Table Of ContentS S
ECRETS OF THE ELF
INTRODUCTORY NOTE about the universe, for the universe has not yet
become ‘whole.’ The process of creation is still
BY IQBAL
going on, and man too takes his share in it,
‘That experience should take place in finite inasmuch as he helps to bring order into at
centres and should wear the form of finite least a portion of the chaos. The Quran
this‐ness is in the end inexplicable.’ These are indicates the possibility of other creators than
the words of Prof. Bradley. But starting with God. (Quran, ch. 23. v. 14: “Blessed is God, the
these inexplicable centres of experience, he best of those who create.”)
ends in a unity which he calls Absolute and in Obviously this view of man and the
which the finite centres lose their finiteness and universe is opposed to that of the English
distinctness. According to him, therefore, the Neo‐Hegelians as well as to all forms of
finite centre is only an appearance. The test of pantheistic Sufism which regard absorption in
reality, in his opinion is all‐inclusiveness; and a universal life or soul as the final aim and
since all finiteness is ‘infected with relativity,’ it salvation of man. The moral and religious ideal
follows that the latter is a mere illusion. To my of man is not self‐negation but self‐affirmation,
mind, this inexplicable finite centre of and he attains to this ideal by becoming more
experience is the fundamental fact of the and more individual, more and more unique.
universe. All life is individual; there is no such The Prophet said, ‘Takhallaqu bi‐akhlaq Allah,’
thing as universal life. God himself is an ‘Create in yourselves the attributes of God.’
individual: He is the most unique individual.1 Thus man becomes unique by becoming more
The universe, as Dr. McTaggart says, is an and more like the most unique Individual.
association of individuals; but we must add What then is life? It is individual: its highest
that the orderliness and adjustment which we form, so far, is the ego (khudi) in which the
find in this association is not eternally individual becomes a self‐contained exclusive
achieved and complete in itself. It is the result centre. Physically as well as spiritually man is a
of instinctive or conscious effort. We are self‐contained centre, but he is not yet a
gradually travelling from chaos to cosmos and complete individual. The greater his distance
are helpers in this achievement. Nor are the from God, the less his individuality. He who
members of the association fixed; new comes nearest to God is the completest person.
members are ever coming to birth to co‐operate Not that he is finally absorbed in God. On the
in the great task. Thus the universe is not a contrary, he absorbs God into himself.2 The
completed act: it is still in the course of
formation. There can be no complete truth 2Maulana Rumi has very beautifully expressed this
idea. The Prophet, when a little boy, was once lost
in the desert. His nurse Halima was almost beside
1 This view was held by the orthodox Imam Ahmad herself with grief but while roaming the desert in
ibn Hanbal in its extreme (anthropomorphic) form. search of the boy she heard a voice saying:
4 Collected Poetical Works of Iqbal
true person not only absorbs the world of religion, and ethics must be judged from the
matter by mastering it; he absorbs God stand‐point of personality. My criticism of
Himself into his ego by assimilating Divine Plato is directed against those philosophical
attributes. Life is a forward assimilative systems which hold up death rather than life as
movement. It removes all obstructions in its their ideal—systems which ignore the greatest
march by assimilating them. Its essence is the obstruction to life, namely, matter, and teach
continual creation of desires and ideals, and for us to run away from it instead of absorbing it.
the purpose of its preservation and expansion As in connexion with the question of the
it has invented or developed out of itself freedom of the ego we have to face the
certain instruments, e.g., senses, intellect, etc., problem of matter, similarly in connexion with
which help it to assimilate obstructions. The its immortality we have to face the problem of
greatest obstacle in the way of life is matter, time. Bergson has taught us that time is not an
Nature; yet Nature is not evil, since it enables infinite line (in the spatial sense of the word
the inner powers of life to unfold themselves. ‘line’) through which we must pass whether
The ego attains to freedom by the removal we wish it or not. This idea of time is
of all observations in its way. It is partly free, adulterated. Pure time has no length. Personal
partly determined3, and reaches fuller freedom immorality is an aspiration: you can have it if
by approaching the Individual, who is most you make an effort to achieve it. It depends on
free—God. In one word, life is an endeavour our adopting, in this life modes of thought and
for freedom. activity which tend to maintain the state of
The ego and continuation of personality tension. Buddhism, Persian Sufism and allied
In man the centre of life becomes an ego or forms of ethics will not serve our purpose. But
person. Personality is a state of tension and can they are not wholly useless, because after
continue only if that state is maintained. If the periods of great activity we need opiates,
state of tension is not maintained, relaxation narcotics, for some time. These forms of
will ensue. Since personality, or the state of thought and action are like nights in the days
tension, is the most valuable achievement of of life. Thus, if our activity is directed towards
man, he should see that he does not revert to a the maintenance of a state of tension, the shock
state of relaxation. That which tends to of death is not likely to affect it. After death
maintain the state of tension tends to make us there may be an interval of relaxation, as the
immortal. Thus the idea of personality gives us Quran speaks of a barzakh, or intermediate
a standard of value: it settles the problem of state, which, in the case of some individuals,
good and evil. That which fortifies personality will last until the Day of Resurrection (Quran,
is good, that which weakens it is bad. Art,4 ch. 23, v. 102). Only those egos will survive this
state of relaxation who have taken good care
‘Do not grieve he will not be lost to thee;
Nay, the whole world will be lost in him.’
be subordinated to this final purpose, and the
The true individual cannot be lost in the world; it is value of everything must be determined in
the world that is lost in him. I go a step further and reference to its life‐yielding capacity. The highest
say, prefixing a new half‐verse to a hemistich of art is that which awakens our dormant will‐force
Rumi: and braves us to face the trials of life manfully. All
that brings drowsiness and makes us shut our eyes
In his will that which God wills becomes
to reality around, on the mastery of which alone
lost;
Life depends, is a message of decay and death.
‘How shall a man believe this saying?’”
There should be no opium‐eating in Art. The
3 According to the saying of the Prophet, ‘The true dogma of Art for the sake of Art is a clever
Faith is between predestination and free‐will.’” invention of decadence to cheat us out of life and
4 The ultimate end of all human activity is Life— power. (‘Our Prophesʹs Criticism of Contemporary
glorious, powerful, exuberant. All human art must Arabian Poetry’ in The New Era, 1916, p. 251)
Secrets & Mysteries 5
during the present life. Although life abhors (b) Self‐control, which is the highest form of
repetition in its evolution, yet on Bergson’s self‐consciousness or ego‐hood
principles the resurrection of the body too, as (c) Divine vicegerency
Wildon Carr says, is quite possible. By This divine vicegerency is the third and last
breaking up time into moments we spatialise it stage of human development on earth. The
and then find difficulty in getting over it. The vicegerent is the vicegerent of God on earth.
true nature of time is reached when we look He is the completest ego, the goal of
into our deeper self. Real time is life itself humanity,5 the acme of life both in mind and
which can preserve itself by maintaining that. body; in him the discord of our mental life
particular state of tension (personality) which it becomes a harmony. This highest power is
has so far achieved. We are subject to time so united in him with the highest knowledge. In
long as we look upon time as something his life, thought and action, instinct and reason,
spatial. Spatialised time is a fetter which life become one. He is the last fruit of the tree of
has forged for itself in order to assimilate the humanity, and all the trials of a painful
present environment. In reality we are evolution are justified because he is to come at
timeless, and it is possible to realise our the end. He is the real ruler of mankind; his
timelessness even in this life. This revelation, kingdom is the kingdom of God on earth. Out
however, can be momentary only. of the richness of his nature he lavishes the
wealth of life on others, and brings them
The education of the ego
nearer and nearer to himself. The more we
The ego is fortified by love. This word is used advance in evolution, the nearer we get to him.
in a very wide sense and means the desire to In approaching him we are raising ourselves in
assimilate, to absorb. Its highest form is the the scale of life. The development of humanity
creation of values and ideals and the both in mind and body is a condition
endeavour to realise them. Love individualises precedent to his birth. For the present he is a
the lover as well as the beloved. The effort to mere ideal; but the evolution of humanity is
realise the most unique individuality tending towards the production of an ideal
individualises the seeker and implies the race of more or less unique individuals who
individuality of the sought, for nothing else will become his fitting parents. Thus the
would satisfy the nature of the seeker. As love Kingdom of God on earth means the
fortifies the ego, asking weakens it. All that is democracy of more or less unique individuals,
achieved without personal effort comes under presided over by the most unique individual
asking. The son of a rich man who inherits his possible on this earth. Nietzsche had a glimpse
fatherʹs wealth is an ‘asker,’ or beggar; so is of this ideal race, but his atheism and
every one who thinks the thoughts of others. aristocratic prejudices marred his whole
Thus, in order to fortify the ego we should
conception.”6
cultivate love, i.e. the power of assimilative
action, and avoid all forms of ‘asking, i.e.
5 Man already possesses the germ of vicegerency as
inaction. The lesson of assimilative action is
God says in the Quran (ch. 2. v. 28): “Lo! I will
given by the life of the Prophet, at least to a
appoint a khalifa (vicegerent) on the earth.”
Mohammedan. In another part of the poem I 6 Nicholson’s Note—Writing of ‘Muslim
have hinted at the general principles of Muslim Democracy’ in The New Era, 1916, p. 251, Iqbal says:
ethics and have tried to reveal their meaning in “The Democracy of Europe—overshadowed by
connexion with the idea of personality. The socialistic agitation and anarchical fear—originated
mainly in the economic regeneration of European
ego in its movement towards uniqueness has
societies. Nietzsche, however, abhors this ’rule of
to pass through three stages:
the herd’ and, hopeless of the plebeian, he bases all
(a) Obedience to the Law
higher culture on the cultivation and growth of an
Aristocracy of Supermen. But is the plebeian so
6 Collected Poetical Works of Iqbal
SECRETS OF THE SELF My thought hunted down and slung from the
saddle a deer
That has not yet leaped forth from the covert
But yester‐eve a lamp in hand7 of non‐existence.
The Shaykh did all the city span, Fair is my garden ere yet the leaves are green:
Sick of mere ghosts he sought a man, Unborn roses are hidden in the skirt of my
But could find none in all the land. garment.
I struck dumb the musicians where they were
“I Rustam or a Hyder seek
gathered together,
I’m sick of snails, am sick,” he said,
I smote the heart‐string of the universe,
“There’s none,” said I. He shook his head,
Because the lute of my genius hath a rare
“There’s none like them, but still I seek.”
melody:
—Rumi
Even to comrades my song is strange.
I am born in the world as a new sun,
Prologue
I have not learned the ways and fashions of
When the world‐illuming sun rushed upon the sky
Night like a brigand, Not yet have the stars fled before my
My weeping bedewed the face of the rose. splendour,
My tears washed away sleep from the eye of Not yet is my quicksilver astir;
the narcissus, Untouched is the sea by my dancing rays,
My passion wakened the grass and made it Untouched are the mountains by my crimson
grow. hue.
The Gardener tried the power of my song, The eye of existence is not familiar with me;
He sowed my verse and reaped a sword. I rise trembling, afraid to show myself.
In the soil he planted only the seed of my From the East my dawn arrived and routed
tears Night,
And wove my lament with the garden, as A fresh dew settled on the rose of the world.
warp and woof. I am waiting for the votaries that rise at dawn;
Tho’ I am but a mote, the radiant sun is mine: Oh, happy they who shall worship my fire!
Within my bosom are a hundred dawns. I have no need of the ear of To‐day,
My dust is brighter than Jamshidʹs cup I am the voice of the poet of To‐morrow.
It knows things that are yet unborn in the My own age does not understand my deep
world. meanings,
My Joseph is not for this market.
I despair of my old companions,
My Sinai burns for sake of the Moses who is
absolutely hopeless? The Democracy of Islam did
coming.
not grow out of the extension of economic
Their sea is silent, like dew,
opportunity; it is a spiritual principle based on the
But my dew is storm‐ridden, like the ocean.
assumption that every human being is a centre of
latent power, the possibilities of which can be My song is of another world than theirs:
developed by cultivating a certain type of This bell calls other travellers to take the road.
character. Out of the plebeian material Islam has Many a poet was born after his death,
formed men of the noblest type of life and power. Opened our eyes when his own were closed,
Is not, then, the Democracy of early Islam an
And journeyed forth again from nothingness,
experimental refutation of the ideas of Nietzsche?”
Like roses blossoming oʹer the earth of his
7 The versified translation of the quotation from
grave.
Rumi is taken from Shaikh Mahmud Husain.
Albeit caravans have passed through this
Strangely, Nicholson omitted it although he was
best known as Rumi’s translator. desert,
Secrets & Mysteries 7
They passed, as a camel steps, with little It makes the foot of the partridge red with
sound. blood of the hawk.
But I am a lover: loud crying is my faith Arise and pour pure wine into my cup,
The clamour of Judgment Day is one of my Pour moon beams into the dark night of my
minions. thought,
My song exceeds the range of the chord, That I may lead home the wanderer
Yet I do not fear that my lute will break. And imbue the idle looker‐on with restless
’Twere better for the water drop not to know impatience;
my torrent, And advance hotly on a new quest
Whose fury should rather madden the sea. And become known as the champion of a new
No river will contain my Oman. spirit;
My flood requires whole seas to hold it. And be to people of insight as the pupil to the
Unless the bud expand into a bed of roses, eye,
It is unworthy of my spring‐cloudʹs bounty. And sink into the ear of the world, like a
Lightnings slumber within my soul, voice;
I sweep over mountain and plain. And exalt the worth of Poesy
Wrestle with my sea, if thou art a plain; And sprinkle the dry herbs with my tears.
Receive my lightning if thou art a Sinai. Inspired by the genius of the Master of Rum.
The Fountain of Life hath been given me to I reherarse the sealed book of secret lore.
drink. His soul is the flaming furnace,
I have been made an adept of the mystery of I am but as the spark that gleams for a
Life. moment.
The speck of dust was vitalised by my His burning candle consumed me, the moth;
burning song: His wine overwhelmed my goblet.
It unfolded wings and became a firefly. The master of Rum transmuted my earth to
No one hath told the secret which I will tell gold
Or threaded a pearl of thought like mine. And set my ashes aflame.
Come, if thou wouldʹst know the secret of The grain of sand set forth from the desert,
everlasting life That it might win the radiance of the sun.
Come, if thou wouldʹst win both earth and I am a wave and I will come to rest in his sea,
heaven. That I may make the glistening pearl mine
Heaven taught me this lore, own.
I cannot hide it from comrades. I who am drunken with the wine of his song
Draw life from the breath of his words,
O Saki arise and pour wine into the cup!
Clear the vexation of Time from my heart ʹTwas night: my heart would fain lament.
The sparkling liquor that flows from Zemzem The silence was filled with my cries to God.
Were a beggar to worship it, he would I was complaining of the sorrows of the world
become a king. And bewailing the emptiness of my cup.
It makes thought more sober and wise, it At last mine eye could endure no more,
makes the keen eye keener, Broken with fatigue it went to sleep.
It gives to a straw the weight of a mountain, There appeared the Master, formed in the
And to foxes the strength of lions. mould of Truth,
It causes dust to soar to the Pleiades Who wrote the Quran in Persian.
And a drop of water swell to the breadth of He said, “O frenzied lover,
the sea. Take a draught of loveʹs pure wine.
It turns silence into the din of Judgment Day, Strike the chords of thine heart and rouse a
tumultuous strain.
8 Collected Poetical Works of Iqbal
Dash thine head against the goblet and thine Many a night I wept for Manʹs sake
eye against the lancet! That I might tear the veil from Lifeʹs
Make thy laughter the source of a hundred mysteries.
sighs. And extract the secret of Lifeʹs constitution
Make the hearts of men bleed with thy tears From the laboratory of phenomena.
How long wilt thou be silent, like a bud? I who give beauty to this night, like the moon,
Sell thy fragrance cheap, like the rose! Am as dust in devotion to the pure Faith
Tongue‐tied, thou art in pain: (Islam) –
Cast thyself upon the fire, like rue! A Faith renowned in hill and dale.
Like the bell, break silence at last, and from Which kindles in menʹs hearts a flame of
every limb. undying song:
Utter forth a lamentation! It sowed an atom and reaped a sun,
Thou art fire: fill the world with thy glow! It harvested a hundred poets like Rumi and
Make others burn with thy burning! Attar.
Proclaim the secrets of the old wine seller; I am a sigh: I will mount to the heavens;
Be thou a surge of wine, and the crystal cup I am but smoke, yet am I sprung of fire.
thy robe! Driven onward by high thoughts, my pen
Shatter the mirror of fear, Cast abroad the secret behind this veil,
Break the bottles in the bazaar That the drop may become co‐equal with the
Like the reed‐flute, bring a message from the sea
reed‐bed And the grain of sand grow into a Sahara.
Give to Majnun a message from the tribe of Poetising is not the aim of this mathnavi.
Layla! Beauty‐worshipping and love‐making is not
Create a new style for thy song, its aim.
Enrich the assembly with thy piercing strains! I am of India: Persian is not my native tongue;
Up, and re‐inspire every living soul I am like the crescent moon: my cup is not
Say ʹArise!ʹ and by that word quicken the full.
living! Do not seek from me charm of style in
Up, and set thy feet on another path; exposition.
Put aside the passionate melancholy of old! Do not seek from me Khansar and Isfahan.
Become familiar with the delight of singing; Although the language of Hind is sweet as
Bell of the caravan, awake!” sugar,
Yet sweeter is the fashion of Persian speech.
At these words my bosom was enkindled
My mind was enchanted by its loveliness,
And swelled with emotion like the flute;
My pen became as a twig of the Burning
I rose like music from the string
Bush.
To prepare a Paradise for the ear.
Because of the loftiness of my thoughts,
I unveiled the mystery of the self
Persian alone is suitable to them.
And disclosed its wondrous secret.
O Reader, do not find fault with the wine‐cup,
My being was an unfinished statue, But consider attentively the taste of the wine.
Uncomely, worthless, good for nothing.
Love chiselled me: I became a man.
And gained knowledge of the nature of the
universe.
I have seen the movement of the sinews of the
sky.
And the blood coursing in the veins of the
moon.
Secrets & Mysteries 9
Showing that the system of the universe All these are forms which it assumes for the
purpose of action.
originates in the self and that the
The self rises, kindles, falls, glows, breathes,
continuation of the life of all individuals
Burns, shines, walks, and flies.
depends on strengthening the self
The spaciousness of Time is its arena,
Heaven is a billow of the dust on the road.
The form of existence is an effect of the self,
From its rose‐planting the world abounds in
Whatsoever thou seest is a secret of the self.
roses;
When the self awoke to consciousness,
Night is born of its sleep, day springs from its
It revealed the universe of Thought.
waking.
A hundred words are hidden in its essence:
It divided its flame into sparks
Self‐affirmation brings not‐self to light.
And taught the understanding to worship
By the self the seed of opposition is sown in
particulars.
the world:
It dissolved itself and created the atoms
It imagines itself to be other than itself
It was scattered for a little while and created
It makes from itself the forms of others
sands.
In order to multiply the pleasure of strife.
Then it wearied of dispersion
It is slaying by the strength of its arm
And by re‐uniting itself it became the
That it may become conscious of its own
mountains.
strength.
ʹTis the nature of the self to manifest itself
Its self‐deceptions are the essence of Life;
In every atom slumbers the might of the self.
Like the rose, it lives by bathing itself in
Power that is unexpressed and inert
blood.
Chains the faculties which lead to action.
For the sake of a single rose it destroys a
hundred rose gardens Inasmuch as the life of the universe comes
And makes a hundred lamentations in quest from the power of the self,
of a single melody. Life is in proportion to this power.
For one sky it produces a hundred new When a drop of water gets the selfʹs lesson by
moons, heart,
And for one word a hundred discourses. It makes its worthless existence a pearl.
The excuse for this wastefulness and cruelty Wine is formless because its self is weak;
Is the shaping and perfecting of spiritual It receives a form by favour of the cup.
beauty. Although the cup of wine assumes a form,
The loveliness of Shirin justifies the anguish It is indebted to us for its motion.
of Farhad. When the mountain loses its self, it turns into
One fragrant navel justifies a hundred sands
musk‐deer. And complains that the sea surges over it;
ʹTis the fate of moths to consume in flame: The wave, so long as it remains a wave in the
The suffering of moths is justified by the sea’s bosom,
candle. Makes itself rider on the seaʹs back.
The pencil of the self limned a hundred Light transformed itself into an eye
to‐days And moved to and fro in search of beauty;
In order to achieve the dawn of a single When the grass found a means of growth in
morrow. its self,
Its flames burned a hundred Abrahams Its aspiration clove the breast of the garden.
That the lamp of one Muhammad might be The candle too concatenated itself
lighted. And built itself out of atoms;
Subject, object, means, and causes—
10 Collected Poetical Works of Iqbal
Then it made a practice of melting itself away It is a restless wave of the selfʹs sea.
and fled from its self Desire is a noose for hunting ideals,
Until at last it trickled down from its own eye, A binder of the book of deeds.
like tears. Negation of desire is death to the living,
If the bezel had been more self secure by Even as absence of heat extinguishes the
nature, flame.
It would not have suffered wounds, What is the source of our wakeful eye?
But since it derives its value from the Our delight in seeing hath taken visible shape.
superscription, The partridgeʹs leg is derived from the
Its shoulder is galled by the burden of elegance of its gait,
anotherʹs name. The nightingaleʹs beak from its endeavour to
Because the earth is firmly based on its self, sing.
The captive moon goes round it perpetually. Away from the seed‐bed, the reed became
The being of the sun is stronger than that of happy:
the earth: The music was released from its prison.
Therefore is the earth fascinated by the sunʹs What is the essence of the mind that strives
eye. after new discoveries and scales the
The glory of the red birch fixes our gaze, heavens?
The mountains are enriched by its majesty Knowest thou what works this miracle?
Its raiment is woven of fire, ʹTis desire that enriches Life,
Its origin is one self‐assertive seed. And the mind is a child of its womb.
When Life gathers strength from the self, What are social organisation, customs and
The river of Life expands into an ocean. laws?
What is the secret of the novelties of science?
Showing that the life of the self comes A desire which realised itself by its own
from forming ideals and bringing them to strength
And burst forth from the heart and took
birth
shape.
Life is preserved by purpose: Nose, hand, brain, eye, and ear,
Because of the goal its caravan‐bell tinkles. Thought, imagination, feeling, memory, and
Life is latent in seeking, understanding –
Its origin is hidden in desire. All these are weapons devised by Life for
Keep desire alive in thy heart, self‐preservation
Lest thy little dust become a tomb. In its ceaseless struggle.
Desire is the soul of this world of hue and The object of science and art is not
scent, knowledge,
The nature of everything is a storehouse of The object of the garden is not the bud and
desire. the flower.
Desire sets the heart dancing in the breast, Science is an instrument for the preservation
And by its glow the breast is made bright as a of Life,
mirror. Science is a means of invigorating the self.
It gives to earth the power of soaring, Science and art are servants of Life,
It is a Khizr to the Moses of perception. Slaves born and bred in its house.
From the flame of desire the heart takes life, Rise, O thou who art strange to Life ʹs
And when it takes life, all dies that is not true. mystery,
When it refrains from forming desires, Rise intoxicated with the wine of an ideal:
Its pinion breaks and it cannot soar. An ideal shining as the dawn,
Desire keeps the self in perpetual uproar: A blazing fire to all that is other than God;
Secrets & Mysteries 11
An ideal higher than Heaven – Sinai is but an eddy of the dust of his house,
Winning, captivating, enchanting menʹs His dwelling‐place is a sanctuary to the Kaʹba
hearts, itself.
A destroyer of ancient falsehood, Eternity is less than a moment of his time,
Fraught with turmoil, and embodiment of the Eternity receives increase from his essence.
Last Day. He slept on a mat of rushes,
We live by forming ideals, But the crown of Chosroes was under his
We glow with the sunbeams of desire! peopleʹs feet.
He chose the nightly solitude of Mount Hira,
Showing that the self is strengthened by And he founded a state and laws and
love government.
He passed many a night with sleepless eyes
The luminous point whose name is the self
In order that the Muslims might sleep on the
Is the life‐spark beneath our dust.
throne of Persia.
By Love it is made more lasting,
In the hour of battle, iron was melted by the
More living, more burning, more glowing.
fash of his sword;
From Love proceeds the radiance of its being.
In the hour of prayer, tears fell like rain from
And the development of its unknown
his eye.
possibilities.
When he prayed for Divine help, his sword
Its nature gathers fire from Love,
answered “Amen”
Love instructs it to illumine the world.
And extirpated the race of kings.
Love fears neither sword nor dagger,
He instituted new laws in the world,
Love is not born of water and air and earth.
He brought the empires of antiquity to an
Love makes peace and war in the world,
end.
Love is the Fountain of Life, Love is the
With the key of religion he opened the door of
flashing sword of Death.
this world:
The hardest rocks are shivered by Loveʹs
The womb of the world never bore his like.
glance:
In his sight high and low were one,
Love of God at last becomes wholly God.
He sat with his slave at one table.
Learn thou to love, and seek a beloved:
The daughter of the chieftain of Tai was taken
Seek an eye like Noahʹs, a heart like Jobʹs!
prisoner in battle
Transmute thy handful of earth into gold,
And brought into that exalted presence;
Kiss the threshold of a Perfect Man!
Her feet in chains, unveiled,
Like Rumi, light the candle
And her neck bowed with shame.
And burn Rum in the fire of Tabriz!
When the Prophet saw that the poor girl had
There is a beloved hidden within thine heart:
no veil,
I will show him to thee, if thou hast eyes to
He covered her face with his own mantle.
see.
We are more naked than that lady of Tai,
His lovers are fairer than the fair,
We are unveiled before the nations of the
Sweeter and comelier and more beloved.
world.
By love of him the heart is made strong
In him is our trust on the Day of Judgement,
And earth rubs shoulders with the Pleiades.
And in this world too he is our protector.
The soil of Najd was quickened by his grace
Both his favour and his wrath are entirely a
And fell into a rapture and rose to the skies.
mercy:
In the Muslim ʹs heart is the home of
That is a mercy to his friends and this to his
Muhammad,
foes.
All our glory is from the name of
He opened the gate of mercy to his enemies,
Muhammad.
12 Collected Poetical Works of Iqbal
He gave to Makkah the message, “No penalty “Muhammad is the preface to the book of the
shall be laid upon you.” universe:
We who know not the bonds of country All the worlds are slaves and he is the
Resemble sight, which is one though it be the Master.”
light of two eyes.
From the wine of Love spring many spiritual
We belong to the Hijaz and China and Persia,
qualities:
Yet we are the dew of one smiling dawn.
Amongst the attributes of Love is blind
We are all under the spell of the eye of the
devotion.
cup bearer from Makkah,
The saint of Bistam, who in devotion was
We are united as wine and cup.
unique,
He burnt clean away distinctions of lineage,
Abstained from eating a water‐melon.
His fire consumed this trash and rubble.
Be a lover constant in devotion to thy
We are like a rose with many petals but with
beloved,
one perfume:
That thou mayst cast thy nose and capture
He is the soul of this society, and he is one
God.
We are the secret concealed in his heart:
Sojourn for a while on the Hira of the heart.
He spake out fearlessly, and we were
Abandon self and flee to God.
revealed.
Strengthened by God, return to thy self
The song of love for him fills my silent reed,
And break the heads of the Lat and Uzza of
A hundred notes throb in my bosom.
sensuality.
How shall I tell what devotion he inspires?
By the might of Love evoke an army
A block of dry wood wept at parting from
Reveal thyself on the Faran of Love,
him.
That the Lord of the Ka‘ba may show thee
The Muslimʹs being is where he manifests his
favour
glory:
And make thee the object of the text, “Lo, I
Many a Sinai springs from the dust on his
will appoint a vicegerent on the earth.”
path.
My image was created by his mirror,
Showing that the self is weakened by
My dawn rises from the sun of his breast.
asking
My repose is a perpetual fever,
My evening hotter than the morning of O thou who hast gathered taxes from lions,
Judgment Day: Thy need hath caused thee to become a fox in
He is the April cloud and I his garden, disposition.
My vine is bedewed with his rain. Thy maladies are the result of indigence:
It sowed mine eye in the field of Love This disease is the source of thy pain.
And reaped a harvest of vision. It is robbing thine high thoughts of their
“The soil of Medina is sweeter than both dignity
worlds: And putting out the light of thy noble
Oh, happy the town where dwell the imagination.
Beloved!” Quaff rosy wine from the jar of existence!
I am lost in admiration of the style of Mulla Snatch thy money from the purse of Time!
Jami: Like Omar, come down from thy camel!
His verse and prose are a remedy for my Beware of incurring obligations, beware!
immaturity. How long wilt thou sue for office
He has written poetry overflowing with And ride like children on a reed?
beautiful ideas; A nature that fixes its gaze on the sky
And has threaded pearls in praise of the Becomes debased by receiving benefits.
Master‐
