Couplets › Awakening
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 · originally composed in Urdu
se , pe
yahi hai ki mein
yahi hai ki mein
“To fear the new order, and to dig in stubbornly on the old way — this is the hardest pass in the life of a people.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
से , पे
यही है क़ौमों की में
यही है क़ौमों की में
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
آئین نو سے ڈرنا، طرز کہن پہ اڑنا
منزل یہی کٹھن ہے قوموں کی زندگی میں
منزل یہی کٹھن ہے قوموں کی زندگی میں
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal names a precise failure: fearing what is new while clinging stubbornly to what is old. That double reflex — fear pointed forward, grip pointed backward — is, he says, the most treacherous stretch in any community's journey. Progress dies in exactly that posture.
For You, Today
Notice the instinct to fear the new and defend the old at the same time. Iqbal marks that spot as the hardest, most dangerous pass — for a nation, an organisation, or a single life.
In the same spirit
Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai
Raise your selfhood so high that, before issuing every decree of destiny, God Himself asks you: tell me, what is your wish?
Selfhood · Courage
Nahin tera nasheman qasr-e-sultani ke gumbad par
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Your nest is not on the dome of a royal palace. You are a falcon — make your dwelling on the rocks of the mountains.
The Falcon · Freedom · Courage
Amal se zindagi banti hai jannat bhi jahannum bhi
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
By our deeds we make life a heaven or a hell. This creature of dust is, by nature, neither angel of light nor demon of fire.
Action · Courage