Couplets › Awakening
From Bal-e-Jibril · originally composed in Urdu
hai teri ka
ho tu to nahin
ho tu to nahin
“Absence from the present is the secret of your death; if you are truly alive, you are never absent.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
है तेरी का
हो तू तो नहीं
हो तू तो नहीं
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
بے حضوری ہے تیری موت کا راز
زندہ ہو تو تو بے حضور نہیں
زندہ ہو تو تو بے حضور نہیں
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal treats inattention, drifting through life elsewhere in mind, as a kind of dying. To be fully alive is to be fully present, awake to this moment rather than scattered across distraction and memory. Presence here is not a mood; it is the proof of being alive at all.
For You, Today
When your attention is everywhere except where you are, part of you is switched off. Coming back to the present moment is not a small thing; it is how you stay genuinely alive.
In the same spirit
Apne mann mein doob kar pa ja suragh-e-zindagi
Tu agar mera nahin banta na ban, apna to ban
Tu agar mera nahin banta na ban, apna to ban
Dive into your own self and find the trace of life. If you will not be mine, then do not — but at least become your own.
Selfhood · Self-Knowledge
Mere Allah burai se bachana mujh ko
Nek jo raah ho us rah pe chalana mujh ko
Nek jo raah ho us rah pe chalana mujh ko
My God, save me from evil; set me on the path that is good.
Humility · Self-Knowledge
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