Ki hain
“If you have no vision, do not sit in my circle of speech — for the subtleties of selfhood are like a sword of true steel.”
कि हैं
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
کہ نکتہ ہائے خودی ہیں مثال تیغ اصیل
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
Iqbal warns that the truths of khudi are not soft consolations; they are blades, and a blade in untrained hands is dangerous. He asks for a listener with nazar — discernment — because ideas about the self can wound or arm a person depending on how clearly they are seen. Real teaching demands a reader who can bear the edge of what is said.
Hard ideas need prepared minds; the same insight that sharpens one person can cut another who isn't ready for it. Before you take on a demanding teaching, ask whether you have built the discernment to wield it.
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Tu agar mera nahin banta na ban, apna to ban