Couplets › Unity
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Naya Shawala' · originally composed in Urdu
ki mein hai tu hai
ka mujh ko har hai
ka mujh ko har hai
“You have imagined that God dwells within stone idols — for me, every single speck of my homeland's dust is itself a deity.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
की मूरतों में समझा है तू है
का मुझ को हर है
का मुझ को हर है
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
پتھر کی مورتوں میں سمجھا ہے تو خدا ہے
خاک وطن کا مجھ کو ہر ذرہ دیوتا ہے
خاک وطن کا مجھ کو ہر ذرہ دیوتا ہے
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
From 'Naya Shawala', written by a young Iqbal addressing a Hindu friend. Rather than disdain another's forms of worship, he answers with his own devotion — finding the sacred in the very dust of a shared land. It is a verse of reverence offered across the line of religion.
For You, Today
Iqbal models a rare move: meeting a different faith not with contempt but with his own wider reverence. The sacred, he suggests, is not the private property of any one form of worship.
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
Zindagi ho meri parwane ki surat ya-rab
Ilm ki shama se ho mujh ko mohabbat ya-rab
Ilm ki shama se ho mujh ko mohabbat ya-rab
Let my life be like the moth's, O Lord; let me love the lamp of knowledge.
Love · Aspiration · Youth
Ho mera kaam ghareebon ki himayat karna
Dard-mandon se zaeefon se mohabbat karna
Dard-mandon se zaeefon se mohabbat karna
Let my work be to defend the poor — to love the suffering and the weak.
Justice · Humility · Love