vahi rahegi magar hoga
“Those who once wandered in the wilderness of passion will come back and settle in the towns; the bare feet will be the same, but the field of thorns will be new.”
वही रहेगी मगर होगा
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
برہنہ پائی وہی رہے گی مگر نیا خارزار ہوگا
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
Iqbal sees the restless and the impassioned returning to ordinary life, yet changed. The hardship does not end; only its shape changes, an old wilderness traded for a new field of thorns. Struggle is continuous, but the one who has wandered carries a tested self into each new difficulty.
Solving one hard chapter does not mean the hard chapters end; the next will simply look different. What carries over is you, walking in with feet already toughened by the last road.
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai
Abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein