Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Urdu: محمد اقبال) (November 9, 1877 – April 21, 1938), also known as Allama Iqbal (علامہ اقبال), was a philosopher, poet and politician[1] in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature, with literary work in both the Urdu and Persian languages.
Iqbal is admired as a prominent classical poet by Pakistani, Indian, Iranian, and other international scholars of literature. Though Iqbal is best known as an eminent poet, he is also a highly acclaimed "Muslim philosophical thinker of modern times".His first poetry book, Asrar-e-Khudi, appeared in the Persian language in 1915, and other books of poetry include Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, Payam-i-Mashriq and Zabur-i-Ajam. Amongst these his best known Urdu works are Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim and a part of Armughan-e-Hijaz.[5] In Iran and Afghanistan, he is famous as Iqbāl-e Lāhorī (اقبال لاهوری) (Iqbal of Lahore), and he is most appreciated for his Persian work. Along with his Urdu and Persian poetry, his various Urdu and English
lectures and letters have been very influential in cultural, social,
religious and political disputes over the years.
In 1922, he was knighted by King George V, giving him the title "Sir".While studying law and philosophy in England, Iqbal became a member of the London branch of the All India Muslim League. Later, in one of his most famous speeches, Iqbal pushed for the
creation of a Muslim state in Northwest India. This took place in his
presidential speech in the League's December 1930 session.
In much of Southern Asia and Urdu speaking world, Iqbal is regarded as the Shair-e-Mashriq (شاعر مشرق, "Poet of the East"). He is also called Muffakir-e-Pakistan (مفکر پاکستان, "The Thinker of Pakistan") and Hakeem-ul-Ummat (حکیم الامت, "The Sage of the Ummah"). The Pakistan government officially named him a "national poet". His birthday Yōm-e Welādat-e Muḥammad Iqbāl (یوم ولادت محمد اقبال) or (Iqbal Day) is a public holiday in Pakistan.In India he is also remembered as the author of the popular song Saare Jahaan Se Achcha.
Background
Iqbal was born in Sialkot on 9 November 1877 within the Punjab Province of British India (now in Pakistan). His grandparents were Kashmiri Pandits, the Brahmins of the Sapru clan from Kashmir who converted to Islam.In the 19th century, when Sikhs
were taking over rule of Kashmir, his grandfather's family migrated to
Punjab. Iqbal often mentioned and commemorated about his Kashmiri Pandit
Brahmin lineage in his writings
Iqbal's father, Sheikh Noor Muhammad, was a tailor, not formally educated but a religious man. Iqbal's mother Imam Bibi was a polite and humble woman who helped the
poor and solved the problems of neighbours. She died on 9 November 1914
in Sialkot. Iqbal loved his mother, and on her death he expressed his feelings of pathos in a poetic form elegy.
Who would wait for me anxiously in my native place?
Who would display restlessness if my letter fails to arrive?
I will visit thy grave with this complaint:
Who will now think of me in midnight prayers?
All thy life thy love served me with devotion—
When I became fit to serve thee, thou hast departed.
Iqbal was four years old when he was admitted to the mosque for learning the Qur'an, he learned the Arabic language from his teacher Syed Mir Hassan, the head of the madrassa and professor of Arabic language at Scotch Mission College in Sialkot, where Iqbal completed matriculation in 1893. He received Intermediate with the Faculty of Arts diploma from Murray College Sialkot in 1895. The same year he enrolled Government College Lahore where he qualified for Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, English literature and Arabic as his subjects from Government College Lahore in 1897, and won the Khan Bahadurddin F.S. Jalaluddin medal as he took higher numbers in Arabic class. In 1899, he received Masters of Arts degree from the same college and had the first place in Punjab University, Lahore.
Iqbal had married three times, in 1895 while studying Bachelor of Arts he had his first marriage with Karim Bibi, the daughter of a Gujarati
physician Khan Bahadur Ata Muhammad Khan, through an arranged marriage.
They had daughter Miraj Begum and son Aftab Iqbal. Later Iqbal's second
marriage was with Sardar Begum mother of Javid Iqbal and third marriage with Mukhtar Begum in December 1914.
Higher education in Europe
Iqbal was influenced by the teachings of Sir Thomas Arnold, his philosophy teacher at Government college Lahore, Arnold's teachings determined Iqbal to pursue higher education in the West. In 1905, he traveled to England for his higher education. Iqbal qualified for a scholarship from Trinity College in Cambridge and obtained Bachelor of Arts in 1906, and in the same year he was called to the bar as a barrister from Lincoln's Inn. In 1907, Iqbal moved to Germany to study doctorate and earned PhD degree from the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich in 1908. Working under the guidance of Friedrich Hommel, Iqbal published his doctoral thesis in 1908 entitled: The Development of Metaphysics in Persia.
During Iqbal's stay in Heidelberg, Germany in 1907 his German teacher Emma Wegenast taught him about Goethe's Faust, Heine and Nietzsche.During his study in Europe,
Iqbal began to write poetry in Persian. He prioritized it because he
believed he had found an easy way to express his thoughts. He would
write continuously in Persian throughout his life
Academic
Iqbal, after completing his Master of Arts degree in 1899, initiated his career as a reader of Arabic at Oriental College
and shortly was selected as a junior professor of philosophy at
Government College Lahore, where he had also been a student, and worked
there until he left for England in 1905. In 1908, Iqbal returned from
England and joined the same college again as a professor of philosophy
and English literature. At the same period Iqbal began practicing law at Chief Court Lahore,
but soon Iqbal quit law practice, and devoted himself in literary works
and became an active member of Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam. In 1919, he became the general secretary of the same organisation.
Iqbal's thoughts in his work primarily focus on the spiritual direction
and development of human society, centered around experiences from his
travels and stays in Western Europe and the Middle East. He was
profoundly influenced by Western philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson and Goethe.
The poetry and philosophy of Mawlana Rumi
bore the deepest influence on Iqbal's mind. Deeply grounded in religion
since childhood, Iqbal began intensely concentrating on the study of
Islam, the culture and history of Islamic civilization and its political
future, while embracing Rumi as "his guide". Iqbal would feature Rumi in the role of guide in many of his poems.
Iqbal's works focus on reminding his readers of the past glories of
Islamic civilization, and delivering the message of a pure, spiritual
focus on Islam as a source for sociopolitical liberation and greatness.
Iqbal denounced political divisions within and amongst Muslim nations,
and frequently alluded to and spoke in terms of the global Muslim
community or the Ummah.
Iqbal poetry has been translated into many European languages, at the
time when his work was famous during the early part of the 20th century.Iqbal’s Asrar-i-Khudi and Javed Nama were translated into English by R A Nicholson and A J Arberry respectively.
In 1933, after returning from a trip to Spain and Afghanistan, Iqbal had suffered from a mysterious throat illness.He spent his final years helping Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to establish the Dar ul Islam Trust Institute at Jamalpur estate near Pathankot, where studies in classical Islam and contemporary social science were
plan to be subsidised, and Iqbal also advocated the demand for an
independent Muslim state.
Iqbal ceased practising law in 1934 and was granted pension by the Nawab of Bhopal. In his final years he frequently visited the Dargah of famous Sufi Hazrat Ali Hujwiri in Lahore for spiritual guidance. After suffering for months from his illness, Iqbal died in Lahore on 21 April 1938. His tomb is located in Hazuri Bagh, the enclosed garden between the entrance of the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort, and official guards are provided by the Government of Pakistan.
Iqbal is commemorated widely in Pakistan, where he is regarded as the ideological founder of the state. His Tarana-e-Hind
is a song that is widely used in India as a patriotic song speaking of
communal harmony. His birthday is annually commemorated in Pakistan as Iqbal Day, a national holiday. Iqbal is the namesake of many public institutions, including the Allama Iqbal Campus Punjab University in Lahore, the Allama Iqbal Medical College in Lahore, Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, Allama Iqbal Open University in Pakistan, the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, the Allama Iqbal hall in Nishtar Medical College in Multan and Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town in Karachi and Allama Iqbal Hall at AMU, India.
The government and public organizations have sponsored the
establishment of educational institutions, colleges and schools
dedicated to Iqbal, and have established the Iqbal Academy
to research, teach and preserve the works, literature and philosophy of
Iqbal. Allama Iqbal Stamps Society established for the promotion of
Iqbaliyat in philately and in other hobbies. His son Javid Iqbal has served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Javaid Manzil was the last residence of Allama Iqbal.
Efforts and influences
Political
While dividing his time between law practice and poetry, Iqbal had
remained active in the Muslim League. He did not support Indian
involvement in World War I and remained in close touch with Muslim political leaders such as Mohammad Ali Jouhar and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was a critic of the mainstream Indian National Congress, which he regarded as dominated by Hindus
and was disappointed with the League when during the 1920s, it was
absorbed in factional divides between the pro-British group led by Sir Muhammad Shafi and the centrist group led by Jinnah
In November 1926, with the encouragement of friends and supporters, Iqbal contested for a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from the Muslim district of Lahore, and defeated his opponent by a margin of 3,177 votes.He supported the constitutional proposals
presented by Jinnah with the aim of guaranteeing Muslim political
rights and influence in a coalition with the Congress, and worked with
the Aga Khan and other Muslim leaders to mend the factional divisions and achieve unity in the Muslim League.
Iqbal, Jinnah and concept of Pakistan
Ideologically separated from Congress Muslim leaders, Iqbal had also
been disillusioned with the politicians of the Muslim League owing to
the factional conflict that plagued the League in the 1920s. Discontent
with factional leaders like Sir Muhammad Shafi and Sir Fazl-ur-Rahman,
Iqbal came to believe that only Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a political
leader capable of preserving this unity and fulfilling the League's
objectives on Muslim political empowerment. Building a strong, personal
correspondence with Jinnah, Iqbal was an influential force in convincing
Jinnah to end his self-imposed exile in London,
return to India and take charge of the League. Iqbal firmly believed
that Jinnah was the only leader capable of drawing Indian Muslims to the
League and maintaining party unity before the British and the Congress:
"I know you are a busy man but I do hope you won't mind my writing to
you often, as you are the only Muslim in India today to whom the
community has right to look up for safe guidance through the storm which
is coming to North-West India and, perhaps, to the whole of India."
While Iqbal espoused the idea of Muslim-majority provinces in 1930,
Jinnah would continue to hold talks with the Congress through the decade
and only officially embraced the goal of Pakistan in 1940. Some
historians postulate that Jinnah always remained hopeful for an
agreement with the Congress and never fully desired the partition of
India. Iqbal's close correspondence with Jinnah is speculated by some
historians as having been responsible for Jinnah's embrace of the idea
of Pakistan. Iqbal elucidated to Jinnah his vision of a separate Muslim
state in a letter sent on 21 June 1937:
"A separate federation of Muslim Provinces, reformed on the lines I
have suggested above, is the only course by which we can secure a
peaceful India and save Muslims from the domination of Non-Muslims. Why
should not the Muslims of North-West India and Bengal be considered as nations entitled to self-determination just as other nations in India and outside India are."
Iqbal, serving as president of the Punjab Muslim League, criticised
Jinnah's political actions, including a political agreement with Punjabi
leader Sir Sikandar Hyat Khan,
whom Iqbal saw as a representative of feudal classes and not committed
to Islam as the core political philosophy. Nevertheless, Iqbal worked
constantly to encourage Muslim leaders and masses to support Jinnah and
the League. Speaking about the political future of Muslims in India,
Iqbal said:
"There is only one way out. Muslims should strengthen Jinnah's hands.
They should join the Muslim League. Indian question, as is now being
solved, can be countered by our united front against both the Hindus and
the English. Without it, our demands are not going to be accepted.
People say our demands smack of communalism. This is sheer propaganda.
These demands relate to the defense of our national existence.... The
united front can be formed under the leadership of the Muslim League.
And the Muslim League can succeed only on account of Jinnah. Now none
but Jinnah is capable of leading the Muslims
Iqbal's six English lectures were published first from Lahore in 1930 and then by Oxford University press in 1934 in a book titled The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. Which were read at Madras, Hyderabad and Aligarh. These lectures dwell on the role of Islam as a religion as well as a political and legal philosophy in the modern age. In these lectures Iqbal firmly rejects the political attitudes and
conduct of Muslim politicians, whom he saw as morally misguided,
attached to power and without any standing with Muslim masses.
Iqbal expressed fears that not only would secularism weaken the
spiritual foundations of Islam and Muslim society, but that India's
Hindu-majority population would crowd out Muslim heritage, culture and political influence. In his travels to
Egypt,
Afghanistan,
Iran and
Turkey, he promoted ideas of greater Islamic political co-operation and unity, calling for the shedding of nationalist differences. He also speculated on different political arrangements to guarantee Muslim political power; in a dialogue with Dr.
B. R. Ambedkar,
Iqbal expressed his desire to see Indian provinces as autonomous units
under the direct control of the British government and with no central
Indian government. He envisaged autonomous Muslim provinces in India.
Under one Indian union he feared for Muslims, who would suffer in many
respects especially with regard to their existentially separate entity
as Muslims.
Sir Muhammad Iqbal was elected president of the Muslim League in 1930 at its session in
Allahabad, in the
United Provinces
as well as for the session in Lahore in 1932. In his presidential
address on 29 December 1930, Iqbal outlined a vision of an independent
state for Muslim-majority provinces in northwestern India:
"I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single state. Self-government within the British Empire,
or without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated
Northwest Indian Muslim state appears to me to be the final destiny of
the Muslims, at least of Northwest India.
In his speech, Iqbal emphasised that unlike
Christianity,
Islam came with "legal concepts" with "civic significance," with its
"religious ideals" considered as inseparable from social order:
"therefore, the construction of a policy on national lines, if it means a
displacement of the Islamic principle of solidarity, is simply
unthinkable to a Muslim."Iqbal thus stressed not only the need for the political unity of Muslim
communities, but the undesirability of blending the Muslim population
into a wider society not based on Islamic principles.
He thus became the first politician to articulate what would become known as the
Two-Nation Theory—that
Muslims are a distinct nation and thus deserve political independence
from other regions and communities of India. However, he would not
elucidate or specify if his ideal Islamic state would construe a
theocracy,
even as he rejected secularism and nationalism. The latter part of
Iqbal's life was concentrated on political activity. He would travel
across Europe and West Asia to garner political and financial support
for the League, and he reiterated his ideas in his 1932 address, and
during the
Third round-Table Conference,
he opposed the Congress and proposals for transfer of power without
considerable autonomy or independence for Muslim provinces.
He would serve as president of the Punjab Muslim League, and would
deliver speeches and publish articles in an attempt to rally Muslims
across India as a single political entity. Iqbal consistently criticised
feudal classes in Punjab as well as Muslim politicians averse to the
League. Many unnoticed account of Iqbal's frustration toward Congress
leadership were also pivotal of visioning the two nation theory.
Patron of The Journal Tolu-e-Islam
Iqbal was the first patron of the historical, political, religious,
cultural journal of Muslims of British India. This journal played an
important part in the Pakistan movement. The name of this journal is
The Journal Tolu-e-Islam. In 1935, according to his instructions,
Syed Nazeer Niazi initiated and edited, a journal Tolu-e-Islam
[32] named after the famous poem of Iqbal,
Tulu'i Islam.
He also dedicated the first edition of this journal to Iqbal. For a
long time Iqbal wanted a journal to propagate his ideas and the aims and
objective of
Muslim league. It was
Syed Nazeer Niazi, a close friend of his and a regular visitor to him during his last two years, who started this journal. He also made Urdu translation of
The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, by Sir Muhammad Iqbal.
In the first monthly journal of Oct. 1935, an article
Millat Islamia Hind The Muslim nation of India was published. In this article
Syed Nazeer Niazi
described the political conditions of British India and the aims and
objectives of the Muslim community. He also discussed the basic
principles of Islam which were aims and objective of Iqbal's concept of
an Islamic State.
The early contributors to this journal were eminent Muslim scholars like
Maulana Aslam Jairajpuri,
Ghulam Ahmed Pervez,
Dr. Zakir Hussain Khan, Syed Naseer Ahmed, Raja Hassan Akhtar, Maulvi
Ghulam Yezdani, Ragheb Ahsan, Sheikh Suraj ul Haq, Rafee ud din Peer,
Prof. Fazal ud din Qureshi, Agha Muhammad Safdar, Asad Multani, Dr.
Tasadaq Hussain, Prof. Yusuf Saleem Chisti.
[27][unreliable source?][citation needed]
Later on, this journal was continued by
Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, who had already contributed many articles in the early editions of this journal. After the emergence of
Pakistan, the mission of the journal
Tolu-e-Islam
was to propagate the implementation of the principle which had inspired
the demand for separate Muslim State according to the Quran. This
journal is still published by Idara Tolu-e-Islam, Lahore.
[27][unreliable source?][citation needed]
Literary work
Persian
Iqbal's poetic works are written primarily in
Persian rather than
Urdu.
Among his 12,000 verses of poetry, about 7,000 verses are in Persian.
In 1915, he published his first collection of poetry, the
Asrar-e-Khudi (
Secrets of the Self)
in Persian. The poems emphasise the spirit and self from a religious,
spiritual perspective. Many critics have called this Iqbal's finest
poetic work In
Asrar-e-Khudi, Iqbal explains his philosophy of "Khudi," or "Self." Iqbal's use of the term "Khudi" is synonymous with the word
"Rooh"
mentioned in the Quran. "Rooh" is that divine spark which is present in
every human being, and was present in Adam, for which God ordered all
of the angels to prostrate in front of Adam. One has to make a great
journey of transformation to realise that divine spark which Iqbal calls
"Khudi".
The same concept was used by Farid ud Din Attar in his
"Mantaq-ul-Tair". He proves by various means that the whole universe
obeys the will of the "Self." Iqbal condemns self-destruction. For him,
the aim of life is self-realization and self-knowledge. He charts the
stages through which the "Self" has to pass before finally arriving at
its point of perfection, enabling the knower of the "Self" to become a
vice-regent of God.
In his
Rumuz-e-Bekhudi (
Hints of Selflessness),
Iqbal seeks to prove the Islamic way of life is the best code of
conduct for a nation's viability. A person must keep his individual
characteristics intact, but once this is achieved he should sacrifice
his personal ambitions for the needs of the nation. Man cannot realise
the "Self" outside of society. Also in Persian and published in 1917,
this group of poems has as its main themes the ideal
community, Islamic ethical and social principles, and the relationship between the
individual and society. Although he is true throughout to Islam, Iqbal
also recognises the positive analogous aspects of other religions. The
Rumuz-e-Bekhudi complements the emphasis on the self in the
Asrar-e-Khudi and the two collections are often put in the same volume under the title
Asrar-e-Rumuz (
Hinting Secrets). It is addressed to the world's Muslims.
Iqbal's 1924 publication, the
Payam-e-Mashriq (
The Message of the East) is closely connected to the
West-östlicher Diwan by the famous German poet
Goethe.
Goethe bemoans the West having become too materialistic in outlook, and
expects the East will provide a message of hope to resuscitate
spiritual values. Iqbal styles his work as a reminder to the West of the
importance of morality, religion and civilisation by underlining the
need for cultivating feeling, ardour and dynamism. He explains that an
individual can never aspire to higher dimensions unless he learns of the
nature of spirituality.In his first visit to
Afghanistan, he presented his book "Payam-e Mashreq" to
King Amanullah Khan in which he admired the liberal movements of Afghanistan against the
British Empire. In 1933, he was officially invited to Afghanistan to join the meetings regarding the establishment of
Kabul University.
The
Zabur-e-Ajam (
Persian Psalms), published in 1927, includes the poems
Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed (
Garden of New Secrets) and
Bandagi Nama (
Book of Slavery). In
Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed,
Iqbal first poses questions, then answers them with the help of ancient
and modern insight, showing how it affects and concerns the world of
action.
Bandagi Nama denounces slavery by attempting to explain
the spirit behind the fine arts of enslaved societies. Here as in other
books, Iqbal insists on remembering the past, doing well in the present
and preparing for the future, while emphasising love, enthusiasm and
energy to fulfill the ideal life.
Iqbal's 1932 work, the
Javed Nama (
Book of Javed) is named after and in a manner addressed to his son, who is featured in the poems. It follows the examples of the works of
Ibn Arabi and
Dante's
The Divine Comedy, through
mystical and exaggerated depictions across time. Iqbal depicts himself as
Zinda Rud
("A stream full of life") guided by Rumi, "the master," through various
heavens and spheres, and has the honour of approaching divinity and
coming in contact with divine illuminations. In a passage re-living a
historical period, Iqbal condemns the Muslim who were instrumental in
the defeat and death of Nawab
Siraj-ud-Daula of
Bengal and
Tipu Sultan of
Mysore respectively by betraying them for the benefit of the
British colonists,
and thus delivering their country to the shackles of slavery. At the
end, by addressing his son Javid, he speaks to the young people at
large, and provides guidance to the "new generation."
His love of the Persian language is evident in his works and poetry. He says in one of his poems:
گرچہ ہندی در عذوبت شکر است]
garche Hindi dar uzūbat shekkar ast
طرز گفتار دري شيرين تر است
tarz-e goftar-e Dari shirin tar ast
Translation:
Even though in sweetness Hindi* is sugar –
(but) speech method in Dari (Persian) is sweeter *
Urdu
Iqbal's
Bang-e-Dara
(The Call of the Marching Bell), the first collection of Urdu poetry,
was published in 1924. It was written in three distinct phases of his
life. The poems he wrote up to 1905—(the year Iqbal left for England) reflects patriotism and imagery of nature, that includes the
Tarana-e-Hind (The song of India), and another poem
Tarana-e-Milli (The song of the Community). The second set of poems from 1905—1908; when Iqbal studied in Europe and dwell upon the nature of
European society
about whom he emphasised had lost spiritual and religious values, these
inspired Iqbal to write poems on the historical and cultural heritage
of Islam and Muslim community, with the global perspective. Iqbal urges
the entire Muslim community, addressed as the
Ummah to define personal, social and political existence by the values and teachings of Islam.
Iqbal work mainly in Persian for a predominant period of his career
and after 1930, his works were mainly in Urdu. The works of this period
were often specifically directed at the Muslim masses of India, with an
even stronger emphasis on Islam and Muslim spiritual and political
reawakening. Published in 1935, the
Bal-e-Jibril (Wings of
Gabriel) is considered by many critics as the finest of Iqbal's Urdu poetry, and was inspired by his visit to
Spain, where he visited the monuments and legacy of the
kingdom of the Moors. It consists of
ghazals, poems,
quatrains,
epigrams and carries a strong sense of religious passion.
The
Pas Cheh Bayed Kard ai Aqwam-e-Sharq (
What are we to do, O Nations of the East?) includes the poem
Musafir (
Traveler). Again, Iqbal depicts
Rumi as a character and an exposition of the mysteries of
Islamic laws and
Sufi perceptions is given. Iqbal laments the dissension and disunity among the Indian Muslims as well as Muslim nations.
Musafir is an account of one of Iqbal's journeys to Afghanistan, in which the
Pashtun people are counselled to learn the "secret of Islam" and to "build up the self" within themselves. Iqbal's final work was the
Armughan-e-Hijaz (
The Gift of Hijaz), published posthumously in 1938. The first part contains quatrains in Persian, and the second part contains some poems and
epigrams in Urdu. The Persian quatrains convey the impression as though the poet is travelling through the
Hijaz in his imagination. Profundity of ideas and intensity of passion are the salient features of these short poems.
Iqbal's vision of mystical experience is clear in one of his Urdu
ghazals which was written in London during his days of studying there.
Some verses of that ghazal are:
At last the silent tongue of Hijaz has
announced to the ardent ear the tiding
That the covenant which had been given to the
desert-dwelles is going to be renewed
vigorously:
The lion who had emerged from the desert and
had toppled the Roman Empire is
As I am told by the angels, about to get up
again (from his slumbers.)
You the dwelles of the West, should know that
the world of God is not a shop (of yours).
Your imagined pure gold is about to lose it
standard value (as fixed by you).
Your civilization will commit suicide with its
own daggers.
English
Iqbal also wrote two books on the topic of
The Development of Metaphysics in Persia and
The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam and many letters in English language, besides his Urdu and Persian
literary works. In which, he revealed his thoughts regarding Persian
ideology and Islamic Sufism – in particular, his beliefs that Islamic
Sufism activates the searching soul to a superior perception of life. He also discussed philosophy, God and the meaning of prayer, human
spirit and Muslim culture, as well as other political, social and
religious problems.
Iqbal was invited to Cambridge to participate in the conference in
1931, where he expressed his views to students and other audience.
"I would like to offer a few pieces of advice to the youngmen who are
at present studying at Cambridge. ... I advise you to guard against
atheism and materialism. The biggest blunder made by Europe was the
separation of Church and State. This deprived their culture of moral
soul and diverted it to the atheistic materialism. I had twenty-five
years ago seen through the drawbacks of this civilization and therefore
had made some prophecies. They had been delivered by my tongue although I
did not quite understand them. This happened in 1907. ... After six or
seven years, my prophecies came true, word by word. The European war of
1914 was an outcome of the aforesaid mistakes made by the European
nations in the separation of the Church and the State"
Iqbal known in subcontinent
.
Iqbal has been recognised and quoted as "
Poet of the East" by academics and institutions and media.
[11][37][38][39][40][41][42]
The Vice Chancellor,
Quaid-e-Azam University,
Dr. Masoom Yasinzai described in a seminar as chief guest addressing to
distinguished gathering of educationists and intellectuals,that Iqbal
is not a poet of the East only, actually he is a universal poet.
Moreover, Iqbal is not restricted to any specific segment of the world
community but he is for the entire humanity.
"Yet it should also be born in mind that whilst dedicating his
Eastern Divan to Goethe, the cultural icon par excellence, Iqbal’s
Payam-i-Mashriq constituted both a reply as well as a corrective to the
Western Divan of Goethe. For by stylising himself as the representative
of the East, Iqbal’s endeavour was to talk on equal terms to Goethe as
the representative of West."
Iqbal's revolutionary works through his poetry awakened the Muslims of the
subcontinent.
Iqbal was confident that the Muslims had long been suppressed by the
colonial enlargement and growth of the West. In this concept Iqbal is
recognised as the "Poet of the East"
"So to conclude, let me cite Annemarie Schimmel in Gabriel’s Wing who
lauds Iqbal’s “unique way of weaving a grand tapestry of thought from
eastern and western yarns” (p. xv), a creative activity which, to cite
my own volume Revisioning Iqbal, endows Muhammad Iqbal with the stature
of a "universalist poet" and thinker whose principle aim was to
explore mitigating alternative discourses with a view to constructing a
bridge between the ‘East’ and the ‘West’ ".
Urdu world is very familiar Iqbal as the "Poet of the East". Iqbal is also called
Muffakir-e-Pakistan (
مفکر پاکستان, "The Thinker of Pakistan") and
Hakeem-ul-Ummat (
حکیم الامت, "The Sage of the
Ummah"). The Pakistan government officially named him a "
national poet"
Iqbal and the West
