Couplets › Justice
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 · originally composed in Urdu
meri ke ko do
ke do
ke do
“Rise, and awaken the poor of my world — shake the doors and the walls of the mansions of the privileged.”
उठ्ठो मेरी के ग़रीबों को जगा दो
के दो
के दो
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
اٹھو مری دنیا کے غریبوں کو جگا دو
کاخ امرا کے در و دیوار ہلا دو
کاخ امرا کے در و دیوار ہلا دو
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Spoken in the voice of God in Iqbal's poem, this is his most direct call for justice. The instruction is twofold: wake those who have been kept down, and unsettle the comfort of those who kept them there. Iqbal's spirituality is not a quiet one.
For You, Today
Iqbal's idea of a moral life is not private calm. It includes waking others and disturbing unjust comfort — including, when honesty requires it, your own.
In the same spirit
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
Ho mera kaam ghareebon ki himayat karna
Dard-mandon se zaeefon se mohabbat karna
Dard-mandon se zaeefon se mohabbat karna
Let my work be to defend the poor — to love the suffering and the weak.
Justice · Humility · Love
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