Arabic · noun · Character & Virtue
Faqr-o-Ghana
फ़क़्र-ओ-ग़िना
said FAQR-o-ghi-NA
also written: faqr-o-ghina
Meaning
'Poverty and richness' — the paradox by which spiritual poverty before God is the truest wealth.
Literally: poverty and richness
How Iqbal uses it
Iqbal lives the paradox that in faqr lies the believer's real ghana, the poverty that is kingly richness.
See it in the verse
Faqr-o-Ghana 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