KARAMANIA

majnun a universal treasure, and the 'real' name

thanks for the music and the pic. of course i do not have the privilege of being able to read nizami in the original. majnun is a pre-islamic tale which inspires many cultures, and retold in many mythical forms.

majnun's 'official' name in part of the tradition is qays b. mu'adh, or qays b. mulawwah. the uncertainty may be part of a literary pose (verification of 'isnad' through hesitation between alternatives). 

in fact the name is a 'big deal' in the jahili (pre-islamic arabian) version, as recounted in ibn qutayba's poetic anthology (d. 889 c.e.), and then in al-isfahani's (d. 967 c.e.) poetic anthology (both persian intellectuals writing in the lingua franca of the time, arabic). i give khairallah's translation of ibn qutayba's opening:

"Some say Majnun was Qays b. Mu'adh, others say he was Qays b. al-Mulawwah. Some say he belonged to the clan of Ja'da b. Ka'b b. Rabi'a b. Sa'sa'a. Others say he belonged to the clan of 'Uqayl b. Ka'b b. Rabi'a.

"He was nicknamed (laqab) al-Majnun (the Madman), since his reason ('aql) had left him because of the intensity of his passion ('ishq). al-Asma'i used to say that he was not mad [hb: in original the expression deriving from j-n-n], but a little crazy [hb: in the original deriving from l-w-th]..."

one explanation for the fuss around the naming may be connected to the innovation (from the perspective of bedouin values) of attaching the label 'majnun' to a heroic figure (see, e.g. the interpretation of claude vadet), and the nuance of the original meaning of majnun (jinn-based madness) versus a more general, 'unmarked' madness (see e.g. hilary kilpatrick).

reference for translation: As'ad E. Khairallah, 'Love, Madness, and Poetry. An Interpretation of the Magnun Legend' Beirut, 1980. Appendix 1: translation of ibn qutayba's legend of majnun (in the dissertation the author compares also the version of jami', and modern european versions; i do not agree with his analysis and comparison of greek material, but the collection of material is very useful).

other references:

c. vadet, l'esprit courtois en orient dans les cinq premiers siecles de l'Hegire, paris 1968, Maisonneuve & Larose (esp. pp. 368 ff)

 h. kilpatrick, 'review of as'ad e. khariallah...' bibliotheca orientalis, xl (1983), cols. 218-228, esp. 221.

Great choice of poem and poet

OKtaby

reference from Nezami!

If you can read farsi, please read this page to find Majnun's name in between lines from Nezami himself.

//ganjoor.net/nezami/5ganj/leyli-majnoon/sh11/

if you can't read farsi I let you know that according to Nezami Majnun's name was: قیس عامری

try again

but references from this site does not count.

Ebi Jan, thanks

I loved it. 

.

Darveesh

Majnoon's name was Geis Ameri, check this:

//iranian.com/main/blog/mehman-14 

 Mehman

picture is of Hesus, but what was Majnoon's real name?

picture is of  Hesus in Passion Play and not majnoon. Majoon was a homeless hobo, poor soul :(

nice poetry any ways.

Question to all  though: What was Majnoos real name?

Wow very nice

Loved the poem, video and the picture. Excellent combination.

...

چند سال پیش بود که برای ساخت یک مستند.. به همراه یک گروه به دهکده یی رسیدیم که در آنجا گوجراتی(Gujarat) صحبت میکردند (احمد آباد هندوستان[Ahmedabad]،در ساخت آن مستند به دنبال اصلیت کولی‌ها بودیم که ما را از هند و پاکستان.. به مراکش و تونس و اسپانیا برد ! !)، در آنجا پیرانی را شناختیم که اشعار پارسی میخواندند و اصلا به زبان پارسی آشنا نبودند ولی‌ این را از حفظ داشتند و از پدر و جّد ایشان به ارث برده بودند... این شعر شما..ما را به یاد این خاطر انداخت.

از شما تشکر می‌کنیم و دست شما را میفشاریم.

سر تا پای شما طلا و شراب گوارای وجودتان.

Very Nice Haji Jaan!

.

Ebi jan

Thank you for this lovely poem. 

من مست تو دیوانه

من مست تو دیوانه

ما را که برد خانه

مرسی ابی جان

What a picture...!

What a poem...!

What a video...!

What a man from Kerman!

Good work Ebi jaan!