Couplets › Self-Knowledge
From Bang-e-Dara (1924) · originally composed in Urdu
Jinhen main dhundhta tha aasmanon mein zaminon mein
Wo nikle mere zulmat-khana-e-dil ke makinon mein
Wo nikle mere zulmat-khana-e-dil ke makinon mein
“Those I searched for across the skies and the earth turned out to dwell in the darkened house of my own heart.”
Romanहिन्दी
जिन्हें मैं ढूँढता था आसमानों में ज़मीनों में
वो निकले मेरे ज़ुल्मत-ख़ाना-ए-दिल के मकीनों में
वो निकले मेरे ज़ुल्मत-ख़ाना-ए-दिल के मकीनों में
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 describes a long outward search ending in an inward discovery. What he chased through the heavens and across the world was living all along inside him, in the unlit chambers of his own heart. The truths and powers we seek elsewhere are usually already within, waiting to be recognised rather than acquired.
For You, Today
If you have been searching everywhere outside yourself for an answer, turn inward. What you need is often already there, in a part of you that you have not yet looked at honestly.
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
Na samjhoge to mit jaoge ai Hindostan walon
Tumhari dastan tak bhi na hogi dastanon mein
Tumhari dastan tak bhi na hogi dastanon mein
If you will not understand, you will be erased, O people of Hindustan — not even your story will remain among the stories.
Awakening · Courage