Couplets › Justice
From Bal-e-Jibril, 1935 — 'Lenin (Khuda Ke Huzoor Mein)' · originally composed in Urdu
Ye ilm ye hikmat ye tadabbur ye hukoomat
Peete hain lahoo dete hain taleem-e-masawat
Peete hain lahoo dete hain taleem-e-masawat
“This science, this philosophy, this statecraft, this government — they drink men's blood and preach the lesson of equality.”
Romanहिन्दी
ये इल्म ये हिकमत ये तदब्बुर ये हुकूमत
पीते हैं लहू देते हैं तालीम-ए-मसावात
पीते हैं लहू देते हैं तालीम-ए-मसावात
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's indictment of modern Western civilisation: its grand systems of knowledge and power exploit human beings even as they lecture the world about equality. The gap between professed ideals and actual conduct is the charge — words of justice over a practice of extraction.
For You, Today
Beware the institution that preaches equality while feeding on the people it claims to serve. Iqbal's test is conduct, not slogans. Measure any system by whose blood it runs on, not by what it says about itself.
In the same spirit
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
Jis khet se dehqan ko muyassar nahin rozi
Us khet ke har khosha-e-gandum ko jala do
Us khet ke har khosha-e-gandum ko jala do
The field that does not yield its farmer even his daily bread — burn every ear of wheat in that field.
Justice · Courage
Na samjhoge to mit jaoge ai Hindostan walon
Tumhari dastan tak bhi na hogi dastanon mein
Tumhari dastan tak bhi na hogi dastanon mein
If you will not understand, you will be erased, O people of Hindustan — not even your story will remain among the stories.
Awakening · Courage