Couplets › Selfhood
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
wo hai ka koi nahin
Tu ise agar to nahin
Tu ise agar to nahin
“Selfhood is an ocean that has no shore. If you have taken it for a mere stream, there is no help for you.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
वो है का कोई नहीं
तू इसे समझा अगर तो नहीं
तू इसे समझा अगर तो नहीं
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
خودی وہ بحر ہے جس کا کوئی کنارہ نہیں
تو آب جو اسے سمجھا اگر تو چارہ نہیں
تو آب جو اسے سمجھا اگر تو چارہ نہیں
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal warns against underestimating the self. Selfhood is not a small, knowable thing — it is a shoreless ocean. To mistake it for a narrow stream is a failure of imagination Iqbal calls almost beyond remedy: you cannot draw from a depth you refuse to believe is there.
For You, Today
The biggest limit on what you become is often how small you assume your own capacity to be. Iqbal's caution: treat the self as a stream and a stream is all you will ever get.
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
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
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