Couplets › Hope
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Bachche ki Dua' · originally composed in Urdu
pe aati hai ke meri
ki ho meri
ki ho meri
“My longing rises to my lips as a prayer: O God, may my life be like a candle's flame.”
पे आती है के मेरी
शम्आ की हो मेरी
शम्आ की हो मेरी
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
لب پہ آتی ہے دعا بن کے تمنا میری
زندگی شمع کی صورت ہو خدایا میری!
زندگی شمع کی صورت ہو خدایا میری!
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Written as a child's prayer, this verse is sung every morning in thousands of schools across the subcontinent. The wish is simple and luminous: to live like a candle's flame — to give light, even though it costs the self something to burn.
For You, Today
A life that gives light costs the giver something — that is the nature of a flame. Iqbal's gentlest verse asks the largest question: is your life lighting anything?
In the same spirit
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
Mohabbat mujhe un jawanon se hai
Sitaron pe jo dalte hain kamand
Sitaron pe jo dalte hain kamand
My love is for those young ones who cast their lasso upon the stars.
Youth · Aspiration
Door duniya ka mere dam se andhera ho jaye
Har jagah mere chamakne se ujala ho jaye
Har jagah mere chamakne se ujala ho jaye
May the world's darkness be dispelled by my being; may every place be lit by my shining.
Aspiration · Hope · Youth