1.10

sheikh muhammad iqbal was born in sialkot, punjab, british india (now part of pakistan); the eldest of five siblings in a kashmiri family. it is believed that iqbal's family were originally hindu brahmins, but became muslim following his ancestor sahaj ram sapru's conversion to islam, although this version is disputed by some scholars. iqbal's father shaikh nur muhammad was a prosperous tailor, well-known for his devotion to islam, and the family raised their children with deep religious grounding.
iqbal's poetic works are written mostly in persian rather than urdu. among his 12,000 verses of poem, about 7,000 verses are in persian. in 1915, he published his first collection of poetry. while dividing his time between law and poetry, iqbal had remained active in the muslim league. he supported indian involvement in world war i, as well as the khilafat movement and remained in close touch with muslim political leaders such as jinnah. he was a critic of the mainstream indian national congress, which he regarded as dominated by hindus. his other very famous work is “saare jahaan se achha, hindostaan hamaaraa”

this one that i’ve selected is a well-known inspirational piece. i am particularly fond of the lines ‘tu shaheen hain, parwaaz….”


sitaaro.n se aage jahaa.N aur bhii hai.n
abhii ishq ke imtihaa.N aur bhii hai.n

tihii zi.ndagii se nahii.n ye fazaae.n
yahaa.N saikaDo.n kaaravaa.N aur bhii hai.n
[tihii = empty]

agar kho gayaa ek nasheman to kyaa Gam
maqaamaat-e-aah-o-fuGaa.N aur bhii hai.n
[nasheman=nest ; maqaamaat-e-aah-o-fuGaa.N = place(opportunity) for lamentation]

tuu shaahii.n hai paravaaz hai kaam teraa
tere saamane aasmaa.N aur bhii hai.n
[shaahi.n = falcon; paravaaz = flying]

isii roz-o-shab me.n ulajh kar na rah jaa
ke tere zamiin-o-makaa.N aur bhii hai.n

gaye din ki tanhaa thaa mai.n a.njuman me.n
yahaa.N ab mere raazadaa.N aur bhii hai.n
[raazadaan= confidante, trustworthy friend]

qana'at na kar aalam-e-ra.ng-o-buu par
chaman aur bhii aashiyaa.N aur bhii hai.n
[qana'at = to be contented]