Couplets › Restlessness
From Bal-e-Jibril (1935) · originally composed in Urdu
Har ek maqam se aage maqam hai tera
Hayat zauq-e-safar ke siwa kuchh aur nahin
Hayat zauq-e-safar ke siwa kuchh aur nahin
“Beyond every station lies a station that is yours; life is nothing but the joy of the journey.”
Romanहिन्दी
हर इक मक़ाम से आगे मक़ाम है तेरा
हयात ज़ौक़-ए-सफ़र के सिवा कुछ और नहीं
हयात ज़ौक़-ए-सफ़र के सिवा कुछ और 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 rejects any final resting place. However far you travel, another stage is always waiting beyond it, and that stage too belongs to you. Life, in his vision, is not arrival but motion; its very meaning is the relish of the ongoing journey. To stop is to stop being fully alive.
For You, Today
Whatever you have reached, there is a further stage waiting for you. Do not treat any success as the end. The aliveness is in the moving, not the arriving.
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