Couplets › Love
From Bal-e-Jibril (1935) · originally composed in Urdu
Ragon mein gardish-e-khun hai agar to kya
Hayat ke kuchh aur nahin
Hayat ke kuchh aur nahin
“If blood merely circulates in your veins, what of it? 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
Iqbal separates being biologically alive from being truly alive. Blood moving through the veins is not yet life in any meaningful sense. Real life is soz-e-jigar, the inner fire and passion of the heart. A person can be breathing and still, by Iqbal's measure, not living at all.
For You, Today
Merely getting through the day is not living. Life, as Iqbal means it, is the fire you feel for something. If that fire has gone out, the task is to relight it, not just keep going.
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