After reading a translation of Nizami's treatment of this legend, Lord Byron dubbed it the "Romeo and Juliet of the East."
This legend was first translated into English by Isaac D'Israeli, father of Benjamin Disraeli. One character in this legend gashes his blanched arm in several spots to extract one drop of blood because a fat man ate his lunch every day for months. Another character in this legend dies the instant she realizes her half-dead acquaintance has fused with a Saharan tree. The male lead in this legend rests his head on an ass and his feet on a gazelle, while living naked in a cave. In this legend, the basis for the third poem of the Khamsa, a man retreats to the wilderness in his ecstatic love for a woman whose name means (*) "Night," whom he never manages to touch until after death. After reading a translation of Nizami's treatment of this legend, Lord Byron dubbed it the "Romeo and Juliet of the East." For 10 points, name this Persian legend about Qays ibn al-Mulawwah, who goes mad over his love for his cousin.
This legend was first translated into English by Isaac D'Israeli, father of Benjamin Disraeli.
Layla and Majnun [or Majnun Layla]