لطفا منتظر باشید ...
A
FEW
WORDS
TO
THE
ARAB
PEOPLE
May your land prosper till eternity! | |
who raised the cry: no Caesars and Chosroes?1 | 730 |
In this world of near and far, fast and slow, | |
who was the first to read the Qur'an? | |
who was taught the secret of la ilah? | |
where was this lamp (of knowledge) lighted? | |
From whom did the world gain knowledge? | 735 |
for whom is the (Qur'anic) verse revealed: "You became" ?2 | |
It was due to the bounty of the one called Ummi3 | |
that tulips grew out of the sandy desert of Arabia.4 | |
Freedom (as a concept) developed under his care, | |
that is, the "today" of the peoples is from his "yesterday"5 | 740 |
he put a "heart" into the body of Adam | |
and removed the veil from his face, | |
he broke all the ancient gods ;6 | |
every old twig, through his breath, grew a flower. | |
The excitement of the battles of Badr and Hunain, | 745 |
Haidar, Siddiq, Faruq and Husain, | |
the grandeur of the call to prayer, | |
the recitation of the Qur'anic Surat al-Saffat, in the battlefield,7 | |
the sword of Ayyubi and the look of Bayazid,8 | |
the keys to the treasures of both the worlds, | 750 |
reason and heart intoxicated with one cup of wine, | |
a mixture of dhikr and fikr of Rum and Rayy; | |
knowledge and science, Shari'ah and religion, administration of State9; | |
ever-dissatisfied hearts within the breast, | |
al-Hamra and the Taj, of world-consuming beauty,10 | 755 |
that win tributes from the celestial beings- | |
all these are moments of his time, | |
a single lustre of his manifold manifestations. | |
All these heart-pleasing phenomena are his outward aspects, | |
his inward aspect is still hidden from the gnostics. | 760 |
"Limitless praise be to the Holy Prophet, | |
who gave to this handful of dust true belief in God." | |
God made you sharper than the sword: | |
Lie made the camel-driver the rider of destiny. | 765 |
Your takbir, your prayer and your war: | |
on these depend the fate of East and West.11 | |
How good this dedication and selfless devotion. | |
Alas! for this grievous affliction and melancholy! | |
The nations of the world are promoting their interests, | |
you are unaware of the value of your desert ;12 | 770 |
you were a single nation, you have become now several nations,13 | |
you have broken up your society yourself. | |
He who loosened himself from the bonds of khudi, | |
and merged himself in others, met certain death. | |
Nobody else ever did what you have done to yourself. | 775 |
The soul of Mustafa was grieved by it. | |
O you who are unaware of the Frankish magic, | |
see the mischiefs hidden in his sleeves. | |
If you wish to escape his deceits, | |
turn away his camels from your ponds. | 780 |
His diplomacy has weakened every nation | |
and broken the unity of the Arabs. | |
Ever since the Arabs fell into its snares, | |
not for one moment have they enjoyed peace. | |
O man of insight, look at your times, | 785 |
recreate in your body the soul of Umar. | |
Power lies in the unity of the true religion,. | |
religion is strong will, sincerity and faith. | |
As his heart knows the secrets of Nature, | |
the man of the desert is Nature's14 protector. | 790 |
He is simple, and his nature is the touchstone of right and wrong, | |
his rise means setting of a hundred thousand stars.15 | |
Leave aside these deserts, mountains and valleys, | |
pitch your tent in your own being.16 | |
Whetting your nature on the desert wind | 795 |
set your dromedary onto the battlefield. | |
The modern age was born out of your achievements; | |
its intoxication is the result of your rose-red wine. | |
You have been the expositor of its secrets, | |
and the first builder of its edifice.17 | 800 |
Since the West adopted it as its own, | |
it has grown into a coquette, with no sense of honour. | |
Although she is sweet and pleasant,18 | |
yet she is crooked, saucy and irreligious. | |
O man of the desert, make what is unripe mature | 805 |
and refashion the world according to your touchstone |
1.
This idea has been repeatedly expressed by Iqbal in the present book, in verses
254-55, 273-74, etc. In Javid Namah (p. 87), he says in the same strain:
[Himself broke the
spell of Imperialism,
then assumed the mantle of Imperialism himself.]
In the footnote to
this verse, Iqbal refers to the tradition of the Prophet: "When Caesar will be
killed, there shalt be no Caesar; when Chosroe will be killed, there shall be no
Chosroe thereafter."
2.
Iqbal says that modern knowledge of sciences and arts is the legacy which Europe
received from the Muslim world. "You became." Reference is to the Qur'anic
verse, iii. 102: "And remember Allah's favour to you when you were enemies ;
then He united your hearts, so by His favour you became brethren."
3.
Ummi. See the Qur'an, vii. 157. Usually it is translated as one who
cannot read and write. According to some, it is the Arabic equivalent of the
word "Gentile" which the Israelites used to designate all non-Jews,
4.
"Talip" lalah. Iqbal often employs this word, particularly lalah-i
sehra', to denote Muslim Community. Cf. Zabur-i Ajam, pp. 106, 126,
178, 187.
5.
The concept of freedom (hurriyat), that is looked upon as a contribution
of Western thought, was in reality given a concrete shape at the hands of the
Prophet. At another place, he says (Asrar-o Rumuz, p. 120):
[Freedom was born out
of his holy heart;
His vineyard flowed with that delightful wine.
The world's new age, its hundred lamps ablaze,
Opened its eyes upon his loving breast.]
Eng. trans. by A.J.
Arberry, Mysteries of Selflessness, p. 22.
6.
Cf. the following lines (ibid.):
[By his might he
shattered every ancient privi1ege,
And built new walls to fortify mankind.]
7.
The Surat al-Saffat (xxvii.): "Those raging in ranks," refers to the position of
the believers while saying prayers during battle.
8.
Ayyubi, i.e. Salahuddin Ayyubi, the hero of the Crusades. Iqbal sometimes
employs his name as a model Muslim ruler. See Payam-i M'ashriq, p. 5.
Bayazid refers to the famous sufi, Bayazid Bistami It is the basic contention of
Iqbal that the sword of Ayyubi and spiritual insight of Bayazid should be
present in a single person. The idea of bifurcation of State and Church is
foreign to the spirit of Islam. The term Faqr, in Iqbal, represents this
integrative characteristic.
9.
These lines (752-53) enunciate Iqbal's basic position with regard to the
relative value of reason and intuition. An individual must employ both; whenever
one of these is ignored, most often it leads to a warped personality. Cf. the
following verses (Javid Namah, p. 71)
[When love is
companioned by intelligence
It has the power to design another world.
Then rise and draw design of a new world,
Mingle love with intelligence.]
Eng. trans. by
Arberry. Rum stands for Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi who represents love and
Rayy is the name of a city which is now situated in the suburbs of Tehran, the
birthplace of Fakhruddin Razi, the great theologian, Qur'an-commentator and
philosopher. He stands for reason here.
10.
Cf. the following lines (Zabur-i Ajam, p. 263):
[Just cast a glance on
that pure jewel-
look at the Taj in the moonlight;
its marble ripples faster than flowing waters,
a moment spent here is more stable than eternity.]
11.
This in a nutshell is Iqbal's advice to the Muslim of today, that be should
aspire to seek the welfare of man, both material and spiritual, that be should
endeavour to Eve his mundane life fully oriented to the spiritual reality. He
should not shirk plunging into the hazards of war, though he must be attuned all
the time to the Great Infinite.
12.
"Value of the desert." Iqbal is referring to the strategic importance and the
rich mineral resources of the Arabian deserts.
13.
Here Iqbal refers to the dirty game of the Colonial Powers, after he First Great
War (1914.18), to divide the Arab land into small geographical territories and
fostering narrow nationalism, which, as Iqbal states elsewhere, was the greatest
danger to the. unity and integrity of the Muslim world. See Anwar-i Iqbal,
p. 168. See also line 782.
14.
Nature (fitrat) here does not refer to what we usually call the world of
Nature or the world of matter. We are not expected to preserve the world of
matter as it is ; our aim should be to turn is into
ought.
The word fitrat
(nature) refers to human nature as mentioned in the Qur'an, xxx. 30: "So set thy
face for religion, being upright, the nature made by Allah in which He has
created man."
Thus nature,
interpreted in the light of this verse, would be Islam, the true religion, that
enshrines the nature made by God which must be preserved and maintained at all
cost.
When Iqbal says that
the people of the desert know the demands of nature and can protect it, he
means, in the words of the Qur'an (xxx. 30), "true religion," i.e. Islam. He
says:
Darb-i Kalim,
p.
24
[The purposes of
Nature are protected
by the man of the desert or mountains.]
Armaghan-i Hijaz,
p.
120
[Body and soul become
strong through desert winds,
rise of nations is from deserts or mountains.]
15.
"A hundred thousand stars" refers to the diverse systems of beliefs and
attitudes current in the world, all of which will be superseded when true
religion makes its appearance.
16.
In the development of khudi. this is the first stage, where the
individual is expected to detach himself completely from the outside world and
concentrate on his own self.
Zabur-i Ajam,
p.
216
[Reach within yourself
and retire from this noisy world,
throw yourself into the inner recesses of your heart.]
17.
These lines (797-800) refer to the idea expressed earlier in lines 733-36 that
modern knowledge is the legacy of the Arabs.
18.
Iqbal thinks that sciences and arts in the hands of secular West became
destructive weapons for the annihilation of this earthly planet. There is
nothing inherently evil in them, only they are cut off from their natural
affinity to the spiritual values of life.
[EXPLANATORY
NOTE]
