Couplets › Selfhood
From Bal-e-Jibril (1935) · originally composed in Urdu
kya hai o ki
ki hai
ki hai
“What is life? The absorbed focus of thought and vision; and scattered, many-coloured doubts are the death of selfhood.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
क्या है ओ की
की है
की है
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
حیات کیا ہے خیال و نظر کی مجذوبی
خودی کی موت ہے اندیشہ ہائے گوناں گوں
خودی کی موت ہے اندیشہ ہائے گوناں گوں
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal defines real life as concentrated attention, thought and sight gathered into a single, absorbed purpose. The opposite, a mind splintered into countless anxious doubts, drains the self. Khudi dies not from one great failure but from a thousand small hesitations.
For You, Today
A scattered, doubt-ridden mind quietly kills your strength. Gather your attention onto what matters and commit. Endless second-guessing feels like caution but is really the slow death of your resolve.
In the same spirit
Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai
Raise your selfhood so high that, before issuing every decree of destiny, God Himself asks you: tell me, what is your wish?
Selfhood · Courage
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
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