“Medžnun i Lejla” pred oltarom politike
“Layla and Majnun” in Front of the Altar of Politics

Summary/Abstract: The well known and ever popular love ballad about Majnun and Lajla (Madman and Layla) is a repeated and widely used leitmotiv in Arabic literature in general, but particularly in modern times. However, only Sallah Abd al-Sabur managed to reinterpret this ballad in a very innovative way in the middle of the 20th century. First of all, Abd al-Sabur chose a poetic drama as a medium to his reinterpretation, which is a very unique and uncommon feature. Furthermore, taking the frame story about tragic love between two lovers, he brilliantly portraits all the flaws and the hypocrisy of his time when the political regime had supreme domination while an individual was reduced to the most banal level of existence. The power of politics is immense, so that every attempt of artistic engagement and effort is naïve and ridiculed. Moreover, in a world of political canon, the deepest places of human intimacy are endangered; love is impossible and this is the most powerful message of Abd al-Sabur’s poetic drama. In these terms, his drama Layla and Majnun is an exceptional epitaph to love and the legendary romantic times.

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