What then
I bought a book about the Discourses of Rumi in Turkey, and there was something in it that’s been haunting me ever since I’ve read those words.
Rumi was recounting a part of the story of Laila and Majnun:
It is related that a certain king summoned Majnun before him.
“What has happened to you? What has befallen you?” the king inquired. “You have disgraced yourself, forsaken your hearth and home, become wasted and utterly destroyed. What is Laila? What beauty is hers? I will show you many beautiful and lovely girls. Name your ransom and I will bestow them upon you.”
When they were brought to court, Majnun and the lovely girls were duly introduced. Majnun kept his head cast down, staring in front of him.
“Well now, lift up your head and look!” the king commanded.
“I am afraid,” Majnun replied. “My love for Laila is a drawn sword. If I raise my head, that blade will strike it off.”
The other girls also had eyes and lips and hair. What then had he found in Laila to come to such a state?
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