Couplets › Awakening
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Khizr-e-Rah' · originally composed in Urdu
kar mere mein
wale ki si ek
wale ki si ek
“Open your eyes and look into the mirror of my words — see the faint, blurred picture of the age that is coming.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
कर आँखें मेरे में
आने वाले की धुँदली सी इक देख
आने वाले की धुँदली सी इक देख
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
کھول کر آنکھیں مرے آئینۂ گفتار میں
آنے والے دور کی دھندلی سی اک تصویر دیکھ
آنے والے دور کی دھندلی سی اک تصویر دیکھ
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal offers his words as a mirror that shows not the present but the future. The image in it is dim, not yet sharp — the coming age is only an outline. He asks the reader to look hard at that outline and begin preparing for what is taking shape.
For You, Today
The future rarely arrives in clear focus; it shows up first as a blur at the edge of the present. Iqbal's instruction is to look anyway — to read the faint picture early enough to be ready for it.
In the same spirit
Lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tamanna meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
My longing rises to my lips as a prayer: O God, may my life be like a candle's flame.
Hope · Aspiration
Door duniya ka mere dam se andhera ho jaye
Har jagah mere chamakne se ujala ho jaye
Har jagah mere chamakne se ujala ho jaye
May the world's darkness be dispelled by my being; may every place be lit by my shining.
Aspiration · Hope · Youth
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