Couplets › Unity
From Bang-e-Dara · originally composed in Urdu
Saare jahan se achchha Hindostan hamara
Ham bulbulen hain is ki ye gulsitan hamara
Ham bulbulen hain is ki ye gulsitan hamara
“Better than the whole world is this India of ours; we are its nightingales and this is our garden.”
Romanहिन्दी
सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दोस्ताँ 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.
♪ 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
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
Dayar-e-ishq mein apna maqam paida kar
Naya zamana, naye subh-o-sham paida kar
Naya zamana, naye subh-o-sham paida kar
In the realm of love, create your own standing — bring a new age into being, new mornings and new evenings of your own.
Aspiration · Action · Love