Couplets  ›  Leadership
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Tulu-e-Islam' · originally composed in Urdu
phir ka, ka, ka
Liya jaega tujhse ki ka

“Learn once more the lesson of truth, of justice, of courage — for you will be called upon to lead the world.”

Romanहिन्दीاردو
फिर पढ़ का, का, का
लिया जाएगा तुझ से की का

The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.

سبق پھر پڑھ صداقت کا عدالت کا شجاعت کا
لیا جائے گا تجھ سے کام دنیا کی امامت کا

The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).

♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation

Leadership, Iqbal insists, is downstream of character. Before anyone is fit to lead — a team, a community, the world — they must relearn three plain lessons: truth, justice, courage. The mandate to lead is earned by the virtues, not the title.

For You, Today

If responsibility is being handed to you, Iqbal's checklist is not strategy or charisma — it is truth, justice, courage. Relearn those first; everything else in leadership is downstream of them.

Themes:LeadershipCourage
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In the same spirit
Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai
Raise your selfhood so high that, before issuing every decree of destiny, God Himself asks you: tell me, what is your wish?
Selfhood · Courage
Nahin tera nasheman qasr-e-sultani ke gumbad par
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Your nest is not on the dome of a royal palace. You are a falcon — make your dwelling on the rocks of the mountains.
The Falcon · Freedom · Courage
Amal se zindagi banti hai jannat bhi jahannum bhi
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
By our deeds we make life a heaven or a hell. This creature of dust is, by nature, neither angel of light nor demon of fire.
Action · Courage