At the Tomb of Haji Syed Sakhi Sultan, Manghopir

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

I first met Layla

Far away

She came to me

She spoke to me

I was entranced

She changed my life

She steered me away from the path expected

She steered me to a paradise island

She steered me to a new destiny

To a life lived dangerously

Because I believed in the possibility

Because of Layla

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

I met her again

A different face

A different name

A different place

A different gain

She awakened my senses yet more deeply

She taught me what it was to feel with all my heart

She allowed me a glimpse of being truly alive

A foretaste of paradise

She made me live dangerously

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

I met her a third time

Layla

Layla

The Layla of my heart

We wrote letters

Like the first Majnun and Layla in the times of old

Our friendship grew solid

Though thousands of miles apart

And when, eventually I met her face-to-face

It transformed into something deeper

I held her hand and helped her

I changed her life and destiny

I showed that love can move mountains

It moved mountains for her

She still lives in the town I took her to

Yet I do not

My Layla

My Layla

My Layla

My Layla who married another

My Layla who could not return my love

My Layla

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

I met her again

And again

And again

And again

And again

And again over the years

But I could not open my heart to her

Three times opened

Three times hurt

Layla was closed to me forever

Yet still

Deep within

I pined for her

Like Yahweh for his Asherah

Allah for his Allat

Krishna for his Radha

I pined for my unattainable Layla

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

And then I began a journey

A slow painful pilgrimage of opening myself myself up again

And again, I met Layla on the road

She held my hand

I held hers

Then we parted having transformed each other

But soon after I met her again

A different face

A different name

A different place

A different gain

And again a different face, name

Place, gain

And again face, name, place, gain

Face, name, place, gain

Face, name, place, gain

My heart was open once more

I was ready again to receive Layla

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

And now we have met her again

Distant

Hidden behind a lattice screen

Inaccessible as Laylas always, always, always must be

My Lady Hodierna of Tripoli

My Héloïse d’Argenteuil

My Juliet Capulet

My Tatyana Larina

My Elvira Madigan

I travelled to her town

I walked the streets

I kissed this wall and that wall

Not for love of the town

But of the One who dwells within in

But still she is distant

I pray that she comes closer and

Inch by painful inch she does

And through her approach

She teaches

For Layla is Asherah

Layla is Allat

Layla is Radha

Layla is the other half which we always seek

Layla, like Majnun, is union with God

Love

Light

One without the other is never complete

A male god is but a set of rules without his female to humanise them

A female god is but blind emotions without her male to calm them

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

Will I ever meet my Layla?

Will I ever hold her in my arms?

Will I ever taste the bliss that I dream of each and every night?

Will I ever achieve that union with Layla that is the goal of us all?

I do not know

But I know that she compels me onwards

For this town, the town of Layla

Is the whole world

And I must travel in it

I must kiss this wall and that wall

I must experience

Not for love of the town

But for love of the one who dwells within this town

I pass by this town, the town of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the town that has enraptured my heart

But of the One who dwells within this town

Written 13/02/2023 Shrine of Tomb of Haji Syed Sakhi Sultan, Manghopir, Pakistan

Copyright © 2023, Matthew E. Pointon