Sign of a believer--Quotes from Allama Iqbal

Art: If the object of poetry is, to make men, then poetry is the heir of 

  prophecy.

  Be not entangled in this world of days and nights; Thou hast another time 

  and space as well.

  Become dust - and they will throw thee in the air; Become stone - and they 

  will throw thee on glass.

  But only a brief moment is granted to the brave one breath or two, whose 

  wage is the long nights of the grave.

  Destiny is the prison and chain of the ignorant. Understand that destiny like 

  the water of the Nile: Water before the faithful, blood before the unbeliever.

  Ends and purposes, whether they exist as conscious or subconscious 

  tendencies, form the wrap and woof of our conscious experience.

  I am a hidden meaning made to defy. The grasp of words, and walk away 

  With free will and destiny. As living, revolutionary clay.

  I have never considered myself a poet. I have no interest in poetic artistry.

  I have seen the movement of the sinews of the sky, And the blood coursing 

  in the veins of the moon.

  I lead no party; I follow no leader. I have given the best part of my life to 

  careful study of Islam, its law and polity, its culture, its history and its

literature.

  I, therefore, demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim State in the 

  best interest of India and Islam.

  If faith is lost, there is no security and there is no life for him who does not 

  adhere to religion.

  Indeed, in view of its function, religion stands in greater need of a rational 

  foundation of its ultimate principles than even the dogmas of science.

  Islam is itself destiny and will not suffer destiny.

  It is the lot of man to share in the deeper aspirations of the universe around 

  him and to share his own destiny as well as that of the universe, now by

adjusting himself to its forces, now by putting the whole of his energy to his

own ends and purposes.

  It is the nature of the self to manifest itself, In every atom slumbers the 

  might of the self.

  Nations are born in the hearts of poets, they prosper and die in the hands 

  of politicians.

  People who have no hold over their process of thinking are likely to be 

  ruined by liberty of thought. If thought is immature, liberty of thought

becomes a method of converting men into animals.

  Physiologically less violent and psychologically more suitable to a 

  concrete type of mind.

  Plants and minerals are bound to predestination. The faithful is only bound  

  to the Divine order.

  Rise above sectional interests and private ambitions... Pass from matter 

  to spirit. Matter is diversity; spirit is light, life and unity.

  Since love first made the breast an instrument Of fierce lamenting, by its 

  flame my heart Was molten to a mirror, like a rose I pluck my breast apart,

that I may hang This mirror in your sight.

  The Ego is partly free. partly determined, and reaches fuller freedom by 

  approaching the Individual who is most free: God.

  The immediacy of mystic experience simply means that we know God just 

  as we know other objects. God is not a mathematical entity or a system of

concepts mutually related to one another and having no reference to

experience

  The scientific observer of Nature is a kind of mystic seeker in the act of 

  prayer.

  The wing of the Falcon brings to the king, the wing if the crow brings him to 

  the cemetery.

  Thou art not for the earth, nor for the Heaven the world is for thee, thou art 

  not for the world.

  Though the terror of the sea gives to none security, in the secret of the 

  shell. Self preserving we may dwell.

  Vision without power does bring moral elevation but cannot give a lasting 

  culture.

  When truth has no burning, then it is philosophy, when it gets burning from 

  the heart, it becomes poetry.

  Why hast thou made me born in this country, The inhabitant of which is 

  satisfied with being a slave?

  Why should I ask the wise men: Whence is my beginning? I am busy with 

  the thought: Where will be my end?

  Words, without power, is mere philosophy.

   "Nations are born in the hearts of poets, they prosper and die in the hands of politicians."

"Death does not exist. It is life that is a predominant reality, not death."

"People who have no hold over their process of thinking are likely to be ruined by liberty of thought. If thought is immature, liberty of thought becomes a method of converting men into animals." 

"Death does not exist. It is life that is a predominant reality, not death."

"People who have no hold over their process of thinking are likely to be ruined by liberty of thought. If thought is immature, liberty of thought becomes a method of converting men into animals."

"Given character and healthy imagination, it is possible to reconstruct this world of sin and misery into a veritable paradise."

"I tell you the sign of a believer; When Death comes, there is a smile on his lips."

"It is time that I reopen the tavern of Rumi: the shaikhs of the Kaaba are lying drunk in the courtyard of the church.."

"Become dust - and they will throw thee in the air; Become stone - and they will throw thee on glass."

"Words, without power, is mere philosophy."

"When truth has no burning, then it is philosophy, when it gets burning from the heart, it becomes poetry."

"Why should I ask the wise men: Whence is my beginning? I am busy with the 

"Islam is itself destiny and will not suffer destiny."

"If faith is lost, there is no security and there is no life for him who does not adhere to religion."

"Be not entangled in this world of days and nights; Thou hast another time and space as well."

"In the West, Intellect is the source of life, In the East, Love is the basis of life. Through Love, Intellect grows aquainted with Reality, And Intellect gives stability to the work of Love, Arise and lay the foundations of a new world, By wedding intellect to Love."

"God's destinies have no end... The fine wink is hidden in one word: If thou becomest different, it will also become different."

"Since love first made the breast an instrument Of fierce lamenting, by its flame my heart Was molten to a mirror, like a rose I pluck my breast apart, that I may hang This mirror in your sight."

"The immediacy of mystic experience simply means that we know God just as we know other objects. God is not a mathematical entity or a system of concepts mutually related to one another and having no reference to experience." 

"The scientific observer of Nature is a kind of mystic seeker in the act of prayer.

"Destiny is the prison and chain of the ignorant. Understand that destiny like the water of the Nile: Water before the faithful, blood before the unbeliever."

"The Sage of the Ummah" Allama Iqbal

Sir Muhammad Iqbal (November 9, 1877 – April 21, 1938), also known as Allama Iqbal was a philosopher, poet and politician in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature, with literary work in both the Urdu and Persian languages.

Iqbal is admired as a prominent classical poet by Pakistani, Indian and other international scholars of literature. Though Iqbal is best known as an eminent poet, he is also a highly acclaimed "Muslim philosophical thinker of modern times". His first poetry book, Asrar-e-Khudi, appeared in the Persian language in 1915, and other books of poetry include Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, Payam-i-Mashriq and Zabur-i-Ajam. Amongst these his best known Urdu works are Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim and a part of Armughan-e-Hijaz. Along with his Urdu and Persian poetry, his various Urdu and English lectures and letters have been very influential in cultural, social, religious and political disputes over the years. In 1922, he was knighted by King George V, giving him the title "Sir".

While studying law and philosophy in England, Iqbal became a member of the London branch of the All India Muslim League. Later, in one of his most famous speeches, Iqbal pushed for the creation of a Muslim state in Northwest India. This took place in his presidential speech in the League's December 1930 session. He was very close to Quid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Iqbal is known as Shair-e-Mushriq meaning Poet of the East. He is also called Muffakir-e-Pakistan ("The Inceptor of Pakistan") and Hakeem-ul-Ummat ("The Sage of the Ummah"). In Iran and Afghanistan he is famous as Iqbāl-e Lāhorī , and he is most appreciated for his Persian work. Pakistan Government had recognised him as its "national poet".His birthday is a Public holiday in Pakistan.

Biography

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Iqbal was born in Sialkot, within the Punjab Province of British India (now in Pakistan). His ancestors were Kashmiri Pandits, the Brahmins of the Sapru clan from Kashmir who converted to Islam. In the 19th century, when Sikh were taking over rule of Kashmir, his grandfather's family migrated to Punjab. Iqbal often mentioned and reminisced about his Kashmiri Pandit Brahmin lineage in his writings.

Iqbal's father, Shaikh Noor Mohammad, was a tailor, not formally educated but a religious man.Iqbal's mother Imam Bibi was a polite and humble woman who helped the poor and solved the problems of neighbours. She died on November 9, 1914 in Sialkot. Iqbal loved his mother, and on her death he expressed his feelings of pathos in a poetic form elegy.

Who would wait for me anxiously in my native place?

Who would display restlessness if my letter fails to arrive?

I will visit thy grave with this complaint:

Who will now think of me in midnight prayers?

All thy life thy love served me with devotion—

When I became fit to serve thee, thou hast departed.

Iqbal was four years old when he was admitted to the mosque for learning the Qur'an, he learned the Arabic language from his teacher Syed Mir Hassan, the head of the Madrassa and professor of Arabic language at Scotch Mission College in Sialkot, where Iqbal completed matriculation in 1893. He received Intermediate with the Faculty of Arts diploma from college of Sialkot in 1895. The same year he qualified for Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, English literature and Arabic as his subjects from Government College Lahore in 1897, and won the Khan Bahadurddin F.S. Jalaluddin medal as he took higher numbers in Arabic class. In 1899, he received Masters of Arts degree from the same college and had the first place in Punjab University, Lahore.

In 1895, while studying Bachelor of Arts Iqbal had his first marriage with Karim Bibi, the daughter of a Gujrati physician Khan Bahadur Ata Muhammad Khan, through a arranged marriage. They had daughter Miraj Begum and son Aftab Iqbal.Later Iqbal's second marriage was with Sardar Begum mother of Javid Iqbal and third marriage with Mukhtar Begum in December 1914.

Iqbal in Spain, 1933

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Higher education in Europe

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Iqbal was influenced by the teachings of Sir Thomas Arnold, his philosophy teacher at Government college Lahore, Arnold's teaching created interest in Iqbal to pursue higher education in West. In 1905, he traveled to England for his higher education. Iqbal qualified for a scholarship from Trinity College in Cambridge and obtained Bachelor of Arts in 1906, and in the same year he was called to the bar as a barrister from Lincoln's Inn. In 1907, Iqbal moved to Germany to study doctorate and earned PhD degree from the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich in 1908. Working under the guidance of Friedrich Hommel, Iqbal published his doctoral thesis in 1908 entitled: The Development of Metaphysics in Persia.

During Iqbal's stay in Heidelberg, Germany in 1907. His German teacher Emma Wegenast, taught him about Goethe's "Faust", Heine and Nietzsche. Iqbal had feelings for her, but no relationship developed.[19] During his study in Europe, Iqbal began to write poetry in Persian. He prioritized it because he believed he had found an easy way to express his thoughts. He would write continuously in Persian throughout his life.

Academic

----------------

Iqbal, after completing his M.A in 1899, started his career as a reader of Arabic at oriental college in his native, however shortly he was selected as a Junior professor of Philosophy at Government college Lahore, of which he was also an alumni, Iqbal worked here until he left for England in 1905. After returning from England in 1908, Iqbal started working as a professor of philosophy and English literature, at Government college Lahore, and at the same period he started practicing law at Chief Court Lahore, but soon Iqbal quit law practice and established himself in literary works and became an active member of Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam. In 1919, he became the general secretary of the organisation. Iqbal's thoughts in his work primarily focus on the spiritual direction and development of human society, centered around experiences from his travels and stays in Western Europe and the Middle East. He was profoundly influenced by Western philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson and Goethe.

The poetry and philosophy of Mawlana Rumi bore the deepest influence on Iqbal's mind. Deeply grounded in religion since childhood, Iqbal began intensely concentrating on the study of Islam, the culture and history of Islamic civilization and its political future, while embracing Rumi as "his guide." Iqbal would feature Rumi in the role of guide in many of his poems. Iqbal's works focus on reminding his readers of the past glories of Islamic civilization, and delivering the message of a pure, spiritual focus on Islam as a source for socio-political liberation and greatness. Iqbal denounced political divisions within and amongst Muslim nations, and frequently alluded to and spoke in terms of the global Muslim community, or the Ummah.

Iqbal poetry has been translated into many European languages, at the time when his work was famous during the early part of the 20th century. Iqbal’s Asrar-i-Khudi and Javed Nama were translated into English by R A Nicholson and A J Arberry respectively.


Final years and death

-------------------------------

The tomb of Muhammad Iqbal at the entrance of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore.

In 1933, after returning from a trip to Spain and Afghanistan, Iqbal began suffering from a mysterious throat illness.He spent his final years helping Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan establish the Dar ul Islam Trust Institute at the latter's Jamalpur estate near Pathankot, an institution where studies in classical Islam and contemporary social science would be subsidised, and advocating the demand for an independent Muslim state. Iqbal ceased practising law in 1934 and he was granted pension by the Nawab of Bhopal. In his final years he frequently visited the Dargah of famous Sufi Hazrat Ali Hujwiri in Lahore for spiritual guidance. After suffering for months from his illness, Iqbal died in Lahore on 21 April 1938.[5][9] His tomb is located in Hazuri Bagh, the enclosed garden between the entrance of the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort, and official guards are provided by the Government of Pakistan.

Iqbal is commemorated widely in Pakistan, where he is regarded as the ideological founder of the state. His Tarana-e-Hind is a song that is widely used in India as a patriotic song speaking of communal harmony. His birthday is annually commemorated in Pakistan as Iqbal Day, a national holiday. Iqbal is the namesake of many public institutions, including the Allama Iqbal Campus Punjab University in Lahore, the Allama Iqbal Medical College in Lahore, Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, Allama Iqbal Open University, the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, and Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town in Karachi.

Government and public organizations have sponsored the establishment of colleges and schools dedicated to Iqbal, and have established the Iqbal Academy to research, teach and preserve the works, literature and philosophy of Iqbal. Allama Iqbal Stamps Society established for the promotion of Iqbaliyat in philately and in other hobbies. His son Javid Iqbal has served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Javaid Manzil was the last residence of Allama Iqbal.

Influences

Political

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Further information: Pakistan Movement

Iqbal with Muslim political activists.

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(L to R): Mohammad Iqbal (third), Syed Zafarul Hasan (sixth) (at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India)

While dividing his time between law and poetry, Iqbal had remained active in the Muslim League. He did not support Indian involvement in World War I, as well as the Khilafat movement and remained in close touch with Muslim political leaders such as Maulana Mohammad Ali and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was a critic of the mainstream Indian National Congress, which he regarded as dominated by Hindus and was disappointed with the League when during the 1920s, it was absorbed in factional divides between the pro-British group led by Sir Muhammad Shafi and the centrist group led by Jinnah.

In November 1926, with the encouragement of friends and supporters, Iqbal contested for a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from the Muslim district of Lahore, and defeated his opponent by a margin of 3,177 votes. He supported the constitutional proposals presented by Jinnah with the aim of guaranteeing Muslim political rights and influence in a coalition with the Congress, and worked with the Aga Khan and other Muslim leaders to mend the factional divisions and achieve unity in the Muslim League.

Iqbal, Jinnah and concept of Pakistan

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Ideologically separated from Congress Muslim leaders, Iqbal had also been disillusioned with the politicians of the Muslim League owing to the factional conflict that plagued the League in the 1920s. Discontent with factional leaders like Sir Muhammad Shafi and Sir Fazl-ur-Rahman, Iqbal came to believe that only Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a political leader capable of preserving this unity and fulfilling the League's objectives on Muslim political empowerment. Building a strong, personal correspondence with Jinnah, Iqbal along with Moulana Abdur Raheem Dard (Resident missionary of the Ahmadiyya movement in London) were influential forces in convincing Jinnah to end his self-imposed exile in London, return to India and take charge of the League. Iqbal firmly believed that Jinnah was the only leader capable of drawing Indian Muslims to the League and maintaining party unity before the British and the Congress:

"I know you are a busy man but I do hope you won't mind my writing to you often, as you are the only Muslim in India today to whom the community has right to look up for safe guidance through the storm which is coming to North-West India and, perhaps, to the whole of India."

The two men were quite similar though they had viewed things differently at some time — Iqbal believed that Islam was the source of government and society and Jinnah worked hard to get Muslims a part in government and state and had laid out an Islamic vision for Pakistan upholding the Islamic value of freedom of religion saying religion would have "nothing to do with the business of the state." Iqbal had backed the Khilafat struggle; Jinnah had dismissed it as "religious frenzy." And while Iqbal espoused the idea of Muslim-majority provinces in 1930, Jinnah would continue to hold talks with the Congress through the decade and only officially embraced the goal of Pakistan in 1940. Some historians postulate that Jinnah always remained hopeful for an agreement with the Congress and never fully desired the partition of India.

Iqbal's close correspondence with Jinnah is speculated by some historians as having been responsible for Jinnah's embrace of the idea of Pakistan. Iqbal elucidated to Jinnah his vision of a separate Muslim state in a letter sent on June 21, 1937:

"A separate federation of Muslim Provinces, reformed on the lines I have suggested above, is the only course by which we can secure a peaceful India and save Muslims from the domination of Non-Muslims. Why should not the Muslims of North-West India and Bengal be considered as nations entitled to self-determination just as other nations in India and outside India are."

Iqbal, serving as president of the Punjab Muslim League, criticised Jinnah's political actions, including a political agreement with Punjabi leader Sir Sikandar Hyat Khan, whom Iqbal saw as a representative of feudal classes and not committed to Islam as the core political philosophy. Nevertheless, Iqbal worked constantly to encourage Muslim leaders and masses to support Jinnah and the League. Speaking about the political future of Muslims in India, Iqbal said:


"There is only one way out. Muslims should strengthen Jinnah's hands. They should join the Muslim League. Indian question, as is now being solved, can be countered by our united front against both the Hindus and the English. Without it, our demands are not going to be accepted. People say our demands smack of communalism. This is sheer propaganda. These demands relate to the defense of our national existence.... The united front can be formed under the leadership of the Muslim League. And the Muslim League can succeed only on account of Jinnah. Now none but Jinnah is capable of leading the Muslims."

Revival of Islamic polity 

------------------------------

Iqbal's six English lectures were published first from Lahore in 1930 and then by Oxford University press in 1934 in a book titled The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. Which were read at Madras, Hyderabad and Aligarh. These lectures dwell on the role of Islam as a religion as well as a political and legal philosophy in the modern age. In these lectures Iqbal firmly rejects the political attitudes and conduct of Muslim politicians, whom he saw as morally misguided, attached to power and without any standing with Muslim masses.

Iqbal expressed fears that not only would secularism weaken the spiritual foundations of Islam and Muslim society, but that India's Hindu-majority population would crowd out Muslim heritage, culture and political influence. In his travels to Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, he promoted ideas of greater Islamic political co-operation and unity, calling for the shedding of nationalist differences. He also speculated on different political arrangements to guarantee Muslim political power; in a dialogue with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Iqbal expressed his desire to see Indian provinces as autonomous units under the direct control of the British government and with no central Indian government. He envisaged autonomous Muslim provinces in India.

Under one Indian union he feared for Muslims, who would suffer in many respects especially with regard to their existentially separate entity as Muslims. Sir Muhammad Iqbal was elected president of the Muslim League in 1930 at its session in Allahabad, in the United Provinces as well as for the session in Lahore in 1932. In his presidential address on December 29, 1930, Iqbal outlined a vision of an independent state for Muslim-majority provinces in northwestern India:

Iqbal with Choudhary Rahmat Ali and other Muslim activists

"I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single state. Self-government within the British Empire, or without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated Northwest Indian Muslim state appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of Northwest India.

In his speech, Iqbal emphasised that unlike Christianity, Islam came with "legal concepts" with "civic significance," with its "religious ideals" considered as inseparable from social order: "therefore, the construction of a policy on national lines, if it means a displacement of the Islamic principle of solidarity, is simply unthinkable to a Muslim." Iqbal thus stressed not only the need for the political unity of Muslim communities, but the undesirability of blending the Muslim population into a wider society not based on Islamic principles. He thus became the first politician to articulate what would become known as the Two-Nation Theory — that Muslims are a distinct nation and thus deserve political independence from other regions and communities of India. However, he would not elucidate or specify if his ideal Islamic state would construe a theocracy, even as he rejected secularism and nationalism.

The latter part of Iqbal's life was concentrated on political activity. He would travel across Europe and West Asia to garner political and financial support for the League, and he reiterated his ideas in his 1932 address, and during the Third Round-Table Conference, he opposed the Congress and proposals for transfer of power without considerable autonomy or independence for Muslim provinces. He would serve as president of the Punjab Muslim League, and would deliver speeches and publish articles in an attempt to rally Muslims across India as a single political entity. Iqbal consistently criticised feudal classes in Punjab as well as Muslim politicians averse to the League. He fell prey to Punjabi dominated Muslims of region. Muslims across Indian subcontinent opposed the idea of two nation theory.

Many unnoticed account of Iqbal's frustration toward Congress leadership were also pivotal of visioning the two nation theory. He also wanted to prove that defeat of Muslim ummat can be at least saved in this region by dividing the societies within British India in the name of Islam.

Patron of The Journal Tolu-e-Islam
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The First Journal of Tolu-e-Islam

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Iqbal was the first patron of the historical, political, religious, cultural journal of Muslims of British India. This journal played an important part in the Pakistan movement. The name of this journal is The Journal Tolu-e-Islam. In 1935, according to his instructions, Syed Nazeer Niazi initiated and edited, a journal Tolu-e-Islam named after the famous poem of Iqbal, Tulu'i Islam. He also dedicated the first edition of this journal to Iqbal. For a long time Iqbal wanted a journal to propagate his ideas and the aims and objective of Muslim league. It was Syed Nazeer Niazi, a close friend of his and a regular visitor to him during his last two years, who started this journal.[citation needed] He also made Urdu translation of The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, by Sir Muhammad Iqbal.

In the first monthly journal of Oct. 1935, an article "Millat Islamia Hind" The Muslim nation of India was published. In this article Syed Nazeer Niazi described the political conditions of British India and the aims and objectives of the Muslim community. He also discussed the basic principles of Islam which were aims and objective of Iqbal's concept of an Islamic State.

The early contributors to this journal were eminent Muslim scholars like Maulana Aslam Jairajpuri, Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, Dr. Zakir Hussain Khan, Syed Naseer Ahmed, Raja Hassan Akhtar, Maulvi Ghulam Yezdani, Ragheb Ahsan, Sheikh Suraj ul Haq, Rafee ud din Peer, Prof. fazal ud din Qureshi, Agha Muhammad Safdar, Asad Multani, Dr. Tasadaq Hussain, Prof. Yusuf Saleem Chisti.

Afterward, this journal was continued[35] by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, who had already contributed many articles in the early editions of this journal. After the emergence of Pakistan, the mission of the journal Tolu-e-Islam was to propagate the implementation of the principle which had inspired the demand for separate Muslim State according to the Quran. This journal is still published by Idara Tolu-e-Islam, Lahore.

Literary work 

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Persian

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Iqbal's poetic works are written primarily in Persian rather than Urdu. Among his 12,000 verses of poetry, about 7,000 verses are in Persian. In 1915, he published his first collection of poetry, the Asrar-e-Khudi (Secrets of the Self) in Persian. The poems emphasise the spirit and self from a religious, spiritual perspective. Many critics have called this Iqbal's finest poetic work In Asrar-e-Khudi, Iqbal explains his philosophy of "Khudi," or "Self." Iqbal's use of the term "Khudi" is synonymous with the word "Rooh" mentioned in the Quran. "Rooh" is that divine spark which is present in every human being, and was present in Adam, for which God ordered all of the angels to prostrate in front of Adam. One has to make a great journey of transformation to realize that divine spark which Iqbal calls "Khudi".

The same concept was used by Farid ud Din Attar in his "Mantaq-ul-Tair". 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-realization 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 a viceregent of God.

In his Rumuz-e-Bekhudi (Hints of Selflessness), Iqbal seeks to prove the Islamic way of life is the best code of conduct for a nation's viability. A person must keep his individual characteristics intact, but once this is achieved he should sacrifice his personal ambitions for the needs of the nation. Man cannot realise the "Self" outside of society. Also in Persian and published in 1917, 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 also recognises the positive analogous aspects of other religions. The Rumuz-e-Bekhudi complements the emphasis on the self in the Asrar-e-Khudi and the two collections are often put in the same volume under the title Asrar-e-Rumuz (Hinting Secrets). It is addressed to the world's Muslims.




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                                                    Allama's Poetry
                                   

mohabbat ka junun baqi nahin hai

musalmanon mein khun baqi nahin hai

safen kaj, dil pareshan, sajda bezuk

k jazba-e-andrun baqi nahin hai

ragon mein lahu baqi nahin hai

wo dil, wo awaz baqi nahin hai

namaz-o-roza-o-qurbani-o-haj

ye sab baqi hai tu baqi nahin hai

mumkin hai ke tu jisako samajhata hai baharan
auron ki nigahon mein wo mausam ho khizan ka

hai sil-sila ehwal ka har lahja dagargun
ae salek-rah fikr na kar sudo-zayan ka

shayad k zamin hai wo kisi aur jahan ki
tu jisko samajhta hai falak apne jahan ka

sakhtiyan karta hun dil par gair se gafil hun main
hay kya achi kahi zalim hun main jahil hun main

hai meri zillat hi kuch meri sharafat ki dalil
jis ki gaflat ko malak rote hain wo gafil hun main

bazm-e-hasti apni araish pe tu nazan na ho
tu to ik taswir hai mahfil ki aur mahfil hun main

dhundhata phirta hun ai "Iqbal" apne ap ko
ap hi goya musafir ap hi manzil hun main

tu abhi rahguzar mein hai qaid-e-makam se guzar
misr-o-hijaz se guzar, paires-o-sham se guzar

jis ka amal hai be-garaz, us ki jaza kuch aur hai
hur-o-khayam se guzar, bada-o-jam se guzar

garche hai dilkusha bahot husn-e-firang ki bahar
tayarek buland bal dana-o-dam se guzar

koh shigaf teri zarab tujhse kushad sharq-o-garab
teze-hilahal ki tarah aish-o-nayam se guzar

tera imam be-huzur, teri namaz be-surur
aisi namaz se guzar, aise imam smumkin hai ke tu jisako samajhata hai baharan e guzar

khird k pas khabar k siwa kuch aur nahin
tera ilaj nazar k siwa kuch aur nahin

har muqam se age muqam hai tera
hayat zauq-e-safar k siwa kuch aur nahin

rangon mein gardish-e-khun hai agar to kya hasil
hayat soz-e-jigar k siwa kuch aur nahin

urus-e-lala munasib nahin hai mujhse hijab
k main nasim-e-sahar k siwa kuch aur nahin

jise qasad samajhte hain tajran-e-firang
wo shay mata-e-hunar k siwa kcuh aur nahin

giranbaha hai to hifz-e-khudi se hai warna
gauhar mein ab-e-gauhar k siwa kuch aur nahin

ham mashriq k musalmanon ka dil magrib mein ja atka hai
wahan kuntar sab billori hai, yahan ek purana matka hai

is daur mein sab mit jayenge, han baqi wo rah jayega
jo qayam apni rah pe hai, aur pakka apni hat ka hai

ae shaikh-o-brahman sunte ho kya ahl-e-basirat kahte hain
gardon ne kitani bulandi se un qaumon ko de patka hai

ata hai yad mujhko guzara hua zamana
wo bag ki baharen wo sab ka chah-chahana

azadiyan kahan wo ab apne ghonsale ki
apni khushi se ana apni khushi se jana

lagti ho chot dil par, ata hai yad jis dam
shabnam k anson par kaliyon ka muskurana

wo pyari pyari surat, wo kamini si murat
abad jis k dam se tha mera ashiyana

ajab waiz ki din-dari hai ya rab
adawat hai ise sare jahan se

koi ab tak na ye samjha k insan
kahan jata hai ata hai kahan se

wahin se rat ko zulmat mili hai
chamak taron ne pai hai jahan se

ham apni dard-mandi ka fasana
suna karte hain apne razdan se

bari barik hain waiz ki chalen
laraz jata hai awaz-e-azan se

tere ishq ki intaha chahta hun
meri sadgi dekh kya chahta hun

sitam ho k ho wada-e-behijabi
koi bat sabr-azma chahta hun

ye jannat mubarak rahe zahidon ko
k main ap ka samna chahta hun

koi dam ka mehman hun ai ahl-e-mahfil
chirag-e-sahar hun, bujha chahta hun

bhari bazm mein raz ki bat kah di
bara be-adab hun, saza chahta hun

gulzar-e-hast-o-bu na beganawar dekh
hai dekhne ki chiz ise bar bar dekh

aya hai to jahan mein misal-e-sharar dekh
dam de najaye hasti-e-napayedar dekh

mana k teri did k qabil nahin hun main
tu mera shauq dekh mera intzar dekh

kholi hain zauq-e-did ne ankhein teri to phir
har rahguzar mein naqsh-e-kaf-e-pay-e-yar dekh

sare jahan se acha hindustan hamara
ham bul-bulen hain is ki ye gulistan hamara

gurbat mein hon agar ham rahta hai dil watan mein
samjho wahin hamein bhi dil ho jahan hamara

parwat wo sab se uncha hamsaya asman ka
wo santri hamara wo pasban hamara

godi mein kheli hain is ki hazaron nadiyan
gulshan hai jin k dam se rashk-e-janan hamara

ai ab-e-rud-e-ganga wo din hai yad tujh ko
utra tere kinare jab karwan hamara

mazhab nahin sikhata apas mein bair rakhna
hindi hain ham watan hai hindustan hamara

yunan -o-mishr-o-roma sab mit gaye jahan se
ab tak magar hai baqi nam-o-nishan hamara

kuch bat hai k hasti mitati nahin hamari
sadyon raha hai dushman daur-e-zaman hamara

'Iqbal' koi mahram apna nahin jahan mein
malum kya kisi ko dard-e-nihan hamara

Dil-e-Shahana---Bahadur Shah Zaffar

The last Mughal emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar II (1775-1862) was born Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar and was a very famous Urdu poet in his times. His poems are still read with much enthusiasm and admiration among the numerous Urdu poetry fans. The life history of Bahadur Shah Zafar is very interesting and is read with much enthusiasm by all. Read on further about Bahadur Shah Zafar biography and learn more about this Mughal emperor who was a genius poet.

Regarded as one of the greatest Urdu poets in the history of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar wrote a large number of Urdu Ghazals most of which were lost during wars fought in the year 1857. Yet, many of them were saved and were later on compiled as Kulliyat-I-Zafar. His Ghazals are a beautiful collection of words that spell magic and are read with awe and admiration even today. 

Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last and the weakest Mughal emperor. Even then he was considered a hero and was portrayed like one in many Hindi films. A road has been named in his honor in New Delhi, India. His valuable contribution in the Indian freedom struggle is very much acknowledged and he is known as a nationalist in modern India.

He was not a very able emperor and his empire had a lot of chaos and unrest. He was defeated and was sent on an exile in Rangoon. He died over there in the year 1862 and a tomb was built in his honor, which exists even today.

Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar, also known as Bahadur Shah or Bahadur Shah II was the last of the Mughal emperors in India, as well as the last ruler of the Timurid Dynasty. He was the son of Akbar Shah II and Lalbai, who was a Hindu Rajput. He became the Mughal Emperor upon his father's death on 28 September 1837. Zafar ,meaning “victory” was his 'nom de plume' (takhallus) as an Urdu poet.
He has written many Urdu ghazals. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the British Administration exiled him from Delhi.

Ascent to the Throne / Masnad
--------------------------------

Zafar's father, Akbar Shah Saani II, ruled over a rapidly disintegrating empire between 1806 to 1837. It was during his time that the East India Company dispensed with even the fig leaf of ruling in the name of the Mughal monarch and removed his name from the Persian texts that appeared on the coins struck by the company in the areas under their control.

Bahadur Shah Zafar who succeeded him was not Akbar Shah Saani’s choice as his successor. Akbar Shah was, in fact, under great pressure by one of his queens, Mumtaz Begum to declare her son Mirza Jahangir as the successor. Akbar Shah would have probably accepted this demand but Mirza Jahangir had fallen afoul of the British and they would have none of this.

As Emperor
------------------

Bahadur Shah Zafar presided over a Mughal empire that barely extended beyond Delhi's Red Fort. The East India Company were the dominant political and military power in mid 19th-century India. Outside British India, hundreds of kingdoms and principalities, from the large to the small, fragmented the land. The emperor in Delhi was paid some respect by the Company and allowed a pension, the authority to collect some taxes, and to maintain a small military force in Delhi, but he posed no threat to any power in India. Bahadur Shah II himself did not take an interest in statecraft or possess any imperial ambitions. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the British Administration exiled him from Delhi.

Emperor Bahadur Shah is seen by some in India as a freedom fighter (he was Commander-In-Chief of the mutiny army), fighting for India's independence from the Company. As the last ruling member of the imperial Timurid Dynasty he was surprisingly composed and calm when Major Hodson presented decapitated heads of his own sons to him as Nowruz gifts. He is famously remembered to have said.
"Praise be to Allah, that descendents of Timur always come in front of their fathers in this way."
As Poet
--------------

Bahadur Shah Zafar was a noted Urdu poet, and wrote a large number of Urdu ghazals. While some part of his opus was lost or destroyed during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a large collection did survive, and was later compiled into the Kulliyyat-i-Zafar. The court that he maintained, although somewhat decadent and arguably pretentious for someone who was effectively a pensioner of the British East India Company, was home to several Urdu writers of high standing, including Ghalib, Dagh, Mumin, and Zauq.

Religious Attitudes
-------------------------

Bahadur Shah Zafar was a devout Sufi. Zafar was himself regarded as a Sufi Pir and used to accept murids or pupils.The loyalist newspaper Delhi Urdu Akhbaar once called him one of the leading saints of the age, approved of by the divine court. Prior to his accession, in his youth he made it a point to live and look like a poor scholar and dervish, in stark contrast to his three well dressed dandy brothers, Mirza Jahangir, Salim and Babur. In 1828, when Zafar was 53 and a decade before he succeeded the throne, Major Archer reported, "Zafar is a man of spare figure and stature, plainly apparelled, almost approaching to meanness. His appearance is that of an indigent munshi or teacher of languages".

As a poet and dervish, Zafar imbibed the highest subtleties of mystical Sufi teachings.At the same time, he was deeply susceptible to the magical and superstitious side of Orthodox Sufism. Like many of his followers, he believed that his position as both a Sufi pir and emperor gave him tangible spiritual powers. In an incident in which one of his followers was bitten by a snake, Zafar attempted to cure him by sending a "seal of Bezoar" (a stone antidote to poison) and some water on which he had breathed, and giving it to the man to drink.

Death
--------

Bahadur Shah died in exile on 7 November 1862. He was buried near the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, at the site that later became known as Bahadur Shah Zafar Dargah. His wife Zeenat Mahal died in 1886.

In a marble enclosure adjoining the dargah of Sufi saint, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli, an empty grave or Sardgah marks the site where he had willed to be buried along with some of his Mughal predecessors, Akbar Shah II, Bahadur Shah I (also known as Shah Alam I) and Shah Alam II.

lagtā nahīń hé jī mérā ūjař'é dayār méń

---------------------------------------

Lagta nahi hai ji mera ujre dayar men

kiskī banī hé ālam-e-nā-pāyedār méń

būlbūl ko pāsbāń se na saiyyād se gilā

qismet méń qaid likhī tthī fasl-e-bahār méń

kaeh do in hassretoń se kahīń aur jā bas'

éńitnī jageh kahāń hé dil-e-dāGhdār méń

ik shāKh-e-gūl pe baiTh ke būlbūl hé shādmāń

kānTe bichā diye héń dil-e-lālāzār méń

umr-e-darāz māńg ke lāye tthe chār din

do ārzū méń kaT gayé do intezār méń

din zindagī ke Khatm hué shām ho gayī

p'hailā ke pāoń soyeń-ge kūńj-e-mazaar méń

kitnā hé bad-naseeb zafar dafn ke liye

do gaz zamīn bhī na milī kū-e-yār méń

baat karanii mujhe mushkil kabhii aisii to na thii

-----------------------------------------------

baat karanii mujhe mushkil kabhii aisii to na thii
jaisii ab hai terii mahafil kabhii aisii to na thii
le gayaa chhiin ke kaun aaj teraa sabr-o-qarar
beqaraarii tujhe ai dil kabhii aisii to na thii
chashm-e-qaatil merii dushman thii hameshaa lekin
jaise ab ho ga_ii qaatil kabhii aisii to na thii
un kii aa.Nkho.n ne Khudaa jaane kiyaa kyaa jaaduu
ke tabiiyat merii maa_il kabhii aisii to na thii
aks-e-ruKh-e-yaar ne kis se hai tujhe chamakaayaa
taab tujh me.n maah-e-kaamil kabhii aisii to na thii
kyaa sabab tuu jo biga.Dataa hai "Zafar" se har baar
Khuu terii huur-e-shamaa_il kabhii aisii to na thii

biich me.n pardaa du_ii kaa thaa jo haayal uTh gayaa

-----------------------------------------------------

biich me.n pardaa du_ii kaa thaa jo haayal uTh gayaa
aisaa kuchh dekhaa ke duniyaa se meraa dil uTh gayaa
shamaa ne ro ro ke kaaTii raat suulii par tamaam
shab ko jo mahafil se terii ai zeb-e-mahafil uTh gayaa
merii aa.Nkho.n me.n samaayaa us kaa aisaa nuur-e-haq
shauq-e-nazzaaraa ai badr-e-kaamil uTh gayaa
ai Zafar kyaa puuchhataa hai begunaah-o-bar-gunah
uTh gayaa ab jidhar ko vaaste qaatil uTh gayaa

hamane duniyaa me.n aake kyaa dekhaa

------------------------------------------

hamane duniyaa me.n aake kyaa dekhaa
dekhaa jo kuchh so Khvaab-saa dekhaa
hai to insaan Khaak kaa putalaa
lek paanii kaa bul-bulaa dekhaa
Khuub dekhaa jahaa.N ke Khuubaa.N ko
ek tujh saa na duusaraa dekhaa
ek dam par havaa na baa.Ndh habaab
dam ko dam bhar me.n yaa.N havaa dekhaa
na huye terii Khaak-e-paa ham ne
Khaak me.n aap ko milaa dekhaa
ab na diije "Zafar" kisii ko dil
ki jise dekhaa bevafaa dekhaa

khulataa nahii.n hai haal kisii par kahe baGair

---------------------------------------------

khulataa nahii.n hai haal kisii par kahe baGair
par dil kii jaan lete hai.n dil_bar kahe baGair
mai.n kyuu.Nkar kahuu.N tum aao ki dil kii kashish se 

vo aayeNge dau.De aap mere ghar kahe baGair
kyaa taab kyaa majaal hamaarii ki bosaa le.n
lab ko tumhaare lab se milaakar kahe baGair
bedard tuu sune naa sune lek dard-e-dil
rahataa nahii.n hai aashiq-e-muztar kahe baGair
taqdiir ke sivaa nahii.n milataa kahii.n se bhii
dilavaataa ai "Zafar" hai muqaddar kahe baGair

na kisii kii aa.Nkh kaa nuur huu.N na kisii ke dil kaa qaraar huu.N

----------------------------------------------------------------

na kisii kii aa.Nkh kaa nuur huu.N na kisii ke dil kaa qaraar huu.N
jo kisii ke kaam na aa sake mai.n vo ek musht-e-Gubaar huu.N
na to mai.n kisii kaa habiib huu.N na to mai.n kisii kaa raqiib huu.N
jo biga.D gayaa vo nasiib huu.N jo uja.D gayaa vo dayaar huu.N
meraa rang-ruup biga.D gayaa meraa yaar mujh se bichha.D gayaa
jo chaman fizaa.N me.n uja.D gayaa mai.n usii kii fasl-e-bahaar huu.N
paye faatehaa ko_ii aaye kyuu.N ko_ii chaar phuul cha.Daaye kyuu.N
ko_ii aake shammaa jalaaye kyuu.N mai.n vo bekasii kaa mazaar huu.N
mai.n nahii.n huu.N naGmaa-e-jaa.N_fishaa.N mujhe sun ke ko_ii karegaa kyaa
mai.n ba.De barog kii huu.N sadaa main ba.De dukh kii pukaar huu.N

subah ro ro ke shaam hotii hai

------------------------------

subah ro ro ke shaam hotii hai
shab ta.Dap kar tamaam hotii hai
saamane chashm-e-mast ke saaqii
kis ko parvaah-e-jaam hotii hai
ko_ii Gunchaa khilaa ke bul-bul ko
bekalii zar-e-daam hotii hai
ham jo kahate hai.n kuchh ishaaro.n se
ye Khataa laa-kalaam hotii hai

Sufism in Urdu poetry

Khwaja Mir Dard

Urdu language and literature is the symbol and heritage of the composite culture of India. The literature represents centuries old civilization and cultural history of the sub-continent. This is the reason; it contains not only the colors of sub-continental life but also the best intellectual assets of its time. Urdu has emerged with the beginning of composite culture and consequently its literature depicts the glimpses of the composite life which makes the canvas of Urdu literature larger than any other literature in India. Classical heritage of Urdu is very important in this regard. Urdu classical literature, especially its poetry was a medium of representing global thoughts. While doing this, most poets gave ample space to Sufism in their creations.



Another reason for presenting Sufi thoughts was the impact of Persian poetry on early Urdu poetry, and in Persian poetry Hafiz Shirazi and Maulana Rūm were popular due to their Sufi poetry. Therefore, early poets of Urdu also adopted Sufism as their means of communication. The main reason of flourishing such thoughts in India is that the Indian soil itself has a spiritual history which can be found in Upnishadas. Founder of Buddhist religion, Gautam Buddha also paved the way for Sufism. This was the reason why Sufis and saints were very popular figures in Indian society. After that, when Islam came to India, it introduced Sufism in its own way. As such, when we study the cultural history of India, we find that mystics, saints and Muslim Sufis played an important role in building Indian nation.



India is called a ‘land of devotion and love’ due to these Sufis and saints. Messages of Sufism and its traditions like Khanqah, Peer, Murshid, Ibadat, Riyazat, message of humanity, etc. were so popular in those days that religious leaders, poets and academicians also gave much importance to Sufism in their works. We see its impact on every Indian literature. Urdu was a lingua franca for a long period and was also an official language of India in the beginning. But, after the partition, Urdu got badly affected by linguistic discrimination, but is still a language of common people in India. This is the reason why Urdu gave space to the thoughts of every section of the society and also influenced by Persian and Arabic literatures. Urdu was under the influence of Persian from the very beginning and it also borrowed grammatical setting as well as intellectual trends from Persian. The time when Persian had achieved its universal status, Urdu was in its early stage. Hafiz Shirazi, Maulana Rūm and Umar Khayyam were known and read in India at that time too, and they are equally important even today. So, their views about Sufism were transferred into Urdu through them only. In India, Sufi movement was carried ahead by Amir Khusro, Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesu Daraz, Shaikh Bahauddin, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Nizamuddin Aulia, Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki and so on. After that some Urdu poets gave space to Sufism in their poetry and included human life and other such issues in their works. Sufi poetry then became an important trend in Urdu literature and get popularity among Urdu poets.
Khwaja Mir Dard was also among such poets. His name was Syed Khwaja Mir and ‘Dard’ was his Pseudonym. His father Khwaja Mohammad Nasir was a good Persian poet whose Pseudonym was ‘Andalib’. Khwaja Mir Dard born in Delhi in 1720 A.D. and received all types of traditional education of that time, and spiritual education and training, from his father. Due to mystic education he spent his entire life on the footprints of Sufism. By profession he was a soldier in his adulthood. But, after the death of his father he became a Sajjadanashin (head of Khanqah). He inherited poetry and Tasawwuf from his father. He was respected by all whether poor or rich, king or beggar as he was a Sufi by nature. He left all worldliness and chose to a life of a mystic.



He witnessed the age of political and cultural anarchy in Delhi where everyone was suffering from pain and misery. In that situation only Tasawwuf (mysticism) could give them relief and peace. This is the reason why Sufi movement reached on its zenith in 18^th century. Delhi at that time was a centre of insurgency, so the residents of Delhi were heading towards Awadh and Rampur states after suffering from poverty, misery and economic insecurity. But, these things did not put any impact on ‘Dard’ and he remained in Delhi till his last time. He died in 1785 and buried in Delhi itself. Dard was fond of reading and writing from his childhood. He wrote various books. One of his Diwan (collection of poetry) is in Persian and one is in Urdu. His critics are of the opinion no other Urdu poet presented Sufism as clearly in his poetry as ‘Dard’ did.
According to Maulana Mohammad Husain Azad:



“As was written by him (Dard) on Tasawwuf, done by none.” (Aab-e-Hayat)
Imam Asar writes that:
“On the subject of Tasawwuf, none was such a great poet in Urdu as was he (Dard).” (Kashif-ul-Haqaiq)



Before putting some light on the Tasawwuf of Khwaja Mir Dard, let us find out what is Tasawwuf. Tasawwuf basically is an internal revolt of human conscience against overall injustice. In human history, Tasawwuf or Sufism has been a universal movement. We find Sufi tradition in most religions of the world. These traditions were prior to Islam. Tasawwuf, in a sense, is a way of prayer based on some principles. The evolution of Sufism can be understood through various schools of thoughts. Major trends of Sufism can be found among Jews, Christians, Zoroastrianism, Buddhists as well as Hindus. It is found in many small religions of the world also. As a whole, we find two extremely important trends in human life – one is linked with this world, to get more and more wealth and pomp and show, and the other is linked with monasticism where man does not like this world and wants to live a peaceful life away from population and thus takes shelter in forests and mountains. Both these trends have been there in human life from the beginning. Those who preferred to live a monastic life left this world and went to forests and mountains in search of God. On the other hand, Muslim saints and Sufis did not boycott this world. They followed Islamic principles and did not think to boycott social life for their prayers. They not only preached Islamic way of life but also gave a message of humanity to the world. They played the role of social reformer and removed various ill-wills from the society. Their institutions were of social importance in that age. These institutions not only played a major role in the building of Indian nation but also provided a different and special image to India on international map. Due to their efforts communal harmony, brotherhood, love and peace still exist in India. Khwaja Mir Dard was the follower of same route.



Famous Sufi and Urdu poet Sirajuddin Ali Khan once said about Khwaja Mir Dard after seeing him in his early adulthood:



“He is a talented youth. What I see in him, if followed in practical life, then with the grace of God he will find a prominent place in Sufism.” ( Tazkera)
No other Urdu poet gets as much name and fame in Sufi poetry as was received by Dard. We do not find such beautiful couplets on Sufism other than the poetry of Khwaja Mir Dard. There are various reasons to this: Dard was by birth a Sufi. His father Khwaja Nasir Andalib was one of the eminent Sufis of Delhi. His whole life passed while delivering the message of love and peace. Khanqah of Khwaja Nasir in Delhi was the centre of Sufis. Dard also got this spiritual education from his father. During his adulthood, Khwaja Mir Dard spent some time in some services, but he left all these things soon and became a Sufi saint and spent the rest of his life on this line. This was the reason behind his successful Sufi poetry. And that is why his poetry has ever lasting impact on its readers. His poems are totally based on his practical life and whatever he felt in real life. His philosophy doe not teach the lesson of monasticism or leaving social life.



Sufi poets give much importance to the practice of love. Bearing the difficulties of love is mandatory for them. Dard also represents same love. Love is that oven which produces sacred human being or Sufi. Dard describes some of these difficulties in his poetry:

درد کا حال کچھ نہ پوچھو تم

وہی رونا ہے نت وہی غم ہے

Don’t ask the condition of “Dard”
Wailing on the pain and the pain is there again



Sufi lit a fire of love in his heart and tries to get a shelter in this fire and then gets access to Allah. But, this is possible only when your heart is clear like a mirror. Heart becomes clear only when it keeps itself from all desires of life and comes to spiritual world after leaving behind all material wishes. After passing this stage the heart gets the ability for the perception of reality. He then finds a window in his heart from where he can see his Creator, the Almighty God. As Dard says:

ارض و سماں کہاں تیری وسعت کو پاسکے
میرا ہی دل ہے وہ کہ جہاں تو سماں سکے

Earth and sky are too small for you

It’s only my heart capable of accommodating you.

It gives him specialty to keep himself away from all wrong doings. He then lives in this world as a friend of all human beings.



These prints are amply available in Dard’s poetry. His poems are full of search and seeking because it is seeking which comes first in the way of Sufism and then starts the spiritual struggles. This is the reason why we see a lot of questions and queries in Dard’s poetry. These things are related to the Creator of Universe. These couplets are some examples:

درد کچھ معلوم ہے یہ لوگ سب
کس طرف سے آئے تھے کدھر چلے

زندگی ہے یا کوئی طوفان ہے
ہم تو اس جینے کے ہاتھوں مرچلے

Dard is trying to understand world through these couplets. These questions have their answers hidden in them that this world is temporary and man spends only some time in this world. So, it is important for him to be happy which is possible only when his society is peaceful. And peace and harmony are created by humans only. If all human beings of this world try to maintain peace and harmony, they can live a happy and better life.



Khwaja Mir Dard did not accept Tasawwuf as only a tradition. In case of not being a poet he might be a practical Sufi. According to him all knowledge is associated with three main subjects: God, Human being and Universe.

1. What is God, and where is he?
2. What is the reality of man, his position in the universe, and his relation with God?
3. What is the relation between Universe and Human being, and what is the relation between the Universe and God?

After the concept of God, next issue is the relation between man and God. Some qualities are common between man and God. Then the question arises as whether man is parallel to God? In reality, man is not parallel to God instead his qualities are from God. He is the mirror of God and thus is a needy of God. God has created man for his expressions. God expects from man that he will maintain peace and harmony and create an atmosphere of love on Earth as God loves his creations.



According to Sufis God is free from all sins and if there is a sin in anything it has been created by us only. God has left us free for good and bad. Then comes the question as how much the man is responsible for his doings? There are two groups on this issue. One group thinks that man is in the control of his saying and doing, while the other group thinks that man is just dependent. Both these groups exist among Sufis. But, both of them agree with the conclusion that man creates his own world through his doings. Faults and errors of this world are created by us. His life will be that much peaceful as much he loves cares and sympathizes with his fellow human beings.



According to Sufis this world cannot go well without love. Love is the necessity of life both from material and spiritual point of view. Man can reach to God only through love. System of this universe cannot perform its functions without the warmth of love.



Khwaja Mir Dard also recognizes this fact. He also agrees that without loving human beings we cannot love God in true sense. The same message of love makes a man a true human being and gives everyone the right to live an equal life. The man who fears from his God will never become cruel to others and will never exploit others.



This is the same message of love for which Sufis are respected even today.



Poetry of Khwaja Mir Dard is full of such messages and feelings like:

باوجود یکہ پرو بال نہ تھے آدم کے

وہاں پہنچا کہ فرشتے کا بھی مقدور نہ تھا

Though Adam didn’t have the wings and furs

But he reached beyond the imagination of angels

Here Khwaja Mir Dard depicts the greatness of human being in his own style. It’s not in symbols like (عطار) Attar has expressed in his Mantiq-ut-tair but a direct expression of the greatness of human being. Sufis have always recognized the importance of mankind and it was known to them that human is different from other creations but they have always insisted on minimizing the feelings of being special.



Dard has also thrown lights on the realities of life. He has also presented the sadness of this life through his poetry. He also talks on moral subjects along with the greatness of humanity. His age was an age of moral degradation, so he tried to give the lesson of the greatness of humanity and that of goodness.



According to Dr. Abdullah:


“Tasawwuf is that part of Dard’s poetry due to which he got respect from his age and became a great poet and this is a reality that if Dard were not a poet (and a Sufi) then also he would have got a prominent place among the great poets of his age. We cannot deny the fact that his virtual poetry has also special values and ethos which shows that his Sufi training is stopping him from the wrong path.”



(Urdu Adab ki Ek Sadi)



Dard’s age was full of insurgency and emergency. Mass killing was everywhere. Delhi was looted several times. Throne of many kings were snatched and they were forced to live a miserable life. Such happenings gave rise to the feeling of sadness and negativity. These things also got place in Urdu poetry of that time, and Dard was also not any exception. But he described these aspects in a positive sense that the world and human beings are also not survive for ever only God will survive, so in a very small span of time we should spend our life a memorable and use full life.

نے گل کو ہے ثبات نہ ہم کو ہی اعتبار
کس بات پر چمن ہوس رنگ و بوکریں

زندگی ہے يا کوئی طوفان ہے
ہم تو اس جينے کے ہاتھوں مر چلے

In conclusion, we can say that as Khwaja Mir Dard was associated with Sufi Khanqah, so he gave message of peace and love through his poetry. Many people were associated with his Khanqah who were also overwhelmed by his thoughts. Most of the poets of 18^th century also tried to understand life and the existence of human being and they recognized the importance of human love and friendship with fellow human beings. And, actually this is the lesson of Sufism. Urdu poetry is full of these feelings and there is a strong tradition of Sufi poetry in Urdu literature.