Layla Iyo Qays - The Greatest Love Story Ever!

[Bess.]

Originally posted by Xu:

quote:

I love that too. But have you noticed that they are a tad racist and misogynistic, even if it is related by a woman? All the women are committing adultery with

black

evil ugly men. All the villains seem to be black? :eek:

lol....evil black man.... :rolleyes: ...u wouldn't believe what this proff. told us were the origins of the black race in in this comparative religion class...."he said that they originated as a result of someone (fornicating) in nabi noah's arc....and breaking the rules...and the punishment was a black child to remind them of thier follies"....funny huh....u can imagine what happened after that comment was said....it wasn't pleasant for him...

[Pacifist]

Bilan sis

Since you know the story do you mind of you can tell me about ali and cawrala please if you don't mind or where i can find the book or something dear.

[bilan]

sure but i do not have the somali version, i have the english version, i get it as a gift, i do not even know if it is legal,but what the heck i can photocopy and send a copy of it. and if i am arrested, you better pay the bail . so let me know if you would like that.

and the summary of the story is this:when cawrala did not hear from him, she send him letter, but he did not how to read, and his in-laws found out the love. he was sent another region during the war, he was badly wounded in the war ( war between darawish and british),also cawrala's family found too she was in love back then in somalia it was disgrace for a girl to fell in-love and her father forced her to marry the widower of her sister, she said a lot of poems, telling her father how important love is in a marriage, but she no one listened to her,on her wedding night she got very sick so her husband sent her home after her father promised him(geele) he will marry the younger sister, after cali recovered, he was on his way to xiis,but when he heard she was married he went back, her parents sent for cali and give them the permission to marry, but cawrala died before she saw him. and he died two years later.it is not exactly but the main points

[OG_Girl]

Originally posted by Besbaasa:

u wouldn't believe what this proff. told us were the origins of the black race in in this comparative religion class...."he said that they originated as a result of someone (fornicating) in nabi noah's arc....and breaking the rules...and the punishment was a black child to remind them of thier follies"....funny huh....u can imagine what happened after that comment was said....it wasn't pleasant for him..

Allah!!do you really have this too in University level!!!! we had this story in school I think I was grade one . Was about sam(every one except black) and Haam or 7aam (Black race)! I used to wonder what about Asians !!! I thought was just Arab tale but seems is universal :confused:

 

Salam

[NGONGE]

Originally posted by Xu:

quote:Originally posted by besbaaso:

if u luv arabian lit. u have probably read the "alif layla wa layle" or the one thousand and one nights tales.....i luve arabic fairy tales....found an old copy at this tiny book store near the university....it is called tales from the arabian nights....by n.j.dawood....

I love that too. But have you noticed that they are a tad racist and misogynistic, even if it is related by a woman? All the women are committing adultery with

black

evil ugly men. All the villains seem to be black? :eek:

 

When I was younger I used to love the story of Qays and Leila. However, such mindless unjustified love doesn't do it for me anymore. That's why I can't stand Romeo, both these men were in love with Love. Obsessions like that don't move me emotionally. I can't sympathise with someone's love, if I don't understand it.

The blacks in the stories are black slaves. I wont go into the morality of it, however, you need to remember that these stories were written at a time when slavery was rife in the Muslim world and most slaves were black. Ergo, black slaves were mentioned in a bad light.

 

لا تشتري العبد الا والعصا معه ان العبيد لانجاس مناكيد

 

 

الكلب كلب ولو طوقته بالذهب والعبد عبد ولو عليته بالرتب

 

The above verses, subject to the correction of Al Motanabi fans here, were, if memory doesn’t fail me, written about a black ruler of Egypt.

The poet is being outright racist here and saying that a dog will remain a dog even if you put a golden leash on it, likewise, a slave will always be a slave despite the elevation of his position.

[Strawberry_Xu]

Originally posted by NGONGE:

The blacks in the stories are black slaves. I wont go into the morality of it, however, you need to remember that these stories were written at a time when slavery was rife in the Muslim world and most slaves were black. Ergo, black slaves were mentioned in a bad light.

Yes I know that, but what struck me was the prevalence of women cheating on their husbands with black men. The vivid (and somewhat exasperated) descriptions of the slaves' ugliness and monstrosity by the arab male characters sound a little insecure to me. I've always found it funny how the masculinity of arab characters was addressed in these tales. It's interesting how the adulterous women chose these slaves over their royal husbands. In any other story, slaves were always depicted as weak, pitiful and undesirable. That's why it's funny that the black slaves are repesented as sexually appealing to an extent.

 

But then again, I've only ever read the Burton translation, which does cater to the prejuidices of that 19th century. So I'm not entirely sure how faithful a translation his version is.

[NGONGE]

There has been criticism of Sir Richard Burton’s translation by many Arabic writers and critics. I’ve read about this guy in the past and if memory serves me correctly, legend has it that he spoke over twenty-five languages, of which Somali was one (he allegedly visited Somaliland once). Some argue that Mr Burton was a racist by nature and cite many passages in his books as evidence (not just the Arabian nights). This, though I have no evidence to back me up, I suspect to be true, and having read Alf Leila wa Leila in Arabic I’ve noticed the slight differences in translation. Still, in spite of all of that, it remains a great story (or stories).

[- Femme -]

Why do they all have to die? :rolleyes:

 

I think its disgusting for a man to die out of hearbreak...I guess the metrosexual revolution was going on back then too!

 

Strong, unemotional, fearless---->Wimps, dopes, lovey-dovey, hysterical, :rolleyes:

 

*Oh where Oh where have the REAL men gone? Oh where Oh where can they BE?*

[FatB]

my dear brothers and sister i have come to relise that in this section that the word "love" has been used so liberaly and so causaly that i have been foreced to questions your true intentions.

 

i confess, i am a conservitive and studias person who valuse human compassion and morality. and because of this reason i ask why has this generation adoped such a fasination for this word "love"? why is it spoken in such casual tones that in no way mesure up to the significance of the word.

 

i believe that "love" should be ashed into the ear of mate, and should not be perated infort of a crowd.... well any way thats ny view

 

oyeh before i forget Hello every body, i hope and trust u r all in good health

 

P.S has anyone seen Lander_girl04 lately ????

 

 

Peace

[NGONGE]

^^^^

 

كتمت اسم الحبيب عن العباد

ورددت الصبابة ÙÙŠ Ùؤادي

Ùوا شوقي الا واد خلا

لعلي باسم من اهوا انادي

[Curly]

Originally posted by Muad:

I saw a Somali girl yesterday, and I was first suprised to see her carrying a book. I was suprised because I am a very big fan of books, some may call me a book-worm, anyway, I greeted her and asked her what she was reading?

What I want to know is why you were surprised to see a Somali girl carrying or reading a book?

:confused:

 

What so surprising about it…what are you suggesting...Huh, huh?! :mad:

[Muhammad]

Originally posted by JamaaL-11:

Muad, Cawralla iyo Cali Maax was a classic love story, sparked on board a boat, inspired by one man's good mannerism and stregthened further by his brave saving of a girl. It is story that deserves to be read over and over again. However, like Cali's illiterancy of reading his mother tongue, anyone wishing to read the story must know how to read Somali or learn from the scratch.

 

PS: Muad, I dont remember it well, but I thought Cali was already married when Cawralla fell for him. When he recieved the letter, he must have thought it was about something else. So he took the letter to his wife's father, who then asked him to take it to his son. It was a clever move from the father to inform his son about the matter. Or was it different Muad? I am not sure

Jamaal, walaal waad saxantahay, Cali didn't know about Cawralla's feelings, that is why he when to her father.

 

 

Originally posted by Sue:

What I want to know is why you were surprised to see a Somali girl carrying or reading a book?

:confused:

 

What so surprising about it…what are you suggesting...Huh, huh?! [/QB]

don't get mad sis Sue,

 

the sad fact is that most of our people don't like to read. we like to talk, we enjoy speaking, am afraid I can't say the same about reading. I was't just talking about Somali women.

[Bess.]

sorry to burst ur bubble bro.....but that is not true....alot of somali ppl love to read...and by assuming that they don't u r misjudging and doing a disservice to urself by not believing the best of ur ppl....do u like to read?....if u do....why would u think others wouldn't like the same pleasure of learning.....and if u don't ....don't assume everyone is just like u... :rolleyes:

[Muhammad]

dear sis, it is not a matter of what I believe or want to believe. the facts say that less than 40% of all somalis can read or write. and how much of that 40% do you think actually does read?

 

I love the best for my people, and expect them to be the best amongst the nations, but unless we face the facts, as you said, we will be wronging our own selves.

 

it is true that Somalia, compared to other african and developing countries, is doing well in literacy, but I don't want Us to be comparing ourselves to these countries. It is because I expect more from my people, not less, that I was criticizing them.

[Bess.]

either way that is not the way to go about it....and where did u get ur facts from?....