ستاروں سے آگے جہاں اور بھی ہیں
ابھی عشق کے امتحاں اور بھی ہیں
sitaaroñ se aage jahaañ aur bhii haiñ
abhii ishq ke imtihaañ aur bhii haiñ
Beyond the stars there are other worlds still;
love has yet more trials to face.
Allama Muhammad Iqbal
علامہ محمد اقبال
1877–1938 · Modern (Lahore)
Poet-philosopher of the East, Iqbal wrote in Urdu and Persian. Bang-e-Dara (1924) and Bal-e-Jibril (1935) are his major Urdu collections. His shaahiin (falcon) and his idea of khudii are central images of modern Urdu poetry.
How to read Iqbal
Iqbal adapts the ghazal's imagery (the garden, the wine, the beloved) to philosophy. Watch how he chooses vigorous metres such as Mutaqarib and Hazaj for his calls to action.
Couplets in the course (5)
تو شاہیں ہے پرواز ہے کام تیرا
ترے سامنے آسماں اور بھی ہیں
tuu shaahiiñ hai parvaaz hai kaam teraa
tire saamne aasmaañ aur bhii haiñ
You are a falcon; flight is your calling;
before you lie other skies still.
خودی کو کر بلند اتنا کہ ہر تقدیر سے پہلے
خدا بندے سے خود پوچھے بتا تیری رضا کیا ہے
khudii ko kar buland itnaa ki har taqdiir se pahle
khudaa bande se khud puuchhe bataa terii razaa kyaa hai
Raise your selfhood so high that before every decree of fate
God Himself asks His servant: tell me, what is your wish?
سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا
ہم بلبلیں ہیں اس کی یہ گلستاں ہمارا
saare jahaañ se achchhaa hindostaañ hamaaraa
ham bulbuleñ haiñ is kii ye gulsitaañ hamaaraa
Better than all the world is our Hindustan;
we are its nightingales, and it is our garden.
لب پہ آتی ہے دعا بن کے تمنا میری
زندگی شمع کی صورت ہو خدایا میری
lab pe aatii hai du'aa ban ke tamannaa merii
zindagii sham' kii suurat ho khudaayaa merii
My longing comes to my lips as a prayer:
O God, may my life be like a candle.