By Nida Fazli
dhoop mein niklo ghataon mein naha kar dekho
zindagi kya hai kitabon ko hata kar dekho

Step out into the sun, bathe in the rain-clouds — to know what life is, set the books aside.

Romanहिन्दीNida Fazli
धूप में निकलो घटाओं में नहा कर देखो
ज़िंदगी क्या है किताबों को हटा कर देखो

The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.

♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation

The couplet sends you outdoors — into sun, into rain-clouds — and then names the obstacle directly: the books you have been hiding behind. Fazli is not against learning so much as against living at second hand. Life, he insists, is known by being entered.

For You, Today

Set the theory aside now and then and actually go out into the world — experience is the one teacher you cannot read your way around.

It captures Fazli's preference for lived, sensory knowledge over received wisdom.
Themes:GrowthWisdom
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More from Nida Fazli
Adversity
safar mein dhoop to hogi jo chal sako to chalo
Wisdom
kabhi kisi ko mukammal jahan nahin milta
Devotion
ghar se masjid hai bahut dur chalo yun kar len
All couplets by Nida Fazli

The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →