Couplets › Justice
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
se ko
hai ye nahin hai
hai ye nahin hai
“To give a thirsty soul a single drop of dew from a whole ocean — that is stinginess, not generosity.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
समुंदर से मिले प्यासे को
है ये नहीं है
है ये नहीं है
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
سمندر سے ملے پیاسے کو شبنم
بخیلی ہے یہ رزاقی نہیں ہے
بخیلی ہے یہ رزاقی نہیں ہے
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal sets a fierce standard for giving. When an ocean is available and the gift is a drop of dew, the smallness is not modesty — it is meanness disguised as provision. True generosity is measured against what you could have given, not against zero.
For You, Today
When you give the bare minimum from real abundance — of attention, of help, of opportunity — Iqbal names it plainly. Withholding most of an ocean is not prudence; it is stinginess wearing a respectable face.
In the same spirit
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
Mere Allah burai se bachana mujh ko
Nek jo raah ho us rah pe chalana mujh ko
Nek jo raah ho us rah pe chalana mujh ko
My God, save me from evil; set me on the path that is good.
Humility · Self-Knowledge
Jis khet se dehqan ko muyassar nahin rozi
Us khet ke har khosha-e-gandum ko jala do
Us khet ke har khosha-e-gandum ko jala do
The field that does not yield its farmer even his daily bread — burn every ear of wheat in that field.
Justice · Courage