Couplets › Restlessness
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
Har har
Kya kya o
Kya kya o
“Every thing is a traveller, every object a wayfarer — whether the moon and stars, or the birds and the fish.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
हर हर
क्या तारे क्या ओ
क्या तारे क्या ओ
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
ہر شے مسافر ہر چیز راہی
کیا چاند تارے کیا مرغ و ماہی
کیا چاند تارے کیا مرغ و ماہی
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ 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
Ho mere dam se yunhi mere watan ki zeenat
Jis tarah phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Jis tarah phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Let my country be adorned by me, as a garden is adorned by its flowers.
Aspiration · Youth · Action
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