Couplets › Justice
From Bang-e-Dara, 1924 — 'Khizr-e-Rah' · originally composed in Urdu
Zindagi ka raaz kya hai saltanat kya cheez hai
Aur ye sarmaya-o-mehnat mein hai kaisa kharosh
Aur ye sarmaya-o-mehnat mein hai kaisa kharosh
“What is the secret of life? What is this thing called the State? And what is this clamour between capital and labour?”
Romanहिन्दी
ज़िन्दगी का राज़ क्या है सल्तनत क्या चीज़ है
और ये सरमाया-ओ-मेहनत में है कैसा ख़रोश
और ये सरमाया-ओ-मेहनत में है कैसा ख़रोश
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
The seeker brings Khizr the great questions of the modern age — the meaning of life, the nature of power, and the violent quarrel between capital and labour. Iqbal places economic justice among the deepest questions, not below them.
For You, Today
Iqbal refuses to separate the spiritual from the political and economic — the meaning of life and the fight between capital and labour are asked in the same breath. The structures of power and money are part of the real question, not a distraction from it.
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