Couplets › Justice
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Tulu-e-Islam' · originally composed in Urdu
Abhi tak aadmi sayd-e-zaboon-e-shahryari hai
Qayamat hai ki insaan nau-e-insaan ka shikari hai
Qayamat hai ki insaan nau-e-insaan ka shikari hai
“Even now, the human being is the wretched prey of the rule of kings — it is a catastrophe that one human still hunts another.”
Romanहिन्दी
अभी तक आदमी सय्द-ए-ज़बून-ए-शहरयारी है
क़यामत है कि इंसाँ नौ-ए-इंसाँ का शिकारी है
क़यामत है कि इंसाँ नौ-ए-इंसाँ का शिकारी है
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal names a wound that has not healed. People are still caught, still hunted — and worst of all, the hunter is another human being. He calls this not a sad fact but a 'qayamat', a catastrophe, refusing to let it pass as normal.
For You, Today
Wherever one group of people preys on another — for power, for profit — Iqbal denies it the cover of normality. He insists it stay shocking: a human hunting a human is a catastrophe, not a custom.
In the same spirit
Jis khet se dehqan ko muyassar nahin rozi
Us khet ke har khosha-e-gandum ko jala do
Us khet ke har khosha-e-gandum ko jala do
The field that does not yield its farmer even his daily bread — burn every ear of wheat in that field.
Justice · Courage
Na samjhoge to mit jaoge ai Hindostan walon
Tumhari dastan tak bhi na hogi dastanon mein
Tumhari dastan tak bhi na hogi dastanon mein
If you will not understand, you will be erased, O people of Hindustan — not even your story will remain among the stories.
Awakening · Courage
Aaeen-e-naw se darna, tarz-e-kuhan pe arna
Manzil yahi kathin hai qaumon ki zindagi mein
Manzil yahi kathin hai qaumon ki zindagi 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.
Awakening · Courage