Arabic · name · People & Roles

Qais

क़ैस
said qais
also written: Majnun
Meaning

The real name of the legendary Arab lover whose obsessive love for Laila drove him mad, earning him the epithet 'Majnun' (the possessed one).

Usage & notes

Poets invoke Qais as the original, true-named lover before madness claimed him; he stands for love so total it dissolves the self. Iqbal uses the Qais-Laila pair as a figure for the seeker annihilated in the Beloved.