The journey back to Qays homeland was long and torturous for him. By the position of the sun, moon and stars he found his way to his village. Every night that Qays spent in the deserts and forests that he had to pass thorough he wrote a poem for his beloved Layla and tore up the pages letting the wind lift the torn pages and carry them to any place the wind wanted.
The trip back to Qays village took two weeks instead of two months, Qays did not rest during the nights or the days. For 15 days and nights Qays walked through the wilderness and rode through the deserts, lamenting his separation for Layla and the loss of his mother. Every village that he passed through labeled him as a crazy man, as a Majnun. Qays had no care for the thoughts of people, to them he seemed like a wild man roaming the land, speaking of the beauties of the world that reminded him of his Layla and deepened his love for her. The story of the man called Majnun spread far across the lands, it was said that Majnun walked with the wild beasts of the forests and the deserts and that they respected and protected him from the dangers of the wild and the dangers of man.
When Qays finally reached his home he was so different to what his past self that he was not accepted as Qays until he showed them proof of his identity through memories. No possessions could have shown his identity as they were all given away on his journey home. Qaysâ family were so worried for their reputation that for months they attempted to hold him captive in his home to hide his craziness from the villagers. But Qays always found a way to escape, he would stand in the desert and listen to the winds shouting the name of his beloved, of Layla, then he would listen to the sounds of the wind as though they spoke to him. Once when he was asked what he heard on the winds he replied,
âI hear the voice of my beloved sing my name in longing, asking me to return to herâ
â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦..
Far from Qays, Layla sat in silence like a caged bird longing for her freedom. She sat in her gardens day and night listening to the sounds of the winds and the sounds of her Majnun, answering from her heart. The sudden loss of Laylaâs voice created questions that only Layla could answer, though she refused to. Laylaâs father sat day and night wondering at his daughterâs sudden withdrawal from the world around her, he spent many hours watching Layla as she stared into the night sky. At times Layla would suddenly smile as though the sun had shown its face in the midst of the night and at other times she would weep as though the sun was hidden behind the clouds, never to return. Despite this the beauty of Layla grew day by day, she shone brighter than any light, pure and innocent.
Layla herself was unaware of the scrutiny of her kin and maybe it was because of this that she missed the warning signs of her true separation from Qays. As she spent her every second in the thoughts of Qays and their love for one another, Layla did not notice the doors of her cage being opened in the hopes of an equally beautiful mate being found for her. Laylaâs parents set competitions for men who were hoping to win the fair Princess, the Queen of beauty, Layla.
It was in this way that the separation of Qays and Layla became official.
In the months that Qays was gone, a husband was found for Layla in the hopes that her voice would be found again.
Her voice was never found and the inner beauty that shone like the sun slowly dimmed, until it was no longer visible.
Layla went from being the prisoner of a home to being a prisoner within herself.