Couplets › Awakening
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
Bohat dekhe hain ne ke maikhane
nahin paida be-zauq hai
nahin paida be-zauq hai
“I have seen many a wine-house in both East and West: here no cup-bearer worth the name, there a wine with no savour at all.”
Romanहिन्दी
देखे हैं मैं ने के मय-ख़ाने
नहीं पैदा बे-ज़ौक़ है
नहीं पैदा बे-ज़ौक़ 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, the seasoned traveller of civilisations, delivers his verdict on both East and West. The East lacks the inspired guide, the saqi; the West has the means but no taste, no soul in the wine. Neither hemisphere, he says, holds the full thing.
For You, Today
Iqbal refuses to romanticise either East or West — each is missing what the other has. Don't assume the answer lies in copying one side wholesale. The complete thing may live in neither, and has to be made.
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