Couplets › Restlessness
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
Har shai musafir har cheez raahi
Kya chand tare kya murgh o maahi
Kya chand tare kya murgh o maahi
“Every thing is a traveller, every object a wayfarer — whether the moon and stars, or the birds and the fish.”
Romanहिन्दी
हर शय मुसाफ़िर हर चीज़ राही
क्या चाँद तारे क्या मुर्ग़ ओ माही
क्या चाँद तारे क्या मुर्ग़ ओ माही
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 sees the whole universe as motion. Nothing — not the stars overhead, not the creatures of air and water — is standing still; everything is on a journey. Movement is not an interruption of existence, it is its very nature.
For You, Today
If you feel unsettled, in transit, not yet arrived, Iqbal would say you are simply in step with everything that exists. Stillness is the illusion; being on the way is the universal condition.
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
Mazhab nahin sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna
Hindi hain hum, watan hai Hindostan hamara
Hindi hain hum, watan hai Hindostan hamara
Religion does not teach us to hold enmity among ourselves. We are of Hind, and Hindustan is our homeland.
Unity · Love
Amal se zindagi banti hai jannat bhi jahannum bhi
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
By our deeds we make life a heaven or a hell. This creature of dust is, by nature, neither angel of light nor demon of fire.
Action · Courage