Couplets › Humility
From Bang-e-Dara · originally composed in Urdu
Har ek chiz se paida khuda ki qudrat hai
Koi baDa koi chhoTa ye us ki hikmat hai
Koi baDa koi chhoTa ye us ki hikmat hai
“Every single thing reveals the power of creation; that one is large and another small is part of its wisdom.”
Romanहिन्दी
हर एक चीज़ से पैदा ख़ुदा की क़ुदरत है
कोई बड़ा कोई छोटा ये उस की हिकमत है
कोई बड़ा कोई छोटा ये उस की हिकमत 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
In the fable of the mountain and the squirrel, the squirrel answers the mountain's pride with this truth. Scale is not rank. The large and the small each carry a worth the other cannot, and the variety itself is the design. Nothing in creation is redundant simply for being small.
For You, Today
Do not measure your worth against someone bigger or louder. You hold abilities they do not, and the mix is deliberate. Smallness is not the same as insignificance.
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
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
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