Couplets › Restlessness
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
hai
se hai
se hai
“The caravan is deceived by the idea of a destination — otherwise, the joy of setting out is greater than the comfort of arrival.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
है वर्ना
से है
से है
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
فریب خوردۂ منزل ہے کارواں ورنہ
زیادہ راحت منزل سے ہے نشاط رحیل
زیادہ راحت منزل سے ہے نشاط رحیل
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal overturns the traveller's instinct. The caravan fixes its hopes on the resting place, but that hope is a trick — the true exhilaration is in rahil, the act of departure and movement itself. Arrival brings stillness; the journey brings life.
For You, Today
If you keep deferring satisfaction until the goal is reached, you may be chasing a comfort that ends the very thing that made you feel alive. The aliveness was in the moving — learn to find the joy in the going.
In the same spirit
Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain
Beyond the stars there are worlds yet — there are still more trials of love to come.
Aspiration · Love · Restlessness
Mohabbat mujhe un jawanon se hai
Sitaron pe jo dalte hain kamand
Sitaron pe jo dalte hain kamand
My love is for those young ones who cast their lasso upon the stars.
Youth · Aspiration
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