Couplets › Love
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 · originally composed in Urdu
Tere ishq ki inteha chahta hoon
Meri sadgi dekh, kya chahta hoon
Meri sadgi dekh, kya chahta hoon
“I long for the very furthest reach of your love — look at my simplicity, look at what I dare to ask for.”
तेरे इश्क़ की इंतिहा चाहता हूँ
मेरी सादगी देख, क्या चाहता हूँ
मेरी सादगी देख, क्या चाहता हूँ
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
From one of Iqbal's most beloved prayers. He asks not for comfort or safety but for the absolute extremity of love. And then he smiles at his own audacity — calling it 'simplicity' — to want something so immense.
For You, Today
Iqbal models how to want greatly without apology. Ask for the furthest thing, and let the sheer size of the wish be a kind of innocence rather than a kind of shame.
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
Mohabbat mujhe un jawanon se hai
Sitaron pe jo dalte hain kamand
Sitaron pe jo dalte hain kamand
My love is for those young ones who cast their lasso upon the stars.
Youth · Aspiration
Lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tamanna meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
My longing rises to my lips as a prayer: O God, may my life be like a candle's flame.
Hope · Aspiration