Couplets › Unity
From Bang-e-Dara · originally composed in Urdu
Saare se hamara
Ham hain is ki ye hamara
Ham hain is ki ye hamara
“Better than the whole world is this India of ours; we are its nightingales and this is our garden.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
सारे से हमारा
हम बुलबुलें हैं इस की ये गुलसिताँ हमारा
हम बुलबुलें हैं इस की ये गुलसिताँ हमारा
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا
ہم بلبلیں ہیں اس کی یہ گلستاں ہمارا
ہم بلبلیں ہیں اس کی یہ گلستاں ہمارا
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal sings of the homeland as a shared garden in which every inhabitant is a singing bird. The image is deliberately tender rather than martial: belonging is expressed as a nightingale's love for the garden that holds it. The couplet binds people to a place and to one another through affection, not conquest.
For You, Today
Belonging is something you sing, not something you fence. Treat the place you share as a common garden, and treat everyone in it as a fellow voice rather than a rival.
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