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
Ho mere dam se yunhi watan ki zeenat
Jis tarah phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Jis tarah phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Let my country be adorned by me, as a garden is adorned by its flowers.
Aspiration · Youth · Action
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