Couplets › Unity
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Tulu-e-Islam' · originally composed in Urdu
ka hai
Yahi hai jo hai
Yahi hai jo hai
“The conviction of individuals is the capital that builds a community — this is the very force that sculpts a people's destiny.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
यक़ीं का है
यही है जो है
यही है जो है
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
یقیں افراد کا سرمایۂ تعمیر ملت ہے
یہی قوت ہے جو صورت گر تقدیر ملت ہے
یہی قوت ہے جو صورت گر تقدیر ملت ہے
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal traces the strength of any community back to a private source: the firm conviction held by single individuals. A people is not built by numbers or wealth first; it is built by the certainty inside the persons who make it up.
For You, Today
The health of any group — a team, an institution, a nation — is downstream of the conviction of the individuals in it. Iqbal puts the foundation exactly where it belongs: in the person.
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
Mazhab nahin sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna
Hindi hain hum, watan hai Hindostan hamara
Hindi hain hum, watan hai Hindostan hamara
Religion does not teach us to hold enmity among ourselves. We are of Hind, and Hindustan is our homeland.
Unity · Love