Couplets › Awakening
From Bal-e-Jibril · originally composed in Urdu
Be-huzuri hai teri maut ka raaz
Zinda ho tu to be-huzur nahin
Zinda ho tu to be-huzur nahin
“Absence from the present is the secret of your death; if you are truly alive, you are never absent.”
Romanहिन्दी
बे-हुज़ूरी है तेरी मौत का राज़
ज़िंदा हो तू तो बे-हुज़ूर नहीं
ज़िंदा हो तू तो बे-हुज़ूर नहीं
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 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
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
Parwaz hai dono ki isi ek faza mein
Kargas ka jahan aur hai, shaheen ka jahan aur
Kargas ka jahan aur hai, shaheen ka jahan aur
Both take flight in this very same sky — yet the vulture's world is one thing, and the falcon's another.
The Falcon · Self-Knowledge