May your land prosper till eternity! Who raised the cry: no Caesars and Chosroes?

In this world of near and far, fast and slow, who was the first to read the Qur’an?

Who was taught the secret of la ilah? Where was this lamp (of knowledge) lighted?

From whom did the world gain knowledge? For whom is the (Qur’anic) verse revealed: ‘You became? (Iqbal says that modern knowledge of sciences and arts is the legacy which Europe received from the Muslim world. ‘You became’. Reference is to the Qur’anic verse, 3-102: And remember Allah’s favour to you when you were enemies; then He united your hearts, so by His favour you became brethren.)

It was due to the bounty of the one called Ummi; that tulips grew out of the sandy desert of Arabia. (Ummi: Usually it is translated as one who cannot read and write. According to some, it is the Arabic equivalent of the word ‘Gentile’ which the Israelites used to designate all non-Jews. ‘Talip’ lalah: Iqbal often employs this word, particularly lalah-i sehra, to denote Muslim Community.)

Freedom (as a concept) developed under his care, that is, the ‘today’ of the peoples is from his ‘yesterday’. (The concept of freedom (hurriyat) that is looked upon as a contribution of Western thought was in reality given a concrete shape at the hands of the Prophet (S.A.W.). In Asrar-o Rumuz, Allamah says: Freedom was born out of his holy heart; his vineyard flowed with that delightful wine. The world’s new age, its hundred lamps ablaze; opened its eyes upon his loving breast.)

He put a ‘heart’ into the body of Adam and removed the veil from his face.

He broke all the ancient gods; every old twig, through his breath, grew a flower.

The excitement of the battles of Badr and Hunain, Haidar, Siddiq, Faruq and Husain.

The grandeur of the call to prayer, the recitation of the Qur’anic Surat al-Saffat, in the battlefield. (The Surat al-Saffat (27): ‘Those raging in ranks’, refers to the position of the believers while saying prayers during battle.)

The sword of Ayyubi and the look of Bayazid, the keys to the treasures of both the worlds. (Ayyubi, i.e. Salahuddin Ayyubi, the hero of the Crusades. Iqbal sometimes employs his name as a model Muslim ruler. Bayazid refers to the famous sufi, Bayazid Bistami It is the basic contention of Iqbal that the sword of Ayyubi and spiritual insight of Bayazid should be present in a single person. The idea of bifurcation of State and Church is foreign to the spirit of Islam. The term Faqr, in Iqbal, represents this integrative characteristic.)

Reason and heart intoxicated with one cup of wine, a mixture of dhikr and fikr of Rum and Rayy. (Rum stands for Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi who represents love and Rayy is the name of a city which is now situated in the suburbs of Tehran, the birthplace of Fakhruddin Razi, the great theologian, Qur’an-commentator and philosopher. He stands for reason here.)

Knowledge and science, Shari’ah and religion, administration of State; ever-dissatisfied hearts within the breast. (These lines enunciate Iqbal’s basic position with regard to the relative value of reason and intuition. An individual must employ both; whenever one of these is ignored; most often it leads to a warped personality. In Javid Namah, he says: ‘When love is companioned by intelligence; it has the power to design another world. Then rise and draw design of a new world, mingle love with intelligence’.

Al-Hamra and the Taj, of world-consuming beauty, that win tributes from the celestial beings.

All these are moments of his time, a single lustre of his manifold manifestations.

All these heart-pleasing phenomena are his outward aspects; his inward aspect is still hidden from the gnostics.

‘Limitless praise be to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.), who gave to this handful of dust true belief in God.’

God made you sharper than the sword: He made the camel-driver the rider of destiny.

Your takbir, your prayer and your war: on these depend the fate of East and West. (This in a nutshell is Iqbal’s advice to the Muslim of today, that he should aspire to seek the welfare of man, both material and spiritual, that be should endeavour to Eve his mundane life fully oriented to the spiritual reality. He should not shirk plunging into the hazards of war, though he must be attuned all the time to the Great Infinite.)

How good this dedication and selfless devotion. Alas! For this grievous affliction and melancholy!

The nations of the world are promoting their interests; you are unaware of the value of your desert. (Value of the desert: Iqbal is referring to the strategic importance and the rich mineral resources of the Arabian deserts.)

You were a single nation, you have become now several nations, you have broken up your society yourself. (Here Iqbal refers to the dirty game of the Colonial Powers, after he First Great War (1914.18), to divide the Arab land into small geographical territories and fostering narrow nationalism, which, as Iqbal states elsewhere, was the greatest danger to the unity and integrity of the Muslim world.)

He who loosened himself from the bonds of khudi, and merged himself in others, met certain death.

Nobody else ever did what you have done to yourself. The soul of Mustafa (S.A.W.) was grieved by it.

O you who are unaware of the Frankish magic, see the mischief hidden in his sleeves.

If you wish to escape his deceits, turn away his camels from your ponds.

His diplomacy has weakened every nation and broken the unity of the Arabs.

Ever since the Arabs fell into its snares, not for one moment have they enjoyed peace.

O man of insight, look at your times, recreate in your body the soul of Umar.

Power lies in the unity of the true religion; religion is strong will, sincerity and faith.

As his heart knows the secrets of Nature, the man of the desert is Nature’s protector.

He is simple, and his nature is the touchstone of right and wrong, his rise means setting of a hundred thousand stars. (‘A hundred thousand stars’ refers to the diverse systems of beliefs and attitudes current in the world, all of which will be superseded when true religion makes its appearance.)

Leave aside these deserts, mountains and valleys; pitch your tent in your own being. (In the development of khudi this is the first stage, where the individual is expected to detach himself completely from the outside world and concentrate on his own self. In Zabur-i ‘Ajam, Allamah says: ‘Reach within yourself and retire from this noisy world, throw yourself into the inner recesses of your heart’.)

Whetting your nature on the desert wind set your dromedary onto the battlefield.

The modern age was born out of your achievements; its intoxication is the result of your rose-red wine.

You have been the expositor of its secrets, and the first builder of its edifice.

Since the West adopted it as its own, it has grown into a coquette, with no sense of honour.

Although she is sweet and pleasant, yet she is crooked, saucy and irreligious. (Iqbal thinks that sciences and arts in the hands of secular West became destructive weapons for the annihilation of this earthly planet. There is nothing inherently evil in them, only they are cut off from their natural affinity to the spiritual values of life.)

O man of the desert, make what is unripe mature and refashion the world according to your touchstone.