Arabic · noun · Struggle & the Sword
Taskhir-e-Fitrat
तस्ख़ीर-ए-फ़ितरत
said tas-KHEER-e-fit-RAT
also written: taskhir-e-fitrat
Meaning
The 'conquest of nature'; the believer's mastery and harnessing of the natural world as the vicegerent of God.
Literally: the subjugation of nature
How Iqbal uses it
Iqbal makes the conquest of nature a religious calling of the perfected self, God's deputy who shapes creation.
See it in the verse
Taskhir-e-Fitrat in Iqbal’s couplets
Amal se zindagi banti hai jannat bhi jahannum bhi
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai
By our deeds we make life a heaven or a hell. This creature of dust is, by nature, neither angel of light nor demon of fire.
Action · Courage
Fitrat ke maqasid ki karta hai nigehbani
Ya banda-e-sehrai ya mard-e-kohistani
Ya banda-e-sehrai ya mard-e-kohistani
It is the one who keeps watch over nature's purposes — either the dweller of the desert, or the man of the mountains.
Adversity · Freedom · Self-Knowledge
Afsos sad-afsos ki shahin na bana tu
Dekhe na teri aankh ne fitrat ke ishaarat
Dekhe na teri aankh ne fitrat ke ishaarat
A pity, a hundred pities, that you never became a falcon; your eye never read the signs that nature held out.
The Falcon · Awakening · Aspiration
Miri mashshatgi ki kya zarurat husn-e-mani ko
Ki fitrat khud-ba-khud karti hai laale ki hina-bandi
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
Puchh us se ki maqbul hai fitrat ki gawahi
Tu sahib-e-manzil hai ki bhatka hua rahi
Tu sahib-e-manzil hai ki bhatka hua rahi
Ask nature, for its testimony is accepted: are you the master of your destination, or a traveller who has lost his way?
Self-Knowledge · Aspiration · Awakening
Sama sakta nahin pahna-e-fitrat mein mera sauda
Ghalat tha ai junun shayad tera andaza-e-sahra
Ghalat tha ai junun shayad tera andaza-e-sahra
My passion cannot be contained even in the vastness of nature; O madness, perhaps your measure of the desert was wrong.
Restlessness · Aspiration · Selfhood