parwaz apni rok lun ud jaun kya karun
main kya karun ki teri ana ko sukun mile
gir jaun tut jaun bikhar jaun kya karun
“Should I die in the dust of disgrace — what am I to do? Should I hold my flight back, or fly away — what am I to do? What can I possibly do to bring your pride some peace — should I fall, should I break, should I scatter — what am I to do?”
परवाज़ अपनी रोक लूँ उड़ जाऊँ क्या करूँ
मैं क्या करूँ कि तेरी अना को सुकून मिले
गिर जाऊँ टूट जाऊँ बिखर जाऊँ क्या करूँ
The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
The whole verse is one helpless question, turned over and over. It is the voice of someone caught between self-respect and a love that asks for their diminishment — and the unbearable recognition that the other person's ego may only be soothed by their ruin.
If a relationship is only at peace when you are smaller, the question 'what am I to do' has an answer the verse will not say aloud. Flight is not always escape — sometimes it is simply survival.
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →