Analysis of Laila and the Khalifa.
Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi 1207 (Balkh) – 1273 (Konya )
The Khalifa said to Laila, "Art thou really she
For whom Majnun lost his head and went distracted?
Thou art not fairer than many other fair ones."
She replied, "Be silent; thou art not Majnun!"
If thou hadst Majnun's eyes,
The two worlds would be within thy view.
Thou art in thy senses, but Majnun is beside himself.
In love to be wide awake is treason.
The more a man is awake, the more he sleeps (to love);
His (critical) wakefulness is worse than slumbering.
Our wakefulness fetters our spirits,
Then our souls are a prey to divers whims,
Thoughts of loss and gain and fears of misery.
They retain not purity, nor dignity, nor lustre,
Nor aspiration to soar heavenwards.
That one is really sleeping who hankers after each whim
And holds parley with each fancy.
Scheme | AXBC XXXCXX XXAXBXA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 001011111101 11111101010 111101101011 1011101111 11111 011110111 1101101110101 0111101110 0101101011111 11001111100 101101010 11011011101 11101011100 10111001100110 1010111 1111010111011 01101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 772 |
Words | 141 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 6, 7 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 199 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 61 Views
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"Laila and the Khalifa." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28029/laila-and-the-khalifa.>.
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