Couplets › Selfhood
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 — 'Saqi Nama' · originally composed in Urdu
Khudi ka nasheman tere dil mein hai
Falak jis tarah aankh ke til mein hai
Falak jis tarah aankh ke til mein hai
“The nest of your selfhood is inside your own heart — the way the whole sky lives inside the pupil of an eye.”
Romanहिन्दी
ख़ुदी का नशेमन तिरे दिल में है
फ़लक जिस तरह आँख के तिल में है
फ़लक जिस तरह आँख के तिल में है
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 locates selfhood not somewhere out in the world but inside you — and gives a precise image for it. A tiny pupil holds the entire sky; in the same way, the small space of your heart holds something vast. The capacity is already within; it only has to be recognised.
For You, Today
You do not have to go out and acquire a self. Iqbal says it is already nesting inside you, the way the sky already fits in an eye. The work is to look inward and find 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
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
Parwaz hai dono ki isi ek faza mein
Kargas ka jahan aur hai, shaheen ka jahan aur
Kargas ka jahan aur hai, shaheen ka jahan aur
Both take flight in this very same sky — yet the vulture's world is one thing, and the falcon's another.
The Falcon · Self-Knowledge