Couplets › Love
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
Nigah-e-ishq dil-e-zinda ki talash mein hai
Shikar-e-murda sazawar-e-shahbaz nahin
Shikar-e-murda sazawar-e-shahbaz nahin
“The gaze of love is searching for a living heart — dead quarry is not worthy of the royal falcon.”
Romanहिन्दी
निगाह-ए-इश्क़ दिल-ए-ज़िंदा की तलाश में है
शिकार-ए-मुर्दा सज़ा-वार-ए-शहबाज़ नहीं
शिकार-ए-मुर्दा सज़ा-वार-ए-शहबाज़ नहीं
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 joins his two great symbols, love and the falcon. Love hunts like a royal falcon, and a true falcon will not stoop to prey that is already dead. What love seeks is a living, awake heart — something with its own spark, not something inert.
For You, Today
Whatever you are trying to win over — a person, a team, an audience — Iqbal's image suggests it must be alive, awake, capable of response. There is no point hunting what has no life in it.
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
Nahin tera nasheman qasr-e-sultani ke gumbad par
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Your nest is not on the dome of a royal palace. You are a falcon — make your dwelling on the rocks of the mountains.
The Falcon · Freedom · Courage
Mazhab nahin sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna
Hindi hain hum, watan hai Hindostan hamara
Hindi hain hum, watan hai Hindostan hamara
Religion does not teach us to hold enmity among ourselves. We are of Hind, and Hindustan is our homeland.
Unity · Love