ham kaun hain kar
ji ke ham ko ke tu
ham tujhe kar
jab tak se
phir bhi kar
hain to hai hamein
ham bhi kar
pe tujh ko ham ne hai ye na
ham hi tujhe kar
“We will show you our splendour — only wait. We will reveal who we are — only wait. Weep us our fill of blood-tears today; tomorrow we will make you weep — only wait. As long as the pen will serve we will use the pen, then we will raise the sword too — only wait. We are silent, so you have taken us for mute; we will raise an uproar too — only wait. Do not forget — it was we who seated you on that throne; it is we who will lift you off it — only wait.”
हम कौन हैं बताएँगे कर
जी के हमको के रुला तू
हम तुझे रुलाएँगे कर
जब तक से चलेगा चलाएँगे
फिर भी उठाएँगे कर
हैं तो बैठा है हमें
हम भी मचाएँगे कर
पे तुझको हमने बिठाया है ये न
हम ही तुझे उठाएँगे कर
The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
A poem of held power. Every couplet is patient on its surface and unanswerable underneath — the refrain 'only wait' is not a plea but a verdict. It is the voice of the governed reminding the ruler that silence was a choice, never an incapacity, and that the throne itself was always a loan.
Patience is not the same as powerlessness. Some restraint is simply a decision being kept in reserve. The line worth carrying out of this poem: the one who seated you can unseat you.
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →