ke mein nahin
“Only the faithful are given room in here — into the small chamber of the heart, the treacherous will never be let in.”
के हुजरे में नहीं आएँगे
The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
The heart is drawn as a hujra — the narrow cell a devotee retreats into — and admission is by loyalty alone. It is less a boast about who is kept out than a description of how a guarded heart actually works: betray it once and the door simply stops opening. The smallness of the chamber is the whole point; there is no room for anyone who would have to be watched.
Your trust is a small room, not a public hall. It is right to give it only to those who have proven they will not turn — and right to keep the door shut to those who already have.
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →