Couplets › Freedom
From Zarb-e-Kalim, 1936 — 'Namaz' · originally composed in Urdu
Ye ek jise tu hai
se deta hai ko
se deta hai ko
“This one act of devotion, which you find so heavy to make — it frees a person from a thousand servile bowings.”
Romanहिन्दीاردو
ये एक जिसे तू समझता है
सजदे से देता है को
सजदे से देता है को
The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
یہ ایک سجدہ جسے تو گراں سمجھتا ہے
ہزار سجدے سے دیتا ہے آدمی کو نجات
ہزار سجدے سے دیتا ہے آدمی کو نجات
The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).
♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation
Iqbal contrasts one true bow with a thousand false ones. The single act of sincere devotion — to truth, to the highest thing you know — feels costly. But it is precisely what liberates you from endlessly bowing, small and servile, before a thousand lesser powers.
For You, Today
One honest commitment to what is true frees you from a hundred anxious compromises with what is not. The hard bow is the one that ends all the cheap ones.
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
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
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