2021-02-14
Love in Saudi Arabia
In this article, we will share local love stories that became tourists attractions which you can visit in your journey around Saudi Arabia.
Close to a town called Uyun Al Jawa, there lies two rocks. Magnificent rocks known for their deep history and epic love story, their names are Antara’s rock and Al Naslaa rock. Many historians and anthropologists visited the area over the years for its history of embracing many civilizations as well as its old rock carvings and ancient writings. Anatara was a warrior known for his courage and chivalry as well as his poetry, in one of the known verses he wrote about his love for his cousin Abla, he said;
“And surely I recollected you, even when the lances were drinking my blood, and bright swords of Indian make were dripping with my blood.I wished to kiss the swords, for verily they shone as bright as the flash of the foretooth of your smiling mouth.”Translated by Frank Ernest Johnson
Antara’s rock
In the Hai’l region of Saudi, there lies two mountains known as Aga and Salma named after two lovers.
Aga and Salma’s story goes back to the Pre-Islamic era. There are many different accounts about the course of the story, but all agreed that Aga and Salma’s families refused their love. Instead of the story ending in marriage, it ended in their deaths on these mountains. And the mountains have been named Aga and Salma ever since.
Perhaps the most famous love story that spread across the Arab world was the story of Qais, Manjnun Layla (Driven Mad by His Love For Layla). Not only did the story spread in the Arab peninsula, it also spread among the Indian community according to Al Arabiyah’s blog, when it noticed an increase in the number of visitors to Mount Toubad from the indian community.
In Al-Aflaj governorate lies Mount Toubad, where Qais and Layla spent their youth herding goats together and fell in love. One of the most famous areas in the mountain is Qais’ cave, who to this day attracts visitors and tourists.
Qais wrote poems professing his love for Layla, one of the most famous verses is;
“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
