Couplets › Action
From Bal-e-Jibril · originally composed in Urdu
tujh ko hun kya hai
“Let me tell you the fate of nations: the sword and the spear come first, the peacock and the lute come last.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
मैं तुझ को बताता हूँ क्या है
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
میں تجھ کو بتاتا ہوں تقدیر امم کیا ہے
شمشیر و سناں اول طاؤس و رباب آخر
شمشیر و سناں اول طاؤس و رباب آخر
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal reads the life of a people in two stages. Hard discipline, struggle and effort build a civilisation; ease, ornament and indulgence arrive only after, and often signal decline. The order matters. Comfort earned by struggle endures; comfort grasped before the struggle hollows a people out.
For You, Today
Earn the soft years with hard ones. If you reach for comfort and polish before you have done the difficult work, you are skipping the part that actually makes the rest last.
In the same spirit
Ho mere dam se yunhi mere watan ki zeenat
Jis tarah phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Jis tarah phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Let my country be adorned by me, as a garden is adorned by its flowers.
Aspiration · Youth · Action
Amal se zindagi banti hai jannat bhi jahannum bhi
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
By our deeds we make life a heaven or a hell. This creature of dust is, by nature, neither angel of light nor demon of fire.
Action · Courage
Sabak phir parh sadaqat ka, adalat ka, shujaat ka
Liya jaega tujhse kaam duniya ki imamat ka
Liya jaega tujhse kaam duniya ki imamat ka
Learn once more the lesson of truth, of justice, of courage — for you will be called upon to lead the world.
Leadership · Courage