Couplets › Self-Knowledge
From Zarb-e-Kalim · originally composed in Urdu
Tujhe se nahin ki tu
hai magar nahin
hai magar nahin
“You cannot be free of the book, for you are a reader of books but not their master.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
तुझे से नहीं फ़राग़ कि तू
है मगर नहीं
है मगर नहीं
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
تجھے کتاب سے ممکن نہیں فراغ کہ تو
کتاب خواں ہے مگر صاحب کتاب نہیں
کتاب خواں ہے مگر صاحب کتاب نہیں
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal draws a line between the one who consumes knowledge and the one who commands it. To merely read is to stay dependent on the page; to become its master is to absorb, judge and outgrow it. Learning is a stage, not a destination, and the goal is a self strong enough to use knowledge rather than be ruled by it.
For You, Today
Reading and collecting information is only the start. Push past being a consumer of other people's thinking until you can weigh it, argue with it, and produce your own.
In the same spirit
Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai
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
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 mere 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