tute bhi jo tara to zamin par nahin girta
girte hain samundar mein bade shauq se dariya
lekin kisi dariya mein samundar nahin girta
“A qalandar never falls at the feet of circumstance — even a star, when it breaks, does not fall to the ground. Rivers pour themselves into the ocean with great longing, but no ocean ever falls into a river.”
टूटे भी जो तारा तो ज़मीन पर नहीं गिरता
गिरते हैं समुंदर में बड़े शौक़ से दरिया
लेकिन किसी दरिया में समुंदर नहीं गिरता
The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
The couplet builds a hierarchy out of nature's own motions: the qalandar who never bows to circumstance, the star that even breaking refuses to touch the ground, the river that pours itself eagerly into the sea. The turn comes in the final image — the ocean never falls into the river — quietly insisting that true greatness gives itself only on its own terms, never diminishing toward something smaller.
When pressure pushes you to shrink yourself to fit a smaller situation, remember that you can offer your fullness without surrendering your stature.
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →