Couplets › Restlessness
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
Ragon mein gardish-e-khoon hai agar to kya
Hayat ke kuchh aur nahin
Hayat ke kuchh aur nahin
“If blood merely circulates in your veins, what have you gained? Life is nothing but the burning of the heart.”
Romanहिन्दी
रगों में गर्दिश-ए-ख़ूँ है अगर तो क्या
के कुछ और नहीं
के कुछ और 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
Mere biological living — blood moving through veins — is not yet life to Iqbal. Real life is soz, the inner burning of passion and longing. A pulse without fire is just animation, not existence.
For You, Today
Being alive and being on fire are not the same thing. Iqbal dismisses the well-functioning life with no inner heat. Ask what you burn for; a circulating-blood existence was never the goal.
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