Everybody during the days of his mortal life meets at least one person who is an icon of wisdom, knowledge, and intellect in his eyes. Shamoon Sir has been such an inspiration for me. But this passage isn’t about who Shamoon Sir is and what he does. Rather, this passage is about one specific incident regarding him that inspired me a lot.
It so happened that, during those peaceful days we used to sit besides Shamoon Sir and have fruitful discussions. He is a very well-read man and has a collection of mesmerizing tales and ideas about great philosophers and their philosophy. On one such day, when I was in the mood of listening to deep philosophy, I asked him:
” Dear Shamoon Sir, people talk a lot about true love without ever telling what it actually is. Can you please make me understand true love?“
He smiled first, gave the question a thought, and began to tell me a story that will forever be embedded In my mind:
Once, the famous lover Majnu was so grief-stricken and woeful owing to the separation of his beloved Laila, that tears never ever stopped dropping from his wet eyes. He was told of a vast forest where Laila was last seen. He entered the jungle and began searching for her, all the while crying for her and calling her name. Every corner, every clearing, and every bush of the jungle was searched by him, but all his attempts were in vain and his efforts bore no fruit. Despite all of this he never gave up and continued searching like a madman for years until he had searched the whole of the forest ten times. All the while, God was witnessing all this from above and at last He pitied this woebegone man and decided to help Majnu.
Unaware of everything else going on in the world, poor Majnu was still busy searching for a sign of his beloved Laila when he found God Infront of him. Still, Majnu was so preoccupied that he didn’t recognize God.
“Who are you and why are you standing in my way?” Asked Majnu with dreary eyes.
“ I am God, my child. I have seen everything and have come to help you.” Came the reply.
“ If you are God, you must surely know where my Laila is. Do tell me where my beloved is.” Majnu inquired.
” Are you not satisfied that you found your God, when who you were searching for was a mere mortal?” God asked him, but Majnu was adamant.
“ No, I only want my Laila.” He replied.
“ I am the creator of Laila and everything else. I can grant you even more beautiful things than Laila, will you still prefer Laila over her creator?” God asked yet again and Majnu’s answer was the same. He wanted only Laila, even though God could create a thousand Lailas for him. That was true love, and God was testing him therefore He granted him his Laila.
When Shamoon Sir finished the short tale, I was touched by its simplicity yet it had a profound meaning in it. Such true love is rare nowadays but who knows, someone even in this chaotic world might be experiencing such a love silently and keeping it a secret because if people discover beautiful things, they ruin them.
Beautifully narrated !
I’m in accord with you in the last line that true love is rare but there are many who kept it secret because of many societal and other reasons. “True love is rare, and it’s the only thing that gives life real meaning”(Nicholas Sparks)
Bohot khub