Couplets › Action
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 · originally composed in Urdu
se banti hai bhi bhi
Ye apni mein na hai na hai
Ye apni mein na hai na 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.”
Romanहिन्दी
से ज़िंदगी बनती है भी भी
ये ख़ाकी अपनी में न है न है
ये ख़ाकी अपनी में न है न 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
We are, Iqbal says, made of dust — neither angel nor devil by nature. Heaven and hell are not places assigned to us; they are conditions we build, deed by deed. The raw material is neutral; the action is everything.
For You, Today
You are not waiting to be sorted into a good life or a bad one. You are constructing it, choice by choice, today. The material is neutral — the deeds are not.
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
Ho mere dam se yunhi watan ki zeenat
Jis tarah phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Jis tarah phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Let my country be adorned by me, as a garden is adorned by its flowers.
Aspiration · Youth · Action