Urdu Dictionary
Persian · noun · Struggle & the Sword

Khudmukhtaari

ख़ुदमुख़्तारी
said khud-mukh-taa-ree
also written: Khudmukhtari, khud-mukhtari, khudmukhtari
Meaning

Self-rule, autonomy; independence in governing oneself.

Literally: self-determination, being one's own master

How Iqbal uses it

Khudmukhtaari is self-determination — the freedom to be the author of one's own choices. Iqbal sets great store by this autonomy of will: the realised self acts from its own resolve, not driven by others or by a fatalism that denies its agency. He treats the loss of self-determination, whether through political subjection or inward surrender, as the deepest defeat a person or people can suffer.

See it in the verse

Khudmukhtaari in Iqbal’s couplets

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
Khud badalte nahin Quran ko badal dete hain
Hue kis darja faqeehan-e-haram be-taufeeq
They will not change themselves, so they reinterpret the Quran instead — how utterly bereft of grace the jurists of the sanctuary have become.
Justice · Awakening · Courage
Jab ishq sikhata hai aadab-e-khud-aagahi
Khulte hain ghulamon par asrar-e-shahanshahi
When love teaches the discipline of self-awareness, the secrets of sovereignty open up even to slaves.
Freedom · Self-Knowledge · Awakening
Ishq bhi ho hijab mein husn bhi ho hijab mein
Ya to khud aashkar ho ya mujhe aashkar kar
Love is veiled and beauty too is veiled; either reveal yourself, or make me one who can be revealed.
Love · Self-Knowledge · Restlessness
Taqlid ki rawish se to behtar hai khud-kushi
Rasta bhi dhund khizr ka sauda bhi chhod de
Better self-destruction than a life of blind imitation; find your own road, and give up the obsession with a guide.
Selfhood · Freedom · Courage
Miri mashshatgi ki kya zarurat husn-e-mani ko
Ki fitrat khud-ba-khud karti hai laale ki hina-bandi
What need has true beauty of meaning for my adorning hand? Nature, all on its own, paints the tulip red.
Self-Knowledge · Humility · Action
Related words
PERSIAN

Aazaadi

Freedom, liberty, or independence.

ARABIC

Hurriyat

Liberty, freedom, the condition of being free.

ARABIC

Istiqlaal

Steadfastness, firmness, resolute constancy; also independence.

PERSIAN

Khudi

Selfhood; the self, the ego — in the philosophical, not the vain, sense.

ARABIC

Iradat

The will of God, by which He decrees all that comes to pass.

PERSIAN

Be-niyaazi

Indifference and freedom from need, the proud heart's serene aloofness from want or supplication.

← Back to the dictionary