Couplets › Restlessness
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
tujhe kisi se kar de
Ki tere bahr ki maujon mein nahin
Ki tere bahr ki maujon mein nahin
“May God acquaint you with some storm — for the waves of your sea carry no restlessness in them.”
Romanहिन्दी
तुझे किसी से दे
कि तेरे की मौजों में नहीं
कि तेरे की मौजों में नहीं
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
This is a prayer that sounds like a curse and is in fact a blessing. A calm sea, to Iqbal, is a dead one. He asks that a storm be sent — because the stillness, the absence of restlessness, is the real danger, not the storm.
For You, Today
If your life feels suspiciously calm and you feel quietly flat, Iqbal would not console you — he would pray for weather. A little turbulence is often what a stagnant life is missing.
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
Tere ishq ki intiha chahta hun
Meri sadgi dekh kya chahta hun
Meri sadgi dekh kya chahta hun
I long for the very limit of Your love — look at my simplicity, see what I dare to ask.
Love · Aspiration · Restlessness
Kabhi ae haqeeqat-e-muntazar nazar aa libas-e-majaz mein
Ki hazaron sajde tadap rahe hain teri jabeen-e-niyaz mein
Ki hazaron sajde tadap rahe hain teri jabeen-e-niyaz mein
O long-awaited Truth, show Yourself once in the garb of the visible — for a thousand prostrations quiver in this humble, waiting brow.
Love · Aspiration · Restlessness