Remembering Allama Iqbal

Har lahza hai momim kee..by
Noor-JehaN

Vohi mairi kam naseebi, vohi tairi bay niyaazi
Mairay kaam khucch na aaya, yeh kamal e nae nawazi........


the best part is that the joker is fully aware of his genius........

I am in awe of Iqbal. And i am irritated with myself that i am in awe of a man whose ideas i dont much care for:

Consider:

Ik iztirab e musalsal ghayaab ho kay huzoor
Main khud kahoon to mairi daastaan daraz nahin

or

Ghawwas e mohabbat ka Allah nighaybaan ho
Har qatra e darya main, darya ki hai gehrayee...................................



what else can you do but be in awe of someone who can write these words ???

Re #87 (anil)

Jee Bilkul - there is one that I am aware of and still possess in its ``bikhraa` hooa``` format. This collection of Allama Iqbal`s famous works is known as, ``Kulyatae` Iqbal``. Kulyaa`t means a collection of significant poetical works. My version of the Kulyatae` Iqbal includes: Bang-ae-Draa (The Call of the Bell), Balae` Jibreel (Gabriel`s Wing), Zarbae` Kaleem (The Rod of the Moses) and Armaghanae` Hijaz (Gift from Hijaz). I have also found Javed Namaa` in some of them, but I was never into it. I am not positive if his son ever got a chance to read that. Iqbal had named it after his son who did not deserve it. I have not seen a translation anywhere floating around. I do recommend that you check out online stuff on wikipedia. I was surprised to find so much detail on the background of Iqbal`s poetry and philosophy. Hope that helps.

On a different note: After reading some ignorant and arrogant tall claims of some interactors, I was forced to invest some time and compile the following from wikipedia. Each collection has certain influence and theme. We cannot summarize an influence from one set of poems/ghazals and say that is applicable to the rest. Such tall claims would qualify for nothing but inaccurate analysis.

Inquirer: I hope the following gives you a perspective and addresses your concerns.


List of Major Poetical Works by Iqbal

1. Bang-i-Dara was Iqbal`s first Urdu poetry book and was published in 1924. An anthology of poems written over a period of twenty years, it is divided into three parts:

1. Poems written up to 1905, the year Iqbal left for England. These include nursery, pastoral and patriotic verses. ``Taranayi Hindi`` (``The Song of India``) has become an anthem, and is sung in India on Independence Day.

2. Poems written between 1905 and 1908, the period he spent as a student in Europe. He praises the rationality and pragmatism of the West, but complains about its overt materialism, loss of spirituality, and narrow patriotism, which promises suffering. (The first world war proved him right.) This situation strengthened his belief in the universal values of Islam, and he resolved to use his poetry to stir Muslims to their renaissance.

3. Poems written between 1908 and 1923, in which Iqbal reminds Muslims of their past greatness and calls for the brotherhood and unity that transcend territorial boundaries. He urges the ummah to live a life of servitude to God, of sacrifice, and of action so that they may attain once more the high civilisation that was once theirs. ``Yam Awr Syair`` (``The Poet and the Cradle``), ``Shikwa`` (``Complaint to God``), ``Jawab-i-Shikwa`` (``Response to a Complaint``), ``Kiezr-i-Rah`` (``Guidance``) and ``Tulu`i Islam`` (``Light of Islam``) are considered among the greatest Islamic poems. Love and the self are important themes throughout this section.

2. Bal-i-Jibril (Urdu: با ل جبر یل; or Gabriel`s Wing; published in Urdu, 1935) was a philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal, the great poet-philosopher of Indian Subcontinent.

His first book of poetry in Urdu, Bang-i-Dara (1924) was followed by Bal-i-Jibril in 1935 and Zarb-i-Kalim in 1936. Bal-i-Jibril is the peak of Iqbal`s Urdu poetry. It consists of ghazals, poems, quatrains, epigrams and displays the vision and intellect necessary to foster sincerity and firm belief in the heart of the ummah and turn its members into true believers.

Some of the verses had been written when Iqbal visited Britain, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, France, Spain and Afghanistan.

The work contains 15 ghazals addressed to God and 61 ghazals and 22 quatrains dealing the ego, faith, love, knowledge, the intellect and freedom. The poet recalls the past glory of Muslims as he deals with contemporary political problems.

3. Zarb-i-Kalim (or The Rod of the Moses) was a philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal in Urdu, the great poet-philosopher of Indian Subcontinent. It was published in 1936 two years before his death. [This is my favorite.]

4. Armaghan-i-Hijaz (Urdu: ارمغان حجاز; or Gift from Hijaz; published in Persian, 1938) was a philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal, the great poet-philosopher of Islam.

This work, published a few months after the poet`s death, is a fairly small volume containing verses in both Persian and Urdu. It is incomplete, although this is not readily apparent to the reader; for Iqbal left some gaps in the book which he intended to fill when he made the pilgrimage to Mecca. The title means ``Gift from the Hijaz.`` He had long wished to undertake the journey to the Arabian Peninsula to perform the Hajj and to visit the tomb of the Prophet, but was prevented from doing so by continuous illness during the last years of his life. Iqbal began composing the Armaghan as a gift to take to the Hijaz, intending to publish it on his return to India as a ``Gift from the Hijaz`` to his countrymen.

In this, his last work, we find the poet more withdrawn and introspective than previously. The poems are shorter and more personal. The impression left is that the author is taking a last look at the world around him before leaving it behind. The themes are largely the familiar ones, but the treatment is as fresh, forceful and delicate as ever. Iqbal`s outspokenness, even when addressing God, in criticizing human evils and in his hatred of injustice and oppression and his devotion to the Prophet and his companions, all remain undiminished. As a summing-up of the ideas and feelings of a great thinker, the Armaghan merits a special place among the literary classics of the twentieth century.

It is divided into two parts, the first containing Persian, the second Urdu poems. The Persian verses, all in ruba`i form, are divided into five groups and presents God the Truth, the Prophet, the Muslim nation, Mankind and the ``Companions on the Path to God.``

The second part comprises Urdu poems composed between 1935 and the time of his death and include a poem describing the ideological confusion of the poet`s time and its impact on Muslims.

In this work, Iqbal touches on practically every question with which he had been preoccupied during his life of intellectual striving and literary achievement.

5. Pas Chih Bayad Kard ay Aqwan-i-Sharq (or What should then be done O people of the East) was a philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal in Persian, the great poet-philosopher of Indian Subcontinent. It was published in 1936.

Pas Chih Bayad Kard ay Aqwan-i-Sharq includes the mathnavi Musafir. Iqbal`s Rumi, the master, utters this glad tiding ``East awakes from its slumbers`` ``Khwab-i ghaflat``. Inspiring detailed commentary on voluntary poverty and free man, followed by an exposition of the mysteries of Islamic laws and sufic perceptions is given. He laments the dissention among the Indian as well as Muslim nations. Mathnavi Musafir, is an account of a journey to Afghanistan. In the mathnavi the people of the Frontier (Pathans) are counseled to learn the ``secret of Islam`` and to ``build up the self`` within themselves.

6. Javed Nama The Book of Eternity or Javed Nama is a Persian book of poetry written by Allama Muhammad Iqbal and published in 1932. It is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Iqbal. It is inspired from Dante`s Divine Comedy and just as Dante`s guide was Virgil, Iqbal is guided by Moulana Rumi. Both of them visit different spheres in the heavens coming across different people. Iqbal uses the pseudonym Zinda Rud for himself in this book.

It was translated into English by Arthur J. Arberry and in German as Dschavidnma Das Buch by Dr. Annemarie Schimmel.

In Javid Nama, Iqbal follows Ibn Arabi, Marri and Dante. Iqbal depicts himself as Zinda Rud (a stream, full of life) guided by Rumi the master, through various heavens and spheres and has the honour of approaching Divinity and coming in contact with divine illuminations. Several problems of life are discussed and answers are provided to them. It is an exceedingly enlivening study. His hand falls heavily on the traitors to their nation like Mir Jafar from Bengal and Mir Sadiq from the Deccan, who were instrumental in the defeat and death of Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daulah of Bengal and Tipu Sultan of Mysore respectively by betraying them for the benefit of the British. Thus, they delivered their country to the shackles of slavery. At the end, by addressing his son Javid, he speaks to the young people at large and provides guidance to the ``new generation``.

7. Zabur-i-Ajam (Persian Psalms) is a philosophical poetry book, written in Persian, of Allama Iqbal, the great poet-philosopher of the Indian Subcontinent. It was published in 1927.

Zabur-i Ajam includes the Mathnavi Gulshan-i Raz-i Jadid and Bandagi Nama. There are four sections. The first two are sequences of ghazals in the classical form and the other two are single long poems. Iqbal forcefully expresses his inner convictions and urges the reader to advance himself to achieve progress and prosperity by discovering and strengthening the self.

The first of the two longer poems is the Gulshan-i Raz-i Jadid (New Garden of Mysteries). It alludes to the Gulshan-i Raz, the treatise on Sufism written in Persian verse by Sa`d ad-Din Mahmud Shabistari. Here Iqbal poses and answers nine questions on philosophical problems such as the nature of discursive thought, of the self, and of the relation between the eternal and the temporal.

The subject of the second poem, the Bandagi Nama (Book of Slavery) is the loss of freedom, particularly spiritual freedom, of an individual or society, and its consequent evils. It is divided into several sections and touches on the music and other arts of enslaved people, their religious tenets and the art of reconstructing free men.

In Zabur-i Ajam, Iqbal`s Persian ghazal is at its best as his Urdu ghazal is in Bal-i Jibril. Here as in other books, Iqbal insists on remembering the past, doing well in the present and preparing for the future. His lesson is that one should be dynamic, full of zest for action and full of love and life. Implicitly, he proves that there is no form of poetry which can equal the ghazal in vigour and liveliness.

8. Payam-i-Mashriq (Urdu: پیامِ مشرق; or Message from the East; published in Persian, 1923) is a philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal, the great poet-philosopher of the Indian Subcontinent.

Payam-i Mashriq is an answer to West-Istlicher Divan by Goethe, the famous German poet. Goethe bemoaned that the West had become too materialistic in outlook and expected that the East would provide a message of hope that would resuscitate spiritual values. A hundred years went by and then Iqbal reminded the West of the importance of morality, religion and civilization by underlining the need for cultivating feeling, ardour and dynamism. He explained that life could, never aspire for higher dimensions unless it learnt of the nature of spirituality.

Consult the link for the history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payam-i-Mashriq

9. Asrar-i-Khudi (Urdu: اسرار خودی; or The Secrets of the Self; published in Persian, 1915) was the first philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal, the great poet-philosopher of Indian Subcontinent. This books deals mainly with the individual, while his second book Rumuz-i-Bekhudi discusses the interaction between individual and society.

Published in 1915, Asrar-i-Khudi (Secrets of the Self) was the first poetry book of Iqbal. Considered by many to be Iqbal`s best book of poetry, it is concerned with the philosophy of religion. In a letter to the poet Girani, Iqbal wrote that the ideas behind the verses had never been expressed before either in the East or in the West. R.A. Nicholson, who translated the Asrar as The Secrets of the Self, says it caught the attention of young Indian Muslims as soon as it was printed. Iqbal wrote this in Persian because he felt the language was well-suited for the expression of these ideas.

In Asrar, Iqbal has explained his philosophy of ``Self``. He proves by various means that the whole universe obeys the will of the ``Self``. Iqbal condemns self-destruction. For him the aim of life is self-relization and self-knowledge. He charts the stages through which the ``Self`` has to pass before finally arriving at its point of perfection, enabling the knower of the ``Self`` to become the vicegerent of Allah on earth. Iqbal believes the answers to essential questions regarding the ego are important in determining morality for both the society and the individual.

10. Rumuz-e-Bekhudi (Urdu: رموز بیخودی; or The Secrets of Selflessness; published in Persian, 1918) was the second philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal, the great poet-philosopher of Indian Subcontinent. This was a sequel to his first book Asrar-e-Khudi (``the Secrets of the Self``).

Also in Persian and published in 1918, this group of poems has as its main themes the ideal community, Islamic ethical and social principles and the relationship between the individual and society. Although he is true throughout to Islam, Iqbal recognises also the positive analogous aspects of other religions. The Rumuz-i-Bekhudi (Secrets of Selflessness) complements the emphasis on the self in the Asrar-i-Khudi and the two collections are often put in the same volume under the title Asrar-o-Rumuz. A.J. Arberry`s famous English translation of the Rumuz first appeared in 1953. Rumuz-i-Bekhudi is addressed to the world`s Muslims. Iqbal sees the individual and his community as reflections of each other. The individual needs to be strengthened before he can be integrated into the community, whose development in turn depends on the preservation of the communal ego. It is through contact with others that an ego learns to accept the limitations of its own freedom and the meaning of love. Muslim communities must ensure order in life and must therefore preserve their communal tradition. It is in this context that Iqbal sees the vital role of women, who as mothers are directly responsible for inculcating values in their children.

Thank You ZahraJ@92


Relax, Listen, Enjoy!


second part of shikwa/javab-i shikwa[Farid & Maqbool alternate--javaab is Fareed(baritone )]

What is Iqbal today is only and only because of Khushal Khan Khattak`s ideology. Allama Iqbal also admired Rumi,but never had his influence. Shaheen, mard-e-momin, ego(khudi), modernism all came from Khan Baba.

Sad thing is majority of NAIVE Pakistani b/c of their own prejudices and narrowmindedness do not want to admit this. But, the fact is fact, we can`t hide the sun with the palm of our hand....................

Majority of Punjabis b/c of their biasedness towards Pushtoons never give recognition to Khan Baba. They only project a Lahorie, called Iqbal who copied all his ideology word by word from Khan Baba`s ideology.

Re: # 91

``Shaheen, mard-e-momin, ego(khudi), modernism all came from Khan Baba. (Zeena)

dear Zeena -- may be Iqbal`s modernism came from your Khan Baba -- but his Shaheen and the `superman` aka `` mard-e momin`` came from Fascist Mussolini -- Iqbal admired Mussolini -- it was good that he did not live to see his hero`s last days in ignominy....being dragged in the streets of Rome and hanged by a lamp post.....

Iqbal`s Id ego or `Khudi` business came from that mad poet Nietzsche......from whose womb later on a Rosemary baby called Hitler was born...

got to admit that Iqbal did take revenge for the `forced conversion` of his Hindu grandfather from the Umma by pushing the Umma into Nietzsche’s Hell to burn for all time to come.....


...but on the other hand the `conversion` was a great linguistic blessing for a malleably expressive language like Urdu that got its greatest poet that ever lived or will ever live....in the entire history of modern subcontinental poetry.......

I doubt Hindi had the wings to keep up with Iqbal’s mercurial soaring intellect…….:)

What is an Ummah?

Ummah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Umma (Arabic: أمة) is an Arabic word meaning community or nation. In the context of Islam, the word umma (often spelled ummah) is used to mean the community of the believers (ummat al-mu`minin), and thus the whole Islamic world. The phrase umma wahida in the Qur`an (the ``One Community``) refers to all of the Islamic world unified. On the other hand, in Arabic umma can also be used in the more Western sense of nation, example: al-Umam al-Muttahida, the United Nations.

The Constitution of Medina, an early document said to have been negotiated by Muhammad in 622 AD with the leading clans of Medina, explicitly refers to Jewish and pagan citizens of Medina as members of the Umma.[1]

Some modern Islamists use the term ``Islamic Umma`` or ``Muslim Umma`` to refer to all the people in the lands and countries where Muslims predominantly reside, and which were once under the control of the Islamic Caliphate. They thus include non-Muslim minorities as members of the umma. When they talk of unifying the ``Islamic Umma`` they would include these non-Muslims, as citizens of the Islamic Umma, living peacefully with their own respective religions, subject to certain specific conditions. See Dhimmi for a full discussion of this concept. Other Islamists accept the full equality of all citizens in a putative future Islamic state, regardless of their religion. In either case, shariah (Islamic law) would apply to the citizens of the state. Non-Muslim citizens would be free to settle their private disputes in their own courts, although all disputes that involve a Muslim would have to be settled in a Muslim court.

In many respects, Umma is a direct parallel to Christendom or Church Militant.

Re: # 90,ZahraJ:
Thanks for the explanation of Ummah. Howerver, you diffuse quotation of all the work of Iqbal fails to answer my assertions in #86. I wonder if they were supposed to be reply to my statements therein.

``#54 by sanatani on April 13, 2006 3:23am PT
Re: # 36

I had called you a Social Science ka compartment, apparently I was wrong. Even if you would have got zero in both Geography and Civics you would have got 40/40 in History for regurgitating the commie rubbish that was taught in your answer paper and thus passed.

Try and look up independent sources of History, before posting such rubbish here. Read how Mokalsar became Faridkot.

No Regards
Sanatni

P.S. Koi bangali JNU type girlfriend avashy rahi hogi tumhare jeevan mai.
``

Abey Bhosadi key, teri Amma rahi thee meri zindagi mey. Aur itihaas sunega?

Re: # 89

Stuka,

You stoop lower than the dive bomber you name yourself after. Remind me of the fact ``ki oche bade na ho sake``.

The same must go for family background {you are a so called Air Force Expert because of your background (see romair)}, something tells me nobody from you family would have been a flyer must have been Pay & Accounts/ Ordinance types.

Yaarie indeed.

U are positively beneath contempt.

Sanatani

Listen , relish & enjoy!

Quibbling & squabling is a for those suffering from intellectulitis & acadamese.

``Iss kashmakash meiN guzreeN miri zindgee kee raataiN
kubhhee soaz-o-sazz o Rumi, kabhhee paich-o-taabi-Raazee``--Iqbal

and the whole world knows `` Jeeta hai Rumi , Haraa hai Raazi``--again Iqbal, (in a different poem)

The dialogue initiated by St. Thomas Acquinas & Ghazali ( contemporaries) is still alive & the world is waiting with a baited breadth amidst the satanic-dance called ``progress`` & ``advancement``[ eg Nuclear, genetic, & ecological tick-tocks].

Ghazali does sound increasingly right.

Mera vatan vohee hai

Re: # 88, echoboom:
I do not know if you are responding to my comments but the song you quote would have been the high Iqbal but somehow he got corrupted. he failed to live up to his vatan. He fragmented it, I men, intellectually.
If you are a Muslim I can understand your travail at poring over on these aspects of Iqbal but if we are to find our way out of the maze that the British deliberatly left us in and toward peace in South Asia we have to disect and analyze why we went wrong. Only then, can we find the viable path towards the reconciliation of the populations and healing of the wounds that all segments nurse.
Thanks again for providing us the music of Iqbal, that is as important as the philosopical analysis of him.

Re: # 88 (echo)

Hi. I am reminded of something from ``Politics - Sayasat``

[Iss` Khail Main Taa`uyun`ae`Mara`tub Hae Zaroori
Shaa`tir Kee Anayut Sae Toa Farzeen Main Pya`daa

Baecha`raa Pya`daa Toa Hae Ikk Muh`rae` Na`cheez
Farzeen Sae Bhee Pos`hee`da Hae Sha`tir Kaa` Ira`daa`]

Good to see you back after a long time.

rsridhar, i cannot compare ``sublimity`` of savarkars poetry or iqbals..i understand neither...perhpas you do and can comment on. what i see is they both seem to attempt propose some kind of a nation and its citizen drawing on the past as an emotional response to an apreciation that the current state being inferior.

re: saarey jahaan sey accha
The song of India written by Iqbal:
(saare jahaan se achcha hindostaan hamaraa
hum bul bulain hai is kee, ye gulsitan hamaraa

gurbat mein hon agar ham, rahta hai dil watan mein
samjho vahin hame bhi, dil hain jahan hamara

parbat vo sabse unchaa hum saaya aasma kaa
vo santaree hamaraa, vo paasbaan hamaraa

godee mein khel tee hain is kee hazaaron nadiya
gulshan hai jinke dum se, rashke janna hamaraa

aye aab, aye raud, aye ganga, wo din he yaad tujhko
utaraa tere kinaare, jab kaarvan hamaara

mazhab nahee sikhataa apas mein bayr rakhnaa
hindee hai hum, vatan hai hindostaan hamaraa

yunan misr romaa, sab mit gaye jahan se
ab tak magar he baaki, namo nishan hamaara

kuchh baat he ki hasti, mitati nahi hamaari
sadiyon raha he dushman, daure jahan hamaara

iqbal koi marhoom, apna nahi jahan main
maloom kya kisi ko, darde niha hamaara
[edit]

Translation

Our India is the finest Country on this planet earth
This is our garden abode, we are nightingales of mirth

Though in foreign lands we may reside, with our motherland our hearts abide
Our spirit remains with thee, where our hearts exist

That mountain most high; neighbor to the skies
It is our sentinel; it is our protector

A thousand rivers play in its lap,
Gardens they sustain, the envy of the heavens is ours

O water of the mighty flow of the Ganga, do you remember the day
When on your banks, our caravan had landed

Faith does not teach us to harbour grudges between us
We are all Indians and India is our homeland

Ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome are lost, now only memories
But our civilization remains; it has stood the test of time

Something is in us, that preserves us, that keeps us ever-smiling
Though the fates and chances of the world have ever tried to break us

Iqbal! Is there no soul that could
Understand the pain in thy heart?)
Sridhar