jab kabhi ham dost ho jaayen to sharminda na hon
“Be an enemy wholeheartedly, but leave this much room — that if we ever become friends, we need not feel ashamed.”
जब कभी हम दोस्त हो जाएँ तो शर्मिंदा न हों
The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
Badr does something rare here — he asks for enmity to be honest and full-blooded, not half-hearted. But the real grace is in the second line, which keeps a door open: fight without the cruelty that would make a future friendship unbearable. It treats both enemy and friend as the same person seen at different times.
Even in conflict, do not say or do the thing that could never be forgiven — leave yourself room to one day shake the hand you are now refusing.
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →