Couplets › Action
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 — 'Masjid-e-Qurtaba' · originally composed in Urdu
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, naqsh-gar-e-haadsat
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, asl-e-hayat-o-mamat
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, asl-e-hayat-o-mamat
“The chain of day and night is the sculptor of all events; the chain of day and night is the root of life and of death.”
Romanहिन्दी
सिलसिला-ए-रोज़-ओ-शब नक़्श-गर-ए-हादसात
सिलसिला-ए-रोज़-ओ-शब अस्ल-ए-हयात-ओ-ममात
सिलसिला-ए-रोज़-ओ-शब अस्ल-ए-हयात-ओ-ममात
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
The opening of the Mosque of Cordoba poem. Iqbal looks at the simple succession of days and nights and sees the great workshop of existence — the patient sculptor that shapes every event, and the very source of living and dying. Time is not a backdrop; it is the maker.
For You, Today
The plain passing of your days is not empty — it is the chisel shaping everything you will become. Iqbal asks you to take ordinary time seriously, because it is doing the carving whether you notice or not.
In the same spirit
Apne mann mein doob kar pa ja suragh-e-zindagi
Tu agar mera nahin banta na ban, apna to ban
Tu agar mera nahin banta na ban, apna to ban
Dive into your own self and find the trace of life. If you will not be mine, then do not — but at least become your own.
Selfhood · Self-Knowledge
Amal se zindagi banti hai jannat bhi jahannum bhi
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
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
Parwaz hai dono ki isi ek faza mein
Kargas ka jahan aur hai, shaheen ka jahan aur
Kargas ka jahan aur hai, shaheen ka jahan aur
Both take flight in this very same sky — yet the vulture's world is one thing, and the falcon's another.
The Falcon · Self-Knowledge