koi hamari tarah umr bhar safar mein raha
“Some found their destination the moment they stepped from home; others, like us, spent a whole lifetime still on the road.”
कोई हमारी तरह उम्र भर सफर में रहा
The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
The couplet divides humanity into two kinds of traveller: those who arrive the instant they set out, and those who spend a lifetime on the road and never quite arrive. There is no bitterness, only a clear-eyed acceptance of which kind the poet is. The journey itself becomes the life — not a failure to reach the destination, but a different relationship with the road.
If you are still searching while others seem already settled, take it not as falling behind but as a longer, fuller acquaintance with the journey.
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →