Scarcely less celebrated than the story of Majnún and Laylá--among the
Arabs, at least--is that of the poet Jamíl and the beauteous damsel
Buthayna. It is said that Jamíl fell in love with her while he was yet a
boy, and on attaining manhood asked her in marriage, but her father
refused. He then composed verses in her honour and visited her secretly
at Wádi-'l Kura, a delightful valley near Medína, much celebrated by the
poets. Jamíl afterwards went to Egypt, with the intention of reciting to
Abdu-'l Azíz Ibn Marwán a poem he had composed in his honour. This
governor admitted Jamíl into his presence, and, after hearing his
eulogistic verses and rewarding him generously, he asked him concerning
his love for Buthayna, and was told of his ardent and painful passion.
On this Abdu-'l Azíz promised to unite Jamíl to her, and bade him stay
at Misr (Cairo), where he assigned him a habitation and furnished him
with all he required. But Jamíl died there shortly after, A.H. 82 (A.D.
701).
The following narrative is given in the _Kitabal-Aghání_, on the
authority of the famous poet and philologist Al-Asma'í, who flourished
in the 8th century:
A person who was present at the death of Jamíl in Egypt relates that the
poet called him and said: "If I give you all I leave after me, will you
perform one thing which I shall enjoin you?" "By Allah, yes," said the
other. "When I am dead," said Jamíl, "take this cloak of mine and put it
aside, but keep everything else for yourself. Then go to Buthayna's
tribe, and when you are near them, saddle this camel of mine and mount
her; then put on my cloak and rend it, and mounting on a hill, shout out
these verses: 'A messenger hath openly proclaimed the death of Jamíl. He
hath now a dwelling in Egypt from which he will never return. There was
a time when, intoxicated with love, he trained his mantle proudly in the
fields and palm-groves of Wádi-'l Kura! Arise, Buthayna! and lament
aloud: weep for the best of all thy lovers!'" The man did what Jamíl
ordered, and had scarcely finished the verses when Buthayna came forth,
beautiful as the moon when it appears from behind a cloud. She was
muffled in a cloak, and on coming up to him said: "Man, if what thou
sayest be true, thou hast killed me; if false, thou hast dishonoured
me!" [i.e. by associating her name with that of a strange man, still
alive.] He replied: "By Allah! I only tell the truth," and he showed her
Jamíl's mantle, on seeing which she uttered a loud cry and smote her
face, and the women of the tribe gathered around, weeping with her and
lamenting her lover's death. Her strength at length failed her, and she
swooned away. After some time she revived, and said [in verse]: "Never
for an instant shall I feel consolation for the loss of Jamíl! That time
shall never come. Since thou art dead, O Jamíl, son of Mamar! the pains
of life and its pleasures are alike to me." And quoth the lover's
messenger: "I never saw man or woman weep more than I saw that
day."--Abridged from Ibn Khallikan's great Biographical Dictionary as
translated by Baron De Slane, vol. i, pp. 331-326.