By Mehshar Afridi
raah ke patthar ko chaknachoor hona chahiye
waar chahe ek ho bharpur hona chahiye

sirf itna hi nahin wo haar apni maan le
wo hamare samne majbur hona chahiye

The stone in the road must be smashed to dust — let the blow be a single one, but let it land in full. And not that alone: he must concede his own defeat — he must stand helpless before us.

Romanहिन्दीMehshar Afridi
राह के पत्थर को चकनाचूर होना चाहिए
वार चाहे एक हो भरपूर होना चाहिए

सिर्फ़ इतना ही नहीं वो हार अपनी मान ले
वो हमारे सामने मजबूर होना चाहिए

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 stages a confrontation with the obstacle itself, demanding not just removal but total destruction — and then sharpens the demand further. The turn comes in the second verse: it is no longer enough to break the stone; the adversary must own his defeat and stand stripped of all leverage before the speaker. The escalation from physical force to psychological surrender is what gives it its hard edge.

For You, Today

When you face an obstacle, do not waste yourself on half-measures — decide what a complete resolution actually looks like, then commit to a single, full effort rather than a dozen timid ones.

A mushaira couplet built for the live crowd — it lands because each line raises the stakes the previous one set.
Themes:DefianceCourage
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More from Mehshar Afridi
Ego
aayega guftagu ka saleeqa to kam se kam
Homeland
zamin par ghar banaya hai magar jannat mein rahte hain
Ego
ana ka bojh kabhi jism se utaar ke dekh
All couplets by Mehshar Afridi

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