Couplets  ›  Selfhood
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Tulu-e-Islam' · originally composed in Urdu
Khudi mein doob ja ghafil, ye sirr-e-zindagani hai
Nikal kar halqa-e-shaam-o-sahar se javedan ho ja

Dive into your selfhood, O heedless one — this is the secret of life. Step out of the ring of evening and morning, and become everlasting.

Romanहिन्दी
ख़ुदी में डूब जा ग़ाफ़िल ये सिर्र-ए-ज़िंदगानी है
निकल कर हल्क़ा-ए-शाम-ओ-सहर से जावेदाँ हो जा

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 calls the distracted person back to the one place worth diving into — the self. The 'ring of evening and morning' is ordinary time, the repeating cycle of days. A self that goes deep enough, he suggests, steps outside that ring into something that does not simply repeat and fade.

For You, Today

Time keeps cycling whether you grow or not. Iqbal's instruction is to use that time to go inward and build something durable — a self substantial enough to outlast the calendar.

Themes:SelfhoodSelf-KnowledgeAwakening
← Previous coupletNext couplet →
In the same spirit