Page 176 - The Book of Rumi

Majnoun

great many love stories have been told through all time, but the story of
A Majnoun and his love for Laily is exceptionally renowned the world over.
Majnoun had fallen ill, and he knew exactly why: he had been separated
from his beloved Laily far too long. The torture of not being in her pres-
ence had demoralized Majnoun, weakening his already frail body. He coughed
incessantly and breathed only with great diffi culty, unable to eat or drink. His
friends eventually called a physician, who promised to do what he could to
restore Majnoun to health. After thoroughly examining him, the physician
announced that diphtheria had struck the lonesome lover.
“So, what’s the solution?” the friends inquired impatiently.
“I know of no other treatment but to bleed him!” decreed the doctor.
“Unless we rid him of the infected blood, he won’t even survive the night.”
Immediately, the physician sent for the local bleeder, for this procedure needed
an expert.
Majnoun, who had fallen into a semiconscious state, heard the physician’s
plan for treatment and made a great effort to sit up in his sickbed. The doctor
tried to dissuade him from expending energy while attempting to lash down
his arm with a strong piece of cloth, preparing him for the swift, razor-sharp
cuts that would initiate the bleeding procedure, but Majnoun signaled that
he wished to speak. “Leave me alone!” he yelled out as he shook his arm free.
“But my good man, you won’t survive the night!” the physician tried to
convince him.
“So be it! If my dilapidated body wishes to leave this earth, then that’s
what shall happen.”
The friends, the bleeder, and the physician, who all knew that Majnoun
had shown genuine courage in several escapades he’d been party to in the past,
wondered if he’d now lost his nerve and was afraid to be cut.
“Majnoun,” called out an old friend. “Since when are you afraid of a few
tiny cuts? You, who I know has faced down wild beasts on several occasions in
unknown lands, why be scared of this?”

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