Allama Iqbal and His Women

Tere azaad bandon ki na yeh duniya na woh duniya
Yahaan marnay kii pabandi, wahaan jeenay ki pabandi!

---

Do aalam se karta hai begaana dil ko
Ajab cheez hai, lazzat e aashna`ee!

(I wonder if he wrote that after one of his meetings with Atiya? It also can be interpreted in a Sufi sense).

not to mention the greatest Farsi poet in the classical mode since probably Mawlana Jami.

Not bad for a single person eh? A great, great man. His human flaws make him even more endearing.

As for his Persian book Javidnamah it is one of the greatest masterpieces of world literature on a par with anything by Goethe, Shakespeare, Dante or Rumi (for example). It was also brilliantly translated by Arberry. If I had the money to personally republish that translation as part of the Oxford World Classics series I would.

he was also the most original muslim thinker since the middle ages...and a great devotee of the Messenger, especially in his latter years where his persian verse pining for Madina leaves tears in one`s eyes.

``Abru-ye ma zi naam e Mustafa ast``

Personal lives are just that - stories of human interest (which, as in this case, can be great). Agree with colonel and hamzaad. Iqbal was a great poet who accomplished much. Enough to earn a huge amount of genuine respect for his positive contributions.

ghusse meN aa ke maiN ne kaha apni saas se
kucch der merii biibii ka piichha bhii chooR de
beTii ke saath maaN mujhe tasliim hai magar
lekin kabhii kabhii ise tanha bhii chooR de

On a serious note, though, there is a verse of Iqbal, that together with one by Faiz, has stood me in good stead in moments of despair. I post both these below:

nahiiN hai na-ummiid Iqbal apnii kasht-e-viiraaN se
zara nam ho to yeh mitti baRi zar-Khez hai saaqii


dil na-ummiid to nahiiN, na-kaam hii to hai
laMbii hai gham kii shaam, magar shaam hii to hai

Salim-Chauhan: #21
Unfortunately, you garbled two beautiful verses of Ghalib together into one and ascribed it to Iqbal. The correct verses are as follows:

Tum shahr mein ho, tau hamai`n kya gham? jabb uthai`n gay
Lay a`ai`nay gay bazar say ja kar dil-o-jaa`n aur

Hain aur bhee duniya mein sukhnwar bahut achhay
Kahtay hain keh Ghalib ka haiy andaz-e-baya`n aur.

With regards,

Mohammad Gill

Kehtay heN ke Iqbal ka hey adaaz-e-bayan aur
Le aaeNgay bazaar se hum jaa ke dilo jaan aur :)

Re: # 19

Kaka,

Kindly refrain from making ridiculous comments.

Re: # 17

neembu,

Kindly post your response without that assumption.

Brother echoboom,

Could you email this tortuous piece to President Khatami just as he tortured us with his long winded schpiel about Iqbal?

Re: # 16

I`m assuming your post is facetious....

Re: # 14

Let`s agree that evidence about Sardar Begum having fun is very thin and the evidence about Iqbal having fun is also very thin.

Let`s also agree that even if Sardar Begum was a playa`, its all good and if Iqbal was a drinker, it all good!

However, neembu.. you can never know how great of a poet he was. Lousy philosopher but great, great poet.

Re: # 10
dear freethinker....thanks for your compliments. Rafi has done a wonderful job in

translating the article. When I read it in Toronto in Urdu it created an uproar as the lovers

and disciples of Iqbal who made him a saint....rehmatullahalaih....were offended. I wanted

to show him as a human being will all his vulnerabilities.

I also remember one evening when Habib Jalib was visiting Toronto and in a party different

people were commenting on Iqbal`s philosophy and poetry

...one said he was a nationalist

....the other said he was a socialist

....the third said he was a muslim scholar

...the fourth said Pakistan was his dream

when I asked Habib Jalib`s opinion he smiled and said...Iqbal ki shairy parchoon ki dokaan

thi (Iqbal`s poetry was a retail store not a speciality store).

For the greatness of Iqbal, Ghalib and Tagore is that in spite of their personal struggles

they rose above them in art and created wonderful poetry and we cherish their

masterpieces.

sincerely sohail

Re: # 13

Would that this expectation of evidence also be accorded Sardar Begum...but a woman`s reputation seems to be easily impugned.

the evidence for his drinking is very thin neembu.

Does anyone find it ironic that while Iqbal lamented the lack of free will in his life, he still managed to drink, contemplate suicide, marry, leave, divorce, remarry, etc. several women who had considerably less agency than himself?

No?