This great ability to love was not to perish in lifelong separation, but rather to flourish, for it was placed in him for a reason:
Mejnun's love was also seen as a preparation for Divine love. Earthly beauty is like a curtain which hides Divine beauty, whose brilliance could not be borne by the human eye.
By practising earthly love, man prepares himself for the divine. According to the Persian mystic Aynulqudat, executed at Hamadan in 1132, Providence wanted Mejnun to practise with the love of Leyla in order to dedicate him later to Divine Love, as if he were a steed destined for a king and first ridden by others until he was tamed and trained.
In that vast empty desert, Mejnun thinks only of love's meaning and why it was given to humanity. He scorns people, unworthy of true love:
Love which is not eternal
is a toy of youthful lechery.
Love is that which doth not diminish,
which goeth back not one step
as long as it lasteth.
This love is not amusing fantasy
destined to disappear for ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment