Couplets › Selfhood
From Bal-e-Jibril (1935) · originally composed in Urdu
Ye de hai mujhe
Ki ke ka hai
Ki ke ka hai
“The morning breeze brought me this message: the station of those who truly know selfhood is sovereignty.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
ये दे है मुझे
कि के आरिफ़ों का है पादशाही
कि के आरिफ़ों का है पादशाही
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
یہ پیام دے گئی ہے مجھے باد صبح گاہی
کہ خودی کے عارفوں کا ہے مقام پادشاہی
کہ خودی کے عارفوں کا ہے مقام پادشاہی
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal links Khudi directly to a kind of kingship. The person who has come to know and build the self does not need a throne to be sovereign; the mastery is inward. Self-knowledge is itself a form of rule, the only rule no one can take away.
For You, Today
Real authority over your life is not granted by a title or a position. It comes from knowing and governing yourself. Build that, and you carry your sovereignty into any room, with or without a crown.
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
Mere Allah burai se bachana mujh ko
Nek jo raah ho us rah pe chalana mujh ko
Nek jo raah ho us rah pe chalana mujh ko
My God, save me from evil; set me on the path that is good.
Humility · Self-Knowledge