Couplets › Youth
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
Uqabi rooh jab bedar hoti hai jawanon mein
Nazar aati hai un ko apni manzil aasmanon mein
Nazar aati hai un ko apni manzil aasmanon mein
“When the eagle's spirit awakens in the young, they begin to see their destination up among the skies.”
Romanहिन्दी
उक़ाबी रूह जब बेदार होती है जवानों में
नज़र आती है उन को अपनी मंज़िल आसमानों में
नज़र आती है उन को अपनी मंज़िल आसमानों में
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
Iqbal describes a moment of awakening. When the eagle-spirit stirs in a young person, something shifts in their sight itself — their goal relocates upward, into the heavens. Ambition, for Iqbal, is first a change in where you are willing to look.
For You, Today
Raising the young is partly about waking a certain spirit in them. Once it stirs, they aim differently — not because they were told to, but because their sense of the possible has moved up.
In the same spirit
Nahin tera nasheman qasr-e-sultani ke gumbad par
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Tu shaheen hai, basera kar paharon ki chattanon mein
Your nest is not on the dome of a royal palace. You are a falcon — make your dwelling on the rocks of the mountains.
The Falcon · Freedom · Courage
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
Ai tair-e-lahooti us rizq se maut achhi
Jis rizq se aati ho parvaaz mein kotahi
Jis rizq se aati ho parvaaz mein kotahi
O celestial bird, better death than the sustenance that brings any shortfall to your flight.
Freedom · The Falcon