocate from the starvation of unfulfillment
as you place me before an immaculate feast
yet forbid me even a crumb to break my fast
indeed, persecution is worse than death
due to the torture you inflict me,
i wish i was never born
“oh worthless friend
you cannot now deny
that you never intended to grant me layla
better that you never dressed me for this ball
better that we never met”
upon his last words
majnuun charged his horse past nawfal
down the hill toward the camp
the remaining men of layla’s clan
quickly picked up arms
ready to cut majnuun down
the look of suicide was in his eyes
but his horse would not comply
yielding its charge at the first sword swung
jeering,
it kicked up its legs and charged to the east
through the mountain’s grooves
the lifeless majnuun
who had already surrendered his life
remained an unwilling passenger upon the horse
his vapid hands holding the reins
yet he offered no direction
leaving it all to destiny
nawfal watched
as the madman
dressed in soiled, bloodied, and tattered
princely robes
disappeared into the mountains
as he turned to depart
he bit his lips
to keep the building tear
upon the surface of his eye
although it was bitter
and his resistance to it could be justified
by a greater logic
he could not deny the truth:
he had indeed betrayed majnuun,
his friend
as the days passed
a deepening guilt began to rise
that perhaps he had pushed majnuun’s madness
into a pit from which he would not climb out
so he and a few of his trusted companions
returned to the hunting grounds
where they first found majnuun
for weeks they searched
peering into every bush
calling within every cave
yet not even a footprint of majnuun
they ever found
the regret increased
for nawfal was now ready to offer
the only proposal he should have ever
offered majnuun
not the promise of the prize of layla
which, in the eyes of truth and justice,
was not his to give
but instead,
to offer his uncompromising love,
support, and sympathy
as a true friend
perhaps such love given
without further enticement
would have been enough to attain
majnuun’s unregressing transformation
and maybe,
perhaps ironically,
such transformation sustained as the prince
would have done more to win the favor
of layla’s father and clan
than the path of force imposed
unfortunately this was a realization
discerned only in retrospect
after the carnage could not be undone
the lives lost and permanently scarred
could not be belatedly restored
but is this not
a common lullaby
of war
which although sung often enough
remains often ignored
p.s.
the loss of men from layla’s clan was such
that it never returned to its former strength
which was not so strong to begin with
the clan only continued to diminish
waning until the embers dispersed
into the winds of that which is forgotten
such that within a few generations
the clan was no longer called by its name
only as “layla’s clan”
and even that reference only survived
because the tale of layla and majnuun
refuses to die
but another time there will be
to eulogize this clan
since its embers continued as a decreasing smolder
during the lifetime of these tortured lovers
❍ ● ❍