Couplets › Justice
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
se ko nahin
Us ke har ko do
Us ke har ko do
“The field that does not yield its farmer even his daily bread — burn every ear of wheat in that field.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
से दहक़ाँ को नहीं
उस के हर को दो
उस के हर को दो
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
جس کھیت سے دہقاں کو میسر نہیں روزی
اس کھیت کے ہر خوشۂ گندم کو جلا دو
اس کھیت کے ہر خوشۂ گندم کو جلا دو
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal's most revolutionary couplet. A field that feeds its owners but starves the farmer who works it has failed at its only purpose. A system that does not serve the people inside it has forfeited its right to exist.
For You, Today
Iqbal sets a hard test for any system you are part of — a company, an economy, an institution: does it feed the people who do its work? If it does not, do not reflexively defend it.
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
Nahin tera nasheman qasr-e-sultani ke gumbad par
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Your nest is not on the dome of a royal palace. You are a falcon — make your dwelling on the rocks of the mountains.
The Falcon · Freedom · Courage
Ho mera kaam ghareebon ki himayat karna
Dard-mandon se zaeefon se mohabbat karna
Dard-mandon se zaeefon se mohabbat karna
Let my work be to defend the poor — to love the suffering and the weak.
Justice · Humility · Love