Qays and Layla fell in love with each other when they were young, but when they grew up, Layla's father did not allow them to be together.
Qays became obsessed with her. Long before Nizami, the legend circulated in anecdotal forms in Iranian akhbar. The anecdotes are mostly very short, only loosely connected, and show little or no plot development. Nizami collected both secular and mystical sources about Majnun and portrayed a vivid picture of the famous lovers.
Many imitations have been contrived of Nizami's work, several of which are original literary works in their own right, including Amir Khusrow Dehlavi 's Majnun o Leyli completed in , and Jami 's version, completed in , amounting to 3, couplets.
Other notable reworkings are by Maktabi Shirazi , Hatefi died , and Fuzuli died , which became popular in Ottoman Turkey and India. Sir William Jones published Hatefi's romance in Calcutta in The popularity of the romance following Nizami's version is also evident from the references to it in lyrical poetry and mystical masnavis βbefore the appearance of Nizami's romance, there are just some allusions to Layla and Majnun in divans. The number and variety of anecdotes about the lovers also increased considerably from the twelfth century onwards.
Nizami's work has been translated into many languages. Qays ibn al-Mullawah fell in love with Layla al-Aamiriya. He soon began composing poems about his love for her, mentioning her name often. His obsessive effort to woo the girl caused some locals to call him "Majnun", or mentally unhinged. When he asked for her hand in marriage, her father refused because it would be a scandal for Layla to marry someone considered mentally unbalanced. Soon after, Layla was forcibly married to another noble and rich merchant belonging to the Thaqif tribe in Ta'if.
