Tell the madman Qais to nourish/Sadness with the joys he’s seen./Let Layla’s camel feed upon/His heart’s sweet buds while they’re still green.
-Umrao Jan Ada, Mirza Hadi Ruswa, from a Ghazal recited at a Mushaira
The drovers thought us Majnūn, Crazy, for wanting to ride the Darb because we loved their desert. Qais wanted Layla because he loved her sweet buds. But when our camels pushed into acacia canopies to feed, there were no buds. Only thorns, and the grass too was dry.