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They sang the loves of Antar and of Ibla, of Leila and of Mejnoun; the romance of the desert, tales of passion and of plunder, of the rescue of women and the capture of camels, of heroes with a lion heart, and heroines brighter and softer than the moon. The beautiful daughter of Besso, pensive and abstracted, played with her beads in the pavilion of her grandfather.
Is not this princess a daughter of that accursed Giaour, that dog of dogs, Hunniades? and has he not offered for her ransom our brave Karam Bey himself, and his chosen warriors? and has not Amurath said nay? And why has he said nay? Because his son, the Prince of Mahomed, instead of fighting against the Giaours, has looked upon one of their women, and has become a Mejnoun. Pah!
How nearly this belief approaches the Christian doctrine, will be easily seen. Persian poetry is nearly all in the form of love stories, of which the "Misfortunes of Mejnoun and Leila" represent the Eastern Romeo and Juliet, and may have been known to Shakespeare in the writing of his own drama. Egypt shared with ancient Babylon and Assyria in the civilization of its primitive literature.
It was his ambition to enter the lists with his uncle, by composing poems on similar subjects. Opinions are divided as to whether he succeeded as well as his master, but none can exceed him in sweetness and pathos. His version of the sad tale of Mejnoun and Leila, the Romeo and Juliet of the East, is confessedly superior to that of Nizami.
Name then at once, my daughter, the piastres that you will give; for the prince, the brother of queens, may to-morrow be dust. 'How so? eagerly inquired Eva. 'He is a Mejnoun, replied Amalek. 'After the man named Baroni departed for El Khuds, the Prince of Franguestan would not rest until he visited Gibel Mousa, and I said "Yes" to all his wishes.
Even down to a modern date, the Persians have not deserted their favorites, and these celebrated themes of verse reappear, from time to time, under new auspices. Each of these poems is expressive of a peculiar character. That of Khosru and Shireen may be considered exclusively the Persian romance; that of Mejnoun the Arabian; and that of Yussuf and Zuleika the sacred.
"I am a horse-thief and all my life I have occupied myself with stealing and snatching horses, night and day, and my name is Ghessan, surnamed the plague of all stables and horses. I heard tell of this stallion, that he was with King Afridoun in the land of the Greeks, where they had named him El Catoul and surnamed him El Mejnoun.
They are, the "History of Khosru and Shireen," the "Loves of Yussuf and Zuleika," and the "Misfortunes of Mejnoun and Leila." So powerful is the charm attached to these stories, that it appears to have been considered almost the imperative duty of all the poets to compose a new version of the old, familiar, and beloved traditions.
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