"Leyli and Majnun" ( Persian لیلی و مجنون ) is the third poem of the classic Persian poetry Nizami Ganjavi from his queen Khamsa written in 1188 in Persian . It is based on the story of the ancient Arab legend “ Leyli and Majnun ” about the unhappy love of a young man, Keys, nicknamed “Majnun” (“Madman”), to the beautiful Leyli. The poem is dedicated to Shirvanshah Akhsitan I , by whose order it was written [1] [2] [3] [4] . In the poem 4600 stanzas [5] . This poem is considered the most famous Persian exposition of the tale of Leyli and Majnun [3] , and is also the first literary treatment of the legend [6] .
Leyli and Majnun | |
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Persian. لیلی و مجنون | |
A miniature by an unknown artist of the second half of the 16th century , depicting the death of Leyli and Mejnun. Library of Congress , Washington | |
Genre | poem |
Author | Nizami Ganjavi |
Original language | Persian |
Date of writing | 1188 |
Date of first publication | 1836 |
Previous | " Khosrov and Shirin " |
Following | " Seven beauties " |
Content
Summary
Nizami calls himself a nightingale and a moth and intends to complete his idleness. And now he receives a letter from the Shirvanshah, which calls on him to sing the love of Majnun for Leili. Further Nizami complains of envious and imitators, comparing himself with Yusuf , Isa and Mohammed . Nizami begins his narration with an Arab sheikh , who gave birth to a long-awaited heir called Keis. Reaching 10 years, Case was determined to be in school. There he met a beautiful schoolgirl Leila from a neighboring tribe. She was slim as a cypress , gazelle eyes and had a birthmark on her cheek. Leili reciprocated, but Keis's love turned into melancholy and obsession, for which he was nicknamed Mejnun ("madman"). The situation was aggravated by ridicule of others. Case's father wooing Leila's parents but is refused, because Case is reputed to be insane. In desperation, Kaes tore the clothes and retired to the Nejd desert, where he composed poems dedicated to the beloved. Attempts by parents to cure their son in the Kaaba were unsuccessful. In the meantime, Ibn-Salam is wooing Leila's parents, and Majnun is found in the desert by a certain Naufal, a protector of the poor. Fulfilling a promise, the Naufal detachment attacks the Leyli tribe, but Majnun hesitates in his inconsistency. Even after losing, Leila's father does not want to pass off his daughter as a madman. Naufal agrees with these arguments. Leila is married to Ibn Salam, but the young wife does not want to be touched and threatens to kill herself. Due to the increasing alienation, Ibn-Salam becomes depressed and begins to abuse wine, which leads him to premature death. Widowed dies and Leyli. Majnun, meanwhile, acquires magical power over beasts: he is served by lions , wolves , foxes, sheep, onagres , hares and eagles. Majnun continues to glorify Leyli, likening himself to a nightingale , and to her rose . Having learned about the death of her lover, Majnun comes to her grave and dies there. A year later, his body was buried nearby. Over the years, a garden has grown over their graves.
Nizami somewhat modified the plot: he had Case going crazy with love, and that is why Leila’s parents refuse him. Leila, forcibly married, dies from the love of Case. She is buried in a wedding dress. Learning about Leyli's death, Majnun comes to her grave and dies there. The author asks a question: what did the lovers get for their earthly sufferings, where is their place in the next world? The code retells a dream according to which lovers joined in paradise, where they live as a king and queen [5] .
Translations and editions
The first translation of the work was an abbreviated poem in English . The translation was done by an English orientalist and translator by James Atkinson . It was published in 1836 . Later this translation was reprinted several times ( 1894 , 1915 ) [5] .
The poem was translated into Russian by Yevgeny Bertels (a small prose translation from the poem) by T. Forsch, but the first complete edition appeared with a poetic translation into Russian (completely) by Pavel Antokolsky [7] . The full philological prose translation of the work from Farsi into Russian was made by Rustam Aliyev.
The poet Samad Vurgun translated the poem into Azerbaijani language [8] [9] .
Product Analysis
This romantic poem belongs to the genre of “hit” (aka “Audrey”). The plot of the poems of this genre - hit, is simple and revolves around unrequited love. The heroes of Udri are semi-fictional, semi-historical characters and their actions are similar to those of other romantic poems of this genre [5] . Nizami persefied Arabic-Bedouin legend, introducing the characters as Persian aristocrats. He also transferred the development of the plot to the urban environment and added several Persian motifs, embellishing the narrative with descriptions of nature [5] .
The poem has been published in various countries in different versions of the text. However, Iranian scholar Vahid Dastgerdi in 1934 published a critical edition of the poem, composing 66 chapters and 3,657 stanzas, omitting 1007 verses, defining them as later interpolations (distortions added to the text), although he admitted that some of them could be added by Nizami himself [5] .
As in the Arabic sources, Nizami refers to the poetic genius of Majnun at least 30 times. Majnun in the poem is presented as a poet who is able to compose dazzling poems in various poetic genres. In Nizami, Majnun reads love poems and elegies , which can be viewed as psychological self-analysis, showing his frustrations and the reasons for his actions. In his comments on the speech of Majnun, the narrator always takes his side, which affects the reader's interpretation [5] .
In the picturesque images, Mejnun is depicted as a haggard ascetic . Nizami shows that the experience of a loving person and an ascetic are similar, except that the ascetic acts intentionally, while the loving suffers from the power of love. In the prologue and epilogue , Nizami gives advice to the reader about various topics, such as transience of life, death, humility, etc. [five]
In art
Miniatures depicting the heroes of the poem “Leyli and Majnun”, for centuries, miniaturists from different cities, such as Tabriz and Herat , created works for manuscripts. Among such Persian artists can be called the names of Aga Mirek [10] , Mir Seyid Ali [11] , Muzaffar Ali .
Leyli and Majnun at school. 1524 - 25 years. Sultan Mohammed . Tabriz school . Metropolitan Museum , New York | Majnun among wild beasts. 1539 - 43 Aga Mirek . Tabriz school . British Museum , London [10] | Majnun at Leyli's tent. 1539 - 43 Mir Seid Ali . Tabriz school. British Library , London | Leili meets with Majnun in the desert. XVI century. Walters Art Museum , Baltimore | The death of Leyli and Majnun. 1740 - 50 years. National Museum of India , New Delhi | The death of Leyli and Majnun. 1431 Calligrapher Mahmoud and an unknown artist. Herat school. Hermitage , St. Petersburg |
On the pedestal of the monument to Nizami Ganjavi in Baku , established in 1949 , the sculptor A. Khryunov, based on sketches by the artist Gazanfar Halykov [12], is a bas-relief depicting the heroes of the poem - schoolchildren - Leyli and Mejnun.
Based on the poem, the Azerbaijani composer Kara Karaev wrote the symphonic poem “Leyli and Mejnun” (first performance in Baku on September 29, 1947 at a gala evening in honor of the 800th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi) [13] and the one-act ballet “ Leyli and Mejnun ”.
In 1960, based on the poem at the Tajikfilm film studio , the ballet film Leyli and Mejnun [14] , the first Tajik ballet film [15], was made . A year later, the film of the same name based on the poem was filmed at the Azerbaijanfilm studio (the role of Majnun was played by Nodar Shashik-oglu ) [16] .
Azerbaijani artist Mikail Abdullayev made mosaic panels at the metro station " Nizami Ganjavi " of the Baku Metro , depicting the heroes of the poem.
Bas-relief with the image of Leyli and Majnun on the monument to Nizami in Baku
Scene from ballet " Leyli and Majnun " by Kara Karaev
Mosaic “Leyli and Majnun” drawing at the “ Nizami Ganjavi ” metro station in Baku. Artist Mikail Abdullaev
See also
- "Leyli and Majnun" - Fizuli's poem in Azerbaijani
Notes
- ↑ Nizami Ganjavi. Leyli and Majnun. For the 840th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi. Translation from Farsi, foreword and comments by Rustam Aliyev. / Editor A. V. Starostin. - B .: Elm, 1981. - p. 8. - 388 p. - 4000 copies
- ↑ Sarah Ashurbeyli . The state of Shirvanshahs (VI-XVI centuries). - B .: Elm, 1983. - p. 143-144. - 341 s.
At the same time, another brilliant poet, Nizami, who in 1188 commissioned Akhsitan received the poem “Leyli and Mejnun”, became very famous throughout the Middle East.
- ↑ 1 2 Yuriko Yamanaka. The Universe of Passion: Love and Madness, Tisha Nichio. - Kokuritsu Minzokugaku Hakubutsukan ( National Museum of Ethnology ), 2001. - № 55 . - p . 149 .
The most famous epic romance of the majnun by Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209 AD). His Layla and Majnun (1188 AD), and a king of the Shirvan-shah dynasty.
- ↑ Michiko Suzuki. Oral Tradition of Epic and Folktales. - Music culture in West Asia. - National Museum of Ethnology 1980. p. 103. 155 p.
Its popularization was accelerated by a romantic epic of 4,000 verses, composed in 1188 by Nizami, at the request of Akhsatan I of Azerbaijan.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 AA Seyed-Gohrab. Leyli o Majnun (Eng.) // Encyclopædia Iranica . - July 15, 2009.
- ↑ Leyli and Majnun - an article from the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary
- ↑ Leila and Majnun. Nizami Ganjavi. Translation P. G. Antokolsky. - M .: Goslitizdat , 1957. - 227 p.
- ↑ A. M. Babayan, N. M. Teymurova. Samad Vurgun in the Russian press. - B .: Elm, 1976. - p. 12. - 88 p.
Later, the famous Nizami's poem “Leyli and Majnun” was also translated into Azerbaijani.
- ↑ P. Skosyrev . Inheritance and searches: articles, essays, notes. - Soviet writer , 1961. - p. 219. - 294 p.
Samad Vurgun translated one of the most sublime and poetic works of Nizami, the poem “Leyli and Majnun” ...
- ↑ 1 2 Aga Mirek Isfahani - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
- ↑ World of Seid Ali // Popular Art Encyclopedia / Ed. Field VM. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1986.
- ↑ N. Habibov , M. Najafov . Art of Soviet Azerbaijan. - M .: Art , 1960. - p. 132. - 198 p.
Reliefs on a pedestal, made by sculptor A. Khryunov according to G. Khalykov’s sketches, are located on seven sides, on either side of a bronze plaque, with the name of the poet cast on it and the dates of birth and death. They are devoted to individual scenes from the works of the poet and are decorative. Performed by shallow relief, images are available for viewing only from the closest points of view.
- ↑ The official site dedicated to Kara Karaev
- ↑ Elena Nadezhdina, Nikolay Elyash. Big ballet. The main stages of the development of Soviet ballet. - Knowledge, 1964. - p. 85. - 86 p.
"Leyli and Majnun" . Film ballet based on the poem by Nizami Ganzhevi. Tajikfilm, 1960, 8 h.
- ↑ History of cultural construction in Tajikistan (1917-1977). - Donish, 1983. - T. II. - p. 258.
... the first Tajik ballet film "Leyli and Majnun", created after the poem of the same name by Nizami; ...
- ↑ Official website of the Film Bureau of Azerbaijan (Not available link) . The appeal date is January 6, 2014. Archived on March 7, 2016.
Literature
- Leyli and Majnun
- Nizami Ganjavi. Leyli and Majnun. For the 840th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi . Translation from Farsi, foreword and comments by Rustam Aliyev. / Editor A. V. Starostin. - B .: Elm, 1981. - 388 p. - 4000 copies
Links
- Jean-Pierre Guinhut. The Man Who Loved Too Much. The Legend of Leyli and Majnun (English) // Azerbaijan International: magazine. - 1998. - No. 6.3 . - P. 33-38 .