Couplets › Selfhood
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 — 'Saqi Nama' · originally composed in Urdu
kya hai
kya hai
kya hai
“What is selfhood? The secret hidden inside life. What is selfhood? The waking-up of the whole universe.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
क्या है
क्या है
क्या है
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
خودی کیا ہے راز درون حیات
خودی کیا ہے بیداری کائنات
خودی کیا ہے بیداری کائنات
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal answers his favourite question twice over. Selfhood is the hidden secret at the core of being alive — and, more grandly, it is the universe coming awake in a person. To develop a self, in this view, is to be the point where existence becomes conscious.
For You, Today
Iqbal sets the stakes of self-development as high as they go. Becoming fully yourself is not a private hobby — it is, in his picture, the universe waking up at one more point.
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