Couplets › Hope
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Tarana-e-Hindi' · originally composed in Urdu
Yunan-o-Misr-o-Roma sab mit gaye jahan se
Ab tak magar hai baqi naam-o-nishan hamara
Ab tak magar hai baqi naam-o-nishan hamara
“Greece, Egypt and Rome have all been erased from the world — yet our name and our mark still remain.”
यूनान-ओ-मिस्र-ओ-रूमा सब मिट गए जहाँ से
अब तक मगर है बाक़ी नाम-ओ-निशाँ हमारा
अब तक मगर है बाक़ी नाम-ओ-निशाँ हमारा
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 lines up the great vanished civilisations and then notes the survival of his own. The point is not boast but puzzle: why do some peoples endure when mightier ones disappear? The answer, he implies, lies in something deeper than power or empire.
For You, Today
Size and dominance do not guarantee survival — history is full of erased giants. Iqbal asks what it is that actually lasts, and points past strength toward something more durable.
In the same spirit
Lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tamanna meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
My longing rises to my lips as a prayer: O God, may my life be like a candle's flame.
Hope · Aspiration
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
Nahin hai naumeed Iqbal apni kisht-e-veeran se
Zara nam ho to ye mitti badi zarkhez hai saqi
Zara nam ho to ye mitti badi zarkhez hai saqi
Iqbal is not without hope, even from his barren field — let there be a little moisture, cupbearer, and this soil is wonderfully fertile.
Hope · Aspiration