Arabic · phrase · Spirit & the Divine
Faqr-o-Faaqa
फ़क़्र-ओ-फ़ाक़ा
said faqr-o-faa-qa
also written: Faqr-o-Faqa
Meaning
Poverty and privation embraced as a spiritual discipline.
Literally: poverty and hunger
How Iqbal uses it
Iqbal recasts faqr not as begging destitution but as the lordly indifference of the self-possessed believer to worldly wealth.
See it in the verse
Faqr-o-Faaqa in Iqbal’s couplets
Nigah-e-faqr mein shaan-e-sikandari kya hai
Khiraaj ki jo gada ho wo qaisari kya hai
Khiraaj ki jo gada ho wo qaisari kya hai
In the eyes of true inner wealth, what is the grandeur of an Alexander? What is an emperor who must beg for tribute?
Freedom · Selfhood · Humility
Nigah-e-faqr mein shan-e-sikandari kya hai
Khiraj ki jo gada ho wo qaisari kya hai
Khiraj ki jo gada ho wo qaisari kya hai
In the eyes of a free spirit, what is the splendour of an Alexander? An empire that begs for tribute is no empire at all.
Selfhood · Freedom · Self-Knowledge