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Crazy For Love: Layla and the Mad Poet

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05/09/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Crazy For Love: Layla and the Mad Poet

Anthony Sattin on Layla and Majnun, the poem that inspired Eric Clapton's seminal pop song

Anthony Sattin on what is said by some to be the most beautiful poem in the Arab world, Layla and Majnun, which was also the inspiration for Eric Clapton's seminal pop song.

The inspiration for Eric Clapton's seminal pop song, 'Layla and Majnun' is said to be the most beautiful poem in the Arab world and beyond.   
Pre-empting Romeo and Juliet by centuries, Layla and Majnun is the classic Middle East love story. Sitting at the heart of pre-Islamic Arab culture, its message is universal and it has since crossed borders and transcended language barriers even spreading as far as India and Turkey.
Based on a tale of thwarted love and poetry sent on the wind, Anthony Sattin tells the tale of its creator - Majnun -  whose name is the word for 'mad' or 'crazy' in Arabic and tries to find out if he, or the object of his love, were real or imagined, fact or fiction.  

Producer: Sara Jane Hall.

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