If I am I, what are you, O beloved? If you are you, what am I, wretched one?
Ger ben ben isem nesin sen ey yâr / V’er sen sen isen neyim men-i zâr
Fuzuli, Layla and Majnun (1535).
In the desert, Layla comes and makes herself known.
Majnun answers with these words.
The one he has burned for over the years stands before him.
But the one he seeks no longer stands there.
If I am I, what are you.
If you are you, what am I.
The two cannot stand at once.
Past a certain point, love
leaves no room for two.
The story can be read as a human love,
and as a path.
In both, the question stays the same.