Couplets  ›  Action
From Bal-e-Jibril (1935) · originally composed in Urdu
mein thi ki
Na mujh se london mein bhi

“Though the winter wind cut like the edge of a sword, even in London I never let go of the discipline of rising at dawn.”

Romanहिन्दीاردو
में थी की
न छूटे मुझ से लंदन में भी

The couplet in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.

زمستانی ہوا میں گرچہ تھی شمشیر کی تیزی
نہ چھوٹے مجھ سے لندن میں بھی آداب سحر خیزی

The couplet as Iqbal wrote it, in Urdu (Nastaliq).

♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation

Iqbal recalls keeping his habit of waking early through harsh foreign winters. The point is steadiness: a discipline worth having is one you carry through cold, distance and discomfort. Character is what holds when conditions stop being convenient.

For You, Today

A practice you keep only when it is easy is not yet a discipline. Hold your important habits through the cold mornings and the unfamiliar seasons. That is when they actually become part of you.

Themes:ActionCourageSelf-Knowledge
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In the same spirit
Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har taqdeer se pehle
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
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
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