ADDRESS TO JAVID
(Talk to the New Generation)
B. A. Dar
(Translator)
INTRODUCTION
There are two translations of Iqbal’s Javid Nama into English, one by Professor Mahmud Ahmad under the title Pilgrimage of Eternity, published by the Institute of Islamic Culture, Lahore (1961) and the other by the late Professor Arberry, published under the UNESCO Collection of Representative works (1966). But they did not translate the last section of the book entitled “Address to Javid” with the sub-title: Talk to the New Generation. Professor Arberry says, “Appended to the Persian text is an ‘Address to Javid’: the poet’s son after whom the poem was named: this appendix does not form part of the whole work and the present translator has followed the example of his predecessors and has omitted it.”
It is true that this section does not form part of the pattern of the Heavenly Journey which constitutes the Javid Nama but it has its own importance. I think it is perhaps the only poem of Iqbal that is exclusively addressed to the younger generation and as such deserves our serious consideration, especially in the present socio-economic situation of the Muslim World. It is for this reason that I have tried to render it into English prose to make such an important piece of literature available to a larger audience.
Summary
Iqbal mourns that the real dynamic spirit that moved the Muslim of the old seems to have left us altogether. The Qur’an is there with us as the great Fount of Wisdom but unfortunately it no longer inspires us to deeds that may transform the destiny of the Muslims of today.
We in the East have become blind imitators of the West in almost all aspects of our life. Our arts and sciences, our conceptions of politics and religion are all derived from them. The result is that we have lost our identity and whatever we do in the field of art, science and industry is hardly of any worth in the eyes of the world. If we wish to maintain and develop our individuality, and contribute something fruitful for the betterment of the people of the world, we must turn to our own heritage on the basis of which alone we can, lay the foundation of a healthier culture. In the words of Rūmi, “we, must come back to our mother who alone can help us in recovering from our ailments which have been aggravated through treatment from alien hands”.
In order to help the new generation in laying the foundation of a new culture that maintains its contact with the ancient cultural heritage, Iqbal tried to provide in his Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, an intellectual basis for it. It is expressed in the framework of modern thought which, as he himself says, can be improved upon in the light of new knowledge. [“As knowledge advances and fresh avenues of thought are opened, other views, and probably sounder views than those set forth in these lectures, are possible.”] But what we need today is not only an intellectual equipment of highest order but also, and rather more, if we truly interpret Iqbal, intuitional approach that gives warmth, richness, beauty and charm to one’s life. Iqbal calls this aspect by different names such as love, madness (junun), faqr, dhikr. Thus the best and the only way is to lead a life that is a synthesis of dhikr and fikr. The present educational system patterned as it is after the alien ideals needs to be replaced by one that is more in consonance with the spirit of our culture. We need an educational system that caters to the demands of body as well as of the soul, that besides enlightening the minds of the young people, must try to maintain and develop the moral and spiritual values characteristic of our culture which distinguish us from other peoples and cultures. It must attempt to provide to our young people an opportunity to attain highest intellectual capabilities and then to exercise them to the best advantage but it must also see to it that these achievements are in the context of those spiritual values that flow from our faith and are inspired by our ideology.
Iqbal feels that in the present circumstances when materialistic approach to the problems of life has almost dulled the moral conscience of the people, the main guiding principle should be to stress on following the Law (the Shari`ah) in spirit as well as in letter. He specifically mentions that the young people should scrupulously avoid all those means of earning livelihood that are unlawful, prohibited and thus tend to create mischief in the land, and dissatisfaction and frustration among the people. Complete and total submission to the Laws of Islam is most essential.
This submission to the Law must lead one to the cultivation of (a) a spirit of loving kindness towards all, irrespective of distinctions of race, creed and colour, and (b) of simple austere life, as characterized by him under the term faqr and qalandari which stand for an attitude of absolute detachment amidst affluence, although, as he states, a life of affluence steels the heart against compassion and sympathy for others.
The present day Muslims are unfortunately in a miserable predicament. Among their leaders there are three kinds of people
i. Religious preceptors who more often by-pass the Qur’ān and ignore its explicit injunctions;
ii. Sufis with their long hair are no more than predatory wolves. There is much activity and charm in the life of monasteries but their sufism is a shell empty of the wine of true and real ecstasy;
iii. Europeanized Muslims who are trying to seek the Water of Life from the mirage.
All these people are unfortunately ignorant of the implications of true faith; they are vultures accustomed to prey on the dead and are rooted to the earth and what is earthly and disdainful of the soul and whatever is of the soul. What we are badly in need of is a man of the heart who burns you in his fire and then imparts his ecstasy to you and bestows on you kingdom both of the earth and the heaven. Without him, we are only base metal, insignificant, unproductive and worthy to be thrown away. But the greatest tragedy is that amidst the present environment where value is only material value and body is preferred to spirit, it becomes almost impossible to lay one’s hand firmly on a man of this calibre, even though he may be physically before our very eyes. There are men all around us but the Man that we most need today is not there. Iqbal suggests that we should not give up our search for him, whatever difficulties we may have to face in this undertaking. Till we find him, we should, Iqbal recommends, turn our minds and hearts to Rūmi who “walks in the street of the Beloved with a sure foot and knows right from wrong and good from bad “His celebrated Mathnawi is the storehouse of true wisdom and true ecstasy born of “soul’s dance” that produces “wisdom and knowledge” characteristic of prophets (the Qur’an, xii. 22; xxi. 74).
This charming array of words is useless,
What is in the recesses of the heart hardly comes to the lips. Although I have expressed several points without any difficulty, I have something here which cannot be expressed in words.
5 If I say it, it becomes all the more knotty,
Words and sounds make it more mysterious;
Catch its warmth from my look,
Or from my morning lamentation.
You got your first instruction from your mother;
10 It was her breeze which helped open your bud.
It was her breath that made you what you are;
O dear one, your worth is all due to her.
You gained immortal riches (of the spirit) through her,
And learnt lā ilāh through her lips.
15 O Son, have from me the joy of vision,
And burning in (the fire of) lā ilāh.
If you say lā ilāh, speak it from the depth of your heart,
So that your body may smell of soul.
The sun and the moon revolve through the burning oflā ilāh;
20 I have seen this “burning” in mountains and grass.
These two words, lā ilāh, are not mere words;
La ilāh is but a sword from which there is no escape.
To have this burning is to attain power;
Lā ilāh is a stroke very telling and effective.
25 A believer and to pay obeisance to others!
A believer and to be disloyal, beggarly and hyocrite!
He sold away his religion and community for a trifle,
And burnt away the household goods as well as the house.
His prayers were once inspired by lā ilāh though not now;
30 His submission (to God) had once a grace of its own.
His prayer and fasting have lost all (spiritual) light;
No longer is there any (divine) manifestation in his universe.
He whose source of strength was only God,
Has fallen prey to love of money and fear of death.
35 He has lost ecstasy, ardour and zest that once characterised him;
His religion is in the Book and he is in the grave.
The modern age has adversely affected him ;
He learnt his religion from two prophets;
The one was from Iran, the other from India;
40 The former disapproved of Hajj(pilgrimage), the latter, of Jihad.
When Hajj and Jihad (holy war) are no larger religious duties,
Prayers and fasting lose their inner essence.
When prayers and fasting are deprived of their soul,
Individual loses his balance and society becomes disorganised.
45 When the hearts lack warmth of the Qur’an,
There can be no hope of good from such people.
The Muslim lost his Khudi ;
O Khidr! Help us, for the situation has gone beyound our control. Prostration which causes tremours to the earth,
50 And to whose bidding the sun and the moon revolvd,
If it casts its imprint on the stone
It would melt into thin air like smoke;
That prostration these days is nothing but bending down of the head,
And is but symbol of old age’s weakness.
55 It no longer has the grandeur of: God is High;
Is it (due to) our fault or any defect in it?
Everybody is moving fast on his path,
Like a bridleless dromedary and without any goal.
The upholder of the Qur’an, with no zest for search,
60 How strange it is!
If God grants you insight,
Look at the times in which you live.
Reasons are impudent and hearts impervious to compassion,
Eyes lacking in modesty and immersed only in appearances.
65 Art and science, religion and politics, reason and heart—
Each dealing only with water and clay.
Asia, that land of the Rising Sun,
Looks towards others, and is hidden from herself.
Her heart has ceased to have new experiences,
70 Her (intellectual) products are not worth anything;
Her life in this ancient world
Is stationary, frozen and without any urge for movement.
She has fallen prey to Mullas and Kings ;
Her thought, being lame and cripple, can’t soar high.
75 Her reason, faith, wisdom and honour
Are all tied to the apron-strings of the lords of the West.
I made an assault on her world of thought
And tore the veils from over her secrets.
My heart has bled within my breast,
80 Thus have I been able to revolutionize her world.
I have said a few words for the people of the age;
Two oceans have been condensed in two cups.
I have expressed my ideas in a technical language,
That I may win applause from the people;
85 It is in the difficult language, using the terminology of the West:
Ecstatic songs from the strings of a harp.
The origin of one is contemplation, the origin of other is thought,
May you be the inheritor of both these!
I am a rivulet, my water comes from both these sources;
90 My separation is both separation and union.
As the demands of the present age are different
I laid the foundation of a different phenomenon.
The young of today are thirsty and yet have an empty cup,
Charming to look at, with a clever mind but with dark soul;
95 Lacking in insight and conviction and hopeless of future,
Their eye didn’t see anything in the world.
Poor in spirit, lacking faith in themselves, dependent on others,
The architect of the temple uses bricks made of his earth.
The school is unaware of its objective,
100 Hence it does not appeal to their innermost heart.
It robbed their souls of the light of nature;
Not a single graceful rose grew on its branch.
Our architect lays the foundation stone awry:
He cultivates the habits of a duck in the young of a falcon.
105 Unless knowledge gets warmth of burning from Life,
Heart remains empty of new experiences.
Knowledge is nothing but exposition of your stations,
And commentary of your manifestations.
One must burn oneself in the fire of sense-impressions,
110 That one can distinguish between one’s silver and copper.
Knowledge of truth starts with sense impressions and ends in
vision. Its end can’t be comprehended by reason.
A hundred books have you learnt through efficient teachers,
Far better is the lesson that you receive through sight.
115 From that wine that d in his own way; Everybody gets
The morning breeze puts out the lamp
But it fills the tulip’s cup with wine.
Eat little, sleep little, talk little:
120 Move round yourself like a compass.
He who denies God is an unbeliever in the eyes of a theologian.
To me, he who denies himself is a greater unbeliever.
The one was called “hasty” because of denial of Being;
The other was “hasty” as well as “unjust” and “ignorant.”
125 Be steadfast in the way of sincerity
And free yourself from fear of kings and landlords.
Don’t swerve from the path of justice whether in anger or in peace,
Stick to the golden mean in affluence or in poverty.
The Law may be difficult; don’t seek escape from it;
130 Let none but your own heart be your guide.
Soul’s welfare: limitless remembrance (of God) and rational thinking. Body’s welfare: self control in youth.
Position of authority in the world below and above
Cannot be attained except through body’s and soul’s welfare.
135 The object of journey is to enjoy moving about,
If your object is to return to the nest, then don’t start flying.
The moon revolves that it may attain its station,
For man’s journey, staying at any place is disallowed.
Life is nothing but enjoyment of flight;
140 Nest is incompatible with its nature.
The food of’ vultures and crows is in the earth of the grave,
The food of hawks is in the neighbourhood of moon and sun.
The essence of religion is: truthful speech and lawful food;
To took at Beauty in solitude and in company.
145 Live as hard as diamond in the path of religion,
Be in constant touch with God and live without anxiety.
I tell you of the essence of religion
And relate to you an episode from the life of Sultan Muzaffar.
He was unique in his acts of sincerity,
150 A king enjoying the spiritual states of Bayazid.
He had a horse whom he loved as a dear son;
Like his master, the horse was hard hitting in war;
A black steed of Arab breed,
Faithful, faultless and of pure stock;
155 O man of intelligence! for a believer, there is nothing more dear
Than the Qur’ān, a sword and a horse.
What can I say about that horse of noble stock !
He was like a mountain and moved over rivers like a wind.
On the day of battle, he was swifter than eye-sight;
160 A stormy wind encircling mountains and rocks.
Several tumults of Resurrection lie in his swift running;
Stones break into pieces under his hoofs.
One day, the horse, as noble as man,
Suffered from acute pain in his stomach.
165 A veterinary doctor treated him with wine
And thus the horse was relieved of pain;
The righteous king no longer used that horse;
The ways of taqwa are different from our way.
May God grant you sincere heart!
170 See the submission of a true Muslim!
Religion is burning from head to foot in search,
Its end is love and its beginning, correct behaviour.
The beauty of the rose lies in its colour and smell;
One who is disrespectful is without honour.
175 When I see a young man, lacking in correct behaviour,
My days become dark as night.
It increases pain in my heart
And I remember the testament of Mustafa.
I feel ashamed of my own deeds
180 And hide myself in days gone by.
A woman’s protection is her husband or the grave,
A man’s protection is security from bad company.
It is wrong to speak ill of others;
Believer and unbeliever—all are God’s creatures.
185 Manliness is to respect man;
Be aware of the true position of man.
Man prospers by maintaining proper relationship with others,
Set your foot on the path of friendship.
Man of love tries to follow in the Ways of God,
190 Is kind to all, believer and unbeliever alike.
Let belief and unbelief find room in the expanse of your heart;
If your heart feels ill at ease, then God protect you!
Although heart is confined within water and clay,
This whole world is the world of heart.
195 Even if you are a lord of the land.
Don’t give up the attitude of faqr.
The ardour (of this faqr) lies hidden in your soul:
This old wine is an inheritance from your ancestors.
In this world seek nothing but pangs of the heart,
200 Ask blessings from God and not from kings.
It so often happens that a man of insight and God-oriented
Becomes blind through affluence.
Abundance of wealth dries the springs of compassion,
Produces pride and destroys submissiveness.
205 I have moved round the world for years,
I have never seen tears in the eyes of the rich.
I love him who lives like a dervish;
Woe to the man who lives forgetful of God
Don’t expect to find in Muslims that rapture and ecstasy,
210 That faith, conviction and power (which were once their characteristics).
Scholars are forgetful of the knowledge of the Qur’an,
Sufis with their long hair are predatory wolves.
Although there is much activity in the monasteries,
There is hardly a person there who has wine in his cup.
215 On the other hand, the West-oriented Muslims
Are seeking sweet water from mirage.
All are ignorant of the essence of religion,
They are men of deceit and malice.
Good and virtue are hardly to be found in the elite;
220 Sincerity and truth are found only among the masses.
Distinguish people of religion from the people of malice;
See the man of God and sit in his company.
The vultures have their own law and custom;
The grandeur of the flight of the hawk is a different thing
225 Man of truth comes down from the heaven like lightening;
His fuel is cities and towns of east and west.
We are still (wrapped) in the darkness of the universe;
He partakes in its management.
He is like Kalim, Messiah, Khalil;
230 He is Muhammad, the Book and the Gabriel.
For the people of the heart he is like the sun
And his rays impart life to them.
First he burns you in his own fire Then teaches you kingship.
235 We are all people of the heart through his ardour,
Without him, we would be unreal images of water and clay.
I fear, the time in which you were born
Is immersed in body and is hardly aware of the soul.
When through the dearth of soul, body becomes everything,
240 The man of truth hides himself within himself.
Search does not bring such a man to your view
Although you see him face to face. Still you don’t give up your search,
Although you have to face a hundred difficulties.
245 If, however, you don’t find company of such a wise man,
Get from me what I have inherited from my forefathers.
Make Rūmi your guide on the path.
That God may grant you ardour and compassion.
For Rūmi knows kernel from the shell,
250 He is steadfast in the way of the Beloved.
People have written commentaries on his works but none him,
His real intent like a deer missed our grasp.
People learnt from him bodily dance;
They closed their eyes from the dance of the soul.
255 Bodily dance leads to the movement of the earth,
Soul’s dance upsets the skies.
From soul’s dance comes knowledge and judgement,
Earth as well as heaven are caught in the net.
The individual through it achieves Moses’ ecstasy,
society becomes inheritor of a great kingdom.
260 To learn soul’s dance is a difficult task;
To burn other-than-God is not a child’s play.
so long as the heart does not burn in the fire of avarice and grief
O Son, the soul does not dance till then.
265 Grief is the sign of weak faith and affliction,
O young man! grief is half old age.
Do you know that avarice is modern faqr,
I am slave of him who controls himself.
You will be a source of comfort to my impatient soul,
270 If you chance to learn soul’s dance.
I tell you the essence of Mustafa’s religion,
And shall pray for you in the grave too!
Introduction
1. “Jāvid Nāmā is a description of a spiritual journey made by the poet from earth through the `spheres’ of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupi, ter and Saturn, to beyond the ‘spheres’ and to the Presence of God. TN antecedents of this heavenly adventure go back, within Islamic tradition, to the celebrated mi’rāj of the Prophet Muhammad, that famous legend o his Ascension the germs of which are to be traced in the Koran.’ Arberry, A. J., Javid-Nama (London, 1966), p. 12.
2. Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Javid-Nama, translated from the Persian with Intro. duction and Notes by A. J. Arberry (London, 1966), p. 16.
3. Rumi, Mathnawi (Nicholson’s ed.), ii, 326. See Iqbal: Bāl-i Jibril (Lahore), p. 181 where he quotes this verse of Rumi,
4. Dhikr literally means remembrance, especially remembering God and fikr is rational thinking. See notes 87-88 later on for an elucidation of these terms.
Text
1. Sukhan ārāstan, lit. to utter charming words, to sing beautiful songs Here it stands for composing beautiful verses.
3. Nukta, a point, a subtle point, some point of metaphysical significance
4. Lit. cannot be put in (the form of) a hook, i.e. inexpressible.
5-6. It is the expression of the inherent incommunicability of the mystic and religious experiences. See Reconstruction, pp. 20-21. Cf. Zabur-i ‘Ajam (p. 94):
زباں اگرچہ دلیر است و مدعا شیریں
سخن ز عشق چہ گویم جز ایں کہ نتواں گفت
Though the tongue is bold enough,
The argument right fair,
What can I declare of love
Save that none can declare?
7. look. In Iqbal’s thought, “ look “ has an important place. Nigāh, look, stands for spiritual attainments, the consequence of direct contact with the Ultimate Reality. In Bāl-i Jibril (p. 72), he says :
فقط نگاہ سے ہوتا ہے فیصلہ دل کا
Only “Look” decides the issue of the heart. In Bāng-i Darā, p. 309, he says:
نگاہ مرد مومن سے بدل جاتی ہیں تقدیریں
On Look of a Momin changes the destiny (of the people).
8. “Morning lamentation” in Iqbal stands for love, ecstasy, intuitive approach to life. In Zabur-i ‘Ajam (p. 229). he says :
شب و روزے کہ داری برابد زن
فغان صبحگاھی بر خرد زن
خرد را از حواس آيد متاعے
فغان از عشق می گیرد شعاعی
Change your days and nights for eternity,
Change from intellect to the morning lamentation. Intellect has its source in senses,
Lamentation gets light from love.
Ibid. (p. 142):
کہ از اندیشہ برترمی پرد آہ سحرگاھے
The morning lamentation flies higher than thought. Ibid. (P. 152):
ز اشک صبحگاھی زندگي را برگ و ساز آور
Adorn your life through morning tears.
11. Rang-u bu, lit. colour and smell. Iqbal uses this phrase, in association with the word jahān (world), to denote beauty and charm, as, for instance, in Armaghān (p. 222) :
ھے مرے دست تصرف میں جہان رنگ و بو
This charming world is in the hollow of my hand.
But here this phrase stands for aptitude, capacity, characteristic. Cf. Armaghān (p. 69):
نگیرد لالہ و گل رنگ و بویم
Tulip and rose do not acquire my characteristic. Ibid. (p. 50):
حرم از دیر گیرد رنگ و بوئے
The Mosque acquires character of the church.
15.16. Iqbal here offers his son two things: nigāh, vision, penetrative insight and sukhtan, suz, burning, ardour. Nigāh, look, has immense spiritual power which often helps in bringing about moral transformation of the individual. In Armaghān (p. 64), he speaks of this power of nigāh, look:
مرا درس حکیماں درد سر داد
کہ من پروردۂ فیض نگاھم
Teaching of philosophers brings headache,
For I was brought up in the effuigence of “Look.”
In Bāl-i Jibril (p. 72), he says:
فقط نگاہ سے ھوتا ھے فیصلہ دل کا
نہ ھو نگاہ میں شوخی تو دلبری کیا ھے؟
Only “look” decides the matter of the heart;
If the “look” lacks charm, then what is the use of dilbari?
See also ibid. (p. 76):
فقط نگاہ سے رنگیں ھے بزم جانانہ
The charm of beloved’s society is only through “look”. In ibid. (p. 81), he emphasises the importance of nigāh thus:
تیری نگاہ سے دل سینوں میں کانپتے تھے
کھویا گیا ہے تیرا جذب قلندرانہ
Your look brought terror to the heart of the people;
Alas! you have lost that Qalandar’s madness.
It is the kind of look which is the touch-stone of the worth of intellect, as Iqbal says in Pas Che Bayad Kard (p. 4, verse 8)
It is this look again which leads to broadening of one’s vision. Bali (D. 86):
دلوں میں ولولے آفاق گیری کے نہیں اٹھتے
نگاھوں میں اگر پیدا نہ ھو انداز آفاقی
Unless the look acquires the broader vision,
The heart does not have the ambition of controlling the universe.
In Darb-i Kalim (p. 83), he compares the worth of knowledge and “look, thus:
حریف نکتۂ توحید ھوسکا نہ حکیم
نگاہ چاھیئے اسرار لالہ کیلئے
The Philosopher could not comprehend the implications of Tauhid; Look is needed to understand the mysteries of lā ilāh.
In Bāl-i Jibril (p. 28), he describes Faqr as the sword-display of “look”, just as political authority is the sword-display of an army of soldiers.
There is another aspect of this “look” which Iqbal calls “firāsat” (discernment, penetrative insight) of the believer (p. 231 of Armaghān) or “light of firāsat”.
(p. 257 of ibid.)
The other gift which Iqbal wishes to transmit to the new generation is what we call sūkhtan (burning) in Iā ilāh or what in most places he calls simply sill which like “look” is something distinct from reason. In Payām-i-Mashriq (p. 37), he says:
خرد آتش فروزد، دل بسوزد
Reason lights fire while heart burns. In Bāl-i Jibril (p. 44), it is said:
علاج آتش رومی کے سوز میں ھے ترا
تری خرد پہ ھے غالب فرنگیوں کا فسوں
Your cure lies in burning in the fire of Rūmi;
The spell of the Franks has overwhelmed your reason. In ibid. (p. 81), he speaks about himself:
مقام گفتگو کیا ھے اگر میں کیمیا گر ھوں
یہی سوز نفس ھے اور میری کیمیا کیا ھے!
There is nothing to doubt, if I am an alchemist;
My alchemy consists in nothing but this burning breath. In Armaghān (p. 68), he says:
دل از سوز در و نم در گداز است
My heart is melting through inner burning. In ibid. (p. 83), he says:
ازاں آتش کہ جان من بر افروخت
نصیبے دہ مسلمان زا دگان را
From the fire that lit my soul
Give a portion of it to those born Muslims.
In several verses, he mentions both these together. In Bāl-i Jibril (p. 74), he enumerates the characteristics of an ideal leader :
نگہ بلد، سخن دلنواز، جاں پرسوز
یہی ہے رخت سفر میر کارواں کیلئے
A high “look”, charming talk and a burning soul :
These are the requisites for a leader of the caravan.
17-18. bū-i-Jān, smell of soul. According to the mystic tradition, soul is more important than body; rather, soul is the man in its true sense. Rūmi says:
جاں ھمہ نور است و تن رنگ است و بو
رنگ و بو بگزار و دیگر آں مگو
رنگ دیگر شد و لیکن جان پاک
فارغ از رنگ است و از ارکان خاک
Soul is all light while body is colour and smell;
Leave colour and smell and say nothing more.
Colours change but the pure soul
Is above colour and elements of earth.
In another place, he brings out clearly that body is bound up with the limitations of three dimensions and is a hindrance in the flight of the soul on its destined journey towards God:
گر تو خود را پیش و پس داری گماں
بستۂ جسمی و محرومی ز جاں
زیر و بالا پیش و پس وصف تن است
بے جہت ھا ذات جان روشن است
If you consider yourself bound in `before’ and ‘after’,
It is because you are limited by body and devoid of soul.
Down and up, before and after are characteristics of the body; The bright soul is devoid of dimensions.
In Jāvid Nāma (pp. 20 and 68), Iqbal similarly emphasises the importance of soul as compared with body.
19. Cf. Rūmi (i, 1811):
چرخ در گردش گدائے ھوش ما
The revolution of the sky is indebted to us.
24. Cf. the following verses from Pas Che Bayad Kard (p. 20):
لا مقام ضرب ھائے پے بہ پے
ایں غو رعداست نے آواز نے
ضرب او ھر بود را سازد زبور
تا بروں آئي زگرداب وجود
“No” is a station of blows, one after the other;
It is like the noise of the thunder, not like the (sweet) tune of the flute. Its blow changes every being into non-being,
So that thou comest out of the whirlpool of Existence.
25. Nitaq, a girdle. To tie girdle round one’s waist is to display obedience submission.
27. Pisheza, a small thin piece of money.
30. nāz, glory, grace. Niyāz, supplication, prayers, submissiveness.
33. Sāz-u barg, apparatus, armour, source of nourishment, support and development. Cf. Zubur-i‘Ajam (p. 152) :
زاشک صبحگاھی زندگی را برگ و ساز آور
Bring blossom to your life through morning tears.
Pas Che Bayad Kard (p. 22):
لا و الا ساز و برگ امتاں
Negation and affirmation are source of strength to peoples. Musafir (p. 10):
برگ و ساز کائنات از وحدت است
Unity is the source of strength for the universe.
34. It is related that the holy Prophet once said that the cause of Muslims’ decline would be due to wahn which he defined as fear of death. Iqbal has added to it love of money. Cf. Pas Che Bayad Kard (p. 17) where he is describing a follower of the Pharoahs :
ھر زمان اندر تلاش ساز و برگ
کار او فکر معاش و ترش مرگ
He is busy day and night in seeking worldly paraphernalia,
His two objects in life: anxiety for livelihood and fear of death.
36. It is a variation of the common Persian line:
مسلمانی در کتاب و مسلماناں در گور
Islam is in the Book and (true) Muslims, in the grave.
37. dar giriftan, to make an impression, to affect, to take effect. About modern age, Iqbal has much to say. In Armaghān (pp. 134 and 135), he says :
چۂ عصراست ایں کہ دیں فریادئ اوست
ھزاران بند در آزادی اوست
ز روئ آدمیت رنگ و نم برد
غلط نقشے کہ از بہزادئ اوست
What an age that religion protests against; Thousands of chains on its freedom.
It took away all lustre from the face of man, A false picture, drawn by it.
نگاھش نقشبند کافری ھا
کمال صنعت او آذری ھا
Its look establishes ways of kufr,
The perfection of its art is idol worshipping.
جواناں را بد آموز است ایں عصر
شب ابلیس را روز است ایں عصر
This age misguides the young,
Its days are like the nights of Satan
و لیکن الاماں از عصر حاضر
کہ سلطانی بہ شیطانی بہم کرد
But God save us from the modern age, It combined kingship with Satanism.
Zarb-i Kslim (p. 82) :
عصر حاضر ملک الوموت ھے تیرا جس نے
قبض کی روح تری دے کے تجھے فکر معاش
The present age is the Angel of Death for you,
It has taken away your soul by giving you anxiety for livelihood.
38-40. We find several references to the Indian prophet, Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad of Qādian, in his poetical works. In Pas Che Bāyad Kard, for instance, he says (P. 41):
عصر من پیغمبرے ھم آفرید
آنکہ در قرآں بجز از خود ندید
My age produced a prophet too,
Who could see in the Quran nothing but himself.
In Darb-i-Kalim (p. 20), he refers to him:
پنجاب کے ارباب نبوت کی شریعت
کہتی ہے کہ یہ مومن پارینہ ھے کافر
The Shari’a of the prophet of the Panjab Says that this old Muslim is a kafir.
On p. 22, ibid., the poem “Jihad” refers to the same prophet. Similarly on p. 53, the last lines are a criticism of this very prophet:
وہ نبوت ھے مسلماں کے لئے برگ حشیش
جس نبوت میں نہیں قوت و شوکت کا پیام
That prophethood is an opiate for the Muslims,
Which does not promise them a life of power and grandeur.
49-50. Cf. Bāl-i-Jibril (p. 56
وہ سجدہ روح زمین جس سے کانپ جاتی تھی
اسی کو آج ترستے ھہیں منبر و محراب
The pulpit and the niche long for
That prostration which brought tremors to the soul of the earth.
55. The phrase rabbi-al a’la, God is very high (a’la signifying not physical but spiritual height), occurs in prayers. When one prostrates before God, one recites this phrase to emphasise one’s lowliness as compared with God’s loftiness. (yhois phrase does not occur in the Quran though its variation rabbukum a! a’la your Lord, most high) is found in lxxix : 24.
58. harza, vain, futile, frivolous, absurd. du, from davidan, to run. Harza du’ one who runs aimlessly of Iqbal believes that it is possible for man not only to control this universe various dimensions but to pass beyond it, disregarding all limitations of space, time and direction. This is possible through love or what in Javid Nāma (p, 15 he calls “(spiritual) birth” or “ ascension “ which is achieved through “ a revolution in sense “ (ibid. p. 20) caused by developing one’s appreciative self. The spirit of time and space (Zurvān) says to man (p. 22):
لی مع اللہ پر کرا در دل نشست
آں جوانمردے طلسم من شکست
He who has in his heart : I have a time with God,
That doughty hero has broken my talisman.
Iqbal uses the phrase rabbi al-a’la to denote this spiritual attempt by man to attain power to go beyond the limitations of space and time- Cf. Pas Che Bayad Kard (p. 14):
مرد حق! افسون ایں دھر کہن
از دو حرف ربی الاعلی شکن
0 man of God ! break the spell of this old world. By the two words : God is the highest of all,
In Darb-i Kalim (p. 16), he says:
مقام فکر ھے پیمائش زمان و مکاں
مقام ذکر ھے سبحان ربی الاعلی
The job of fikr (thought, reason) is to measure time and space, The job of dhikr is : praise be to the Lord most High.
64. Majāz, metaphor, allegory, appearance in contrast to reality; hence also signifies superficiality, insincerity, profanity.
66. āb-u gil, water and clay, signifying world of matter.
67. marz-u bum, place of residence. See about this subject, Pas Che Boyad Kard, p. 60.
73. For the role of mullas and kings, see Shamioo, Speeches and Statements of Iqbal, pp. 132-133.
83. harf-i pecha pech, words rolled in a circle, words difficult to understand. In the footnote Iqbal explains that they refer to his English book, Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam written in the technical language of philosophy.
84. Lit. that I may catch the mind and heart of the people in my net.
85. harf-i teh dār, crooked, involved, difficult words.
ba andāz-i farang, in the way of the West, in the technical language of Western philosophy.
87-88. dhikr (contemplation) and fikr (thought, reason), correspond to intuition and intellect, dhikr, lit. reciting the name of God or words in His praise or uttering some sacred formulae. The word dhikr occurs in the Quran in several places. In ii. 152, it is said: Remember Me, I will remember you. In Iqbal, dhikr does not mean mere ritual reciting of some formulae in the mystic tradition. In Armaghan-i Hijāz (p. 228), for instance, Satan advises his followers to keep the Muslim away from the field of active life and keep him engaged in the mystic dhikr:
مست رکھو ذکر و فکر صبحگاھی میں اسے
پختہ تر کردو مزاج خانقاھی میں اسے
Keep him engrossed in the morning dhikr and fikr; Ripen him in the ways of monastic life.
True dhikr, for Iqbal, is what he calls specially in the Reconstruction (pp. 109 ff.) the vital way of appropriating the universe which comes off when the individual self establishes fruitful connection with God.
Fikr (thought, reason) and dhikr (remembrance, meditation prayer) are taken from the following verses of the Quran (iii. 189-190): “ . men of under-standing; those who remember (dhikr) Allah standing and sitting and (lying) on their sides, and reflect (fikr) on the creation of the heavens and the earth : Our Lord, thou hast not created this in vain 1 Glory be to Thee .... “
In Darb-i Kalim (p. 16), Iqbal contrasts the two, dhikr and fikr, contemplation and reflection:
مقام ذکر کمالات رومی و عطار
مقام فکر مقالات بو علی سینا
مقام فکر ھے پیمائش زمان و مکاں
مقام ذکر ھے سبحان ربی الاعلے
The achievements of Rūmi and ‘Attār are stations of dhikr, The compilations of Bu ‘Ali Sina pertain to the station of fikr; To measure time and space is the station of fikr,
To recite : Exalted be my Lord, most High, is the station of dhikr.
In Javid Nama (p. 89), Iqbal, says:
فقر قرآن اختلاط ذکر و فکر
فکر را کامل ندیدم جز بذ کر
The faqr of the Quran is the mingling of dhikr and fikr; I have never seen reason perfect without dhikr.
In Pas Che Bāyad Kard (p. 52), he says:
عقل و دل را مستی از یک جام مئے
اختلاط ذکر و فکر روم و رے
Reason and heart are intoxicated through one cup of wine, By a mixture of dhikr and fikr of Rūm and Ray.
93-98. Cf. t- a following verses from Pas Che Bayad Kard (pp 16, 18, 28 ff.):
وائے قومے کشتۂ تدبیر غیر
کار او تخریب خود تعمیر غیر
دین او عہد وفا بستن بغیر
یعنی از خشت حرم تعمیر دیر
پست فکر و دوں نہاد و کور ذوق
مکتب و ملائے او محروم شوق
Woe to the people emaciated (in spirit) by the stratagem of others
Who destroy themselves and nourish others;
Their motto is to offer loyalty to others :
To build the temple with the bricks of the mosque.
Lowly in thought, mean of nature, vulgar in taste;
His teachers and religious preceptors are devoid of fervour.
105-112. According to Iqbal, knowledge is of two kinds: knowledge based on and derived from sense experience. It must however be supplemented by knowledge based on intuitional experience. It is often described by Iqbal as ‘!!m and ‘lshq, knowledge and love. Rumi says (1,3447):
علم را برتن زنی مارے بود
علم را بر دل زنی یارے بود
When knowledge is struck on the body, it becomes a snake, If it is struck on the heart, it becomes a helper. In Gulshan-i Rāz Jadid (p. 218), he says :
بہ آں عقلے کہ داند بیش و کم را
شناسد اندرون کان ویم را
جہان چند و چوں زیر نگین کن
بگردوں ماہ و پرویں را کمیں کن
و لیکن حکمت دیگر بیاموز
رھاں خود را ازیں مکر شب و روز
With the aid of the intellect that deals with quantities
Probe the depths of mines and oceans; Master the world of how and why;
Catch the moon and the Pleiads from the sky. But then learn wisdom of another sort,
Free yourself from the snare of night and day.
114. nazar, literally, sight. In Iqbal it stands for spiritual vision in contrast to khabar, information, scientific knowledge. In Bāl-i Jibril (p. 110), he says:
فقر مقام نظر، علم مقام خبر
Faqr is the station of vision while knowledge is station of khabar. In Armagh-ān (p. 232), he says:
خبر، عقل و حرد کی ناتوانی
نظر دل کی حیات جاودانی
khabar shows the weakness of reason, Nazar, eternal life of the heart.
نظر درد و غم و سوز وتب و تاب
Nazur is pain, sorrow, burning, rapture, ecstasy.
In Zabūr-i’Ajam (p. 180), comparing the two, Iqbal recommends passing from khabar to nazar :
گزر آز انکہ ندید است و جزخبر ندھد
سخن دراز کند لذت نظر ندھد
Pass by one who has not seen and gives nothing but information; He talks much but does not give pleasure of vision.
In Bāl-i Jibril (p. 184), Iqbal asks Rūmi: What is the goal of man, khabar or nazar? Rūmi says :
آدمی دیداست و باقی پوست است
دید آں باشد کہ دید دوست است
Man is but vision, all else is mere skin ;
True vision is the vision of the Beloved.
In Gulshan-i Rāz Jadid (p. 232), he speaks of the man of vision as the really perfect man whom we should try to seek and follow. Similarly in Jāvid Nāma (pp. 16-19), Iqbal tries to explain “the new birth “which means spiritual renewal and recommends our passing from reason to love, from materiality to spirituality, from the context of time and space to the sphere of eternity. The Spirit of Rūmi says:
تیز تر کن ایں دو چشم و ایں دو گوش
ھر چہ می بینی بنوش از راہ ھوش
آں نگاہ پردہ سوز از من بگیر
کو بچشم اندر نمی گردد اسیر
'آدمی دیداست باقی پوست است
دید آں باشد کہ دید دوست است
جملہ تن را در گداز اندر بصر
در نظر رو در نظر رو در نظر،
Sharpen your two eyes and your two ears, Whatever you see, digest with full consciousness. Take from me the sight that burns the veil, That becomes not the eye’s prisoner.
“Man is but vision, all else is mere skin. u; True vision is the vision of the Beloved. Dissolve thy whole body into vision,
Go for vision, go for vision, go for vision.”
123-124. For ‘ājūl (hasty), see the Quran xvii. 11: and man is ever.. . hasty; also xxi. 37: Man is created of haste. For Zulūm and Juhūl see the Quran xxxiii. 72: Surely, he is ever unjust and ignorant. With regard to’ajūl, hasty, see the following sentences from the Reconstruction, “Satan, .however persuaded him (i. e. Adam) to eat the forbidden fruit of occult knowledge and Adam yield, not because he was elementally wicked, but because being “hasty” ‘ajūl by nature he sought a short cut to knowledge...:” (p. 86).
125. Ikhlas, purity, sincerity. Here it seems to stand for loyalty to the spiritual basis and source of life.
126. Sultān-u amir stand for people enjoying political power and authority which in modern democracies is associated with economic exploitation. Cf. Bāl-i fibril (p. 167):
زمین میر و سلطاں سے بیزار ھے
The people are sick of kings and landlords.
In Zabur-i ‘Ajam (p. 135), It is said :
میر و سلطاں نردباز و کعبتین شاں دغل
جان محکوماں زتن بردند و محکوماں بہ خواب
Prince and sultan gambling go, Loaded are the dice they throw, Subjects’ soul from body strip While their subjects are asleep.
In Armaghān (p. 259), Iqbal says:
سینۂ افلاک سے اٹھتی ھے آہ سوز ناک
مرد حق ھوتا ھے جب مرعوب سلطان و امیر
A deep bewailing arises from the breast of the heavens,
When a man of truth begins to fear kings and lords;
127. Ridā, voluntary submission (to God), here stands for mood peace and acquescence. cf
‘adl, justice. See the Quran (xiv. 135): “O believers, be maintainers of ‘ justice—bearers of witness for Allah’s sake—though it may be against your own selves or your parents or near relatives, if he be rich or poor. . .,
128. Qasd, keeping the (right) middle path, being in a middle state neither one nor the other of the two opposite qualities.
129. ta’wil, an interpretation.
130. There is a very famous tradition of the Holy Prophet.
Once a person asked him how to determine whether a particular act is good or otherwise. He replied: consult your heart; if it feels pleased, the act is good; if the heart feels perturbed, then, surely, the act is not good.
There is another tradition. The Holy prophet once said : if heart is man’s breast is well, all else is well.
131. dhikr and fikr, see note 87.
132. self-control, see Asrār-i Khudi, pp. 46-8.
142. hor, the sun, the moon, name of a star which is seen once in a thou. sand years.
143. Cf. Darb-i Kālim (p. 87):
اک صدق مقال ھے کہ جس سے
میں چشم جہاں میں ھوں گرامی
It is only truthful speech due to which
I command respect from the people of the world.
For the
other aspect of lawful bread, see Pas Che Bāyad Kārd (p. 37):
تاندانی نکتۂ اکل
حلال
بر جماعت زیستن گردد و بال
So long as you don’t realise the significance of lawful bread, Living becomes a heavy burden for society.
144. Cf. Jivid Nama (p. 224):
چیست بودن دانی اے مرد نجیب؟
از جمال ذات حق بردن نصیب
Noble sir, do you know what it is to be ? To take one’s share of the beauty of God.
145-146. Cf. Asrār (p. 64) :
فارغ از خوف و غم و وسواس باش
پختہ مثل سنگ شو الماس باش
می شود از وے دو عالم مستنیر
ھرکہ باشد سخت کوش و سخت گیر
Be void of fear, grief and anxiety, Be hard as a stone, be a diamond !
Whatsoever strives hard and grips tight, The two worlds are illumined by him.
148. Sultān Muzaffar,king of Gujrāt. Kathiāwār. His name was Zafar Khān and acted as governor of Sultan Feroz Shah Toughly. But after the invasion of Taimur, he became independent under the litle of Muzaffar Khān. He was a great general and succeeded in subduing several important fortresses of Rajputana. See E. I. (1st. Ed.), article ‘Gujrat’.
150. Bāyazid of Bistām, well known sufi, died in 875 C.B.
156. In Javid Nama (p. 182), while describing Sharafunnisa (grand daughter of `Abdul Samad Khān, governor of Punjab in the early years of the 18th century), Iqbal says of the Qurān and the sword:
این دو قوت حافظ یک دیگر اند
کائنات زندگی را محور اند
These two forces preserve each other.
And are axis of all lifes creation.
168. Taqwa is usually translated as fear of God. It really stands for an attitude of righteousness which tries to win the pleasure of God (ii. 207 iv. 114).
169. Qalb-o jigar. lit. heart and liver. In Iqbal this phrase usually stands for heart. Cf. Bāl-i Jibril (p. 129):
معجزۂ فن کی ھے خون جگر سے نمود
Only the heart’s warm blood feeds such marvels of craft.
خون جگر سے صدا سوز و سرور وسرود
Melody, mirth and joy gush out of warm heart’s blood. See Bāng-i Dārā (p. 302):
تا خلافت کی بناء دنیا میں پھر ھو استوار
لا کہیں سے ڈھونڈ کر اسلاف کا قلب و جگر
In order that the foundation of Khilāfat be again laid,
Try to get back the the heart of your fathers.
170. tā’at (or atā’at), obedience, submission to the law of God. According to Iqbal, this is the first stage in the development of self
(Asrār, p. 45):
در اطاعت کوش اے غفلت شعار
می شود از جبر پیدا اخۃیار
ناکس از فرماں پزیری کس شود
آتش ار باشد ز طغیاں خس شود
Endeavour to obey, 0 heedless one !
Liberty is the fruit of compulsion.
By obedience the man of no worth is made worthy ;
By disobedience his fire is turned to ashes.
171. Here Iqbal defines din, religion, as constant search—for what ?
I think it is search for knowledge of the self. According to Iqbal it is necessary that man should try to go down into the deeper recesses of the heart to transcend the upper layer of intellectual life and reach the inner core of self through intuitional approach, the core that he calls appreciative self, It is what Iqbal, following Rūmi, calls seeing, didan,
In Musāfir (p.7), Iqbal says:
چشست دیں؟ دریافتن اسرار خویش
زندگی مرگ است بے دیدار خویش
What is religion ? It is to find one’s secrets ; Life is death without seeing one’s self.
In Pas Ghe Bāyad Kard (p. 40), we read:
فاش می خواھی اگر اسرار دیں
جزبہ اعماق ضمیر خود مبیں
گرنہ بنتی، دین تو مجبوری است
ایں چنیں دیں از خدا مہجوری است
If you wish to see the essence of religion clearly, Look but into the depth of your heart.
I f you don’t see, your din is only compulsion; Such a religion is a veil between you and God.
In Jāvid Nāma (p. 5), we read:
بے تجلی زندگی رنجوری است
عقل مہجوری و دیں مجبوری است
Without revelation, life is a mortal sickness,
Reason is banishment, religion constraint.
See ibid., p. 67:
چیست دیں؟ برخاستن از روئے خاک
تا ز خود آگاہ گردد جان پاک
What is religion ? To rise up from the face of the dust, So that the pure soul may become aware of itself.
See ibid. (pp. 129-130):
زندگی را شرع و آئین است عشق
اصل تہذیب است دیں دین است عشق
دیں نگردد پختہ بے آداب عشق
دین بگری از صحبت ارباب عشق
Love is the law and ritual of life,
Root of culture is religion, religion is love.
Religion does not mature without love’s schooling ;
Learn religion from the company of the lords of Love.
175-180. Most probably reference is to the event in the life of Iqbal, which he has described in Rumuz (pp 150-152). One day a beggar came to the door and persistently raised his voice in supplication. Igbal, as a young boy, could not restrain himself and began to maltreat the beggar. His father was unable to control himself .... and in tears appealed to the young man to be aware of the holy Prophet’s admonition (see the Qaran, xciii. 10 : An I him who asks, chide not) and treat others with loving-kin in
185. Cf. Jāvid Nāma (p. 75):
برتر از گردوں مقام آدم است
اصل تہذیب احترام آدم است
Loftier than heaven is the station of Man, And the basis of culture is respect for man. 193-194. Cf. Armaghān (p. 168) :
دل ما گرچہ اندر سینۂ ماست
و لیکن از جہان ما برون است
It is true, our heart is within our breast ; Yet it is beyond our world.
Ibid., p.170:
جہان دل جہان رنگ و بونیست
در و پست و بلند و کاخ کو نیست
The world of heart is not the world of colour and smell; There are no ups and downs, no high and low in it.
196. Faqr in Iqbal is through and through positive. We find it defined in different books but specially in Pas Che Bāyad Kard, pp. 23-31.
A faqir ( or a qalandar) is not only indifferent to the vicissitudes of material life ; he is a man of strong will, who has a moral stake in the social and political life of the people around him, motivated by the love for the ideal of moral and spiritual regeneration of mankind. In the attainment of this ideal, he is ready to sacrifice everything.
210. rang-u bū, colour and smell, stands for majesty, power, capacity. See Pas Che Bāyad Kārd, pp. 41 if. for the same discussion.
218. ahl-i kin, people of hatred, malice. Cf. Pas Che Bāyād Kard (p. 16):
حکمت ارباب کیں مکراست و فن
The way of the people of malice is fraud and deceit.
235-236. Cf. Payām-i Mashriq (p.30):
دل از ذوق تپش دل بود لیکن
چو یک دم از تپش افتاد گل شد
The heart is heart through joy of burning,
When once it ceases burning, it is no longer heart.
237. Iqbal complains of modern age because of its materialistic outlook.
In Aamaghān (p. 134), he says:
چہ عصر است ایں کہ دین فریادئي اوست
What an age is this that religion is all protest against it !
Ibid., p. 135:
کہ بے نور است و بے سوز است ایں عصر
This age is without light and without warmth. Zabūr-i `Ajam (p. 136) :
من درون شیشہ ھائے عصر حاضر دیدہ ام
آں چناں زھرے کہ ازوے مارھا در پیچ و تاب
I have seen in the cups of the modern age
Such venom that serpents twist and writhe in pain.
240. Cf. Zābur-i ‘Ajam (p. 179):
چراغ خویش بر افرو ختم کہ دست کلیم
دریں زمانہ نہاں زیر آستین کردند
I have lit my lamp since Moses’ (White) Hand Has been hid, in the present age, under the sleeve.
253. raqs-i tan, dance of the body. It refers to the Sufis of the Maulvi Order, after the name of Maulana Jalaluddin Rūmi. They were known as Dancing Derwishes. For dance of the body and dance of the soul, see Darb-i Kalim (p.135 ):
چھوڑ یورپ کے لیے رقص بدن کے خم و پیچ
روح کے رقص میں ھے ضرب کلیم اللہی
صلہ اس رقص کا ھے تشنگئ کام و دھن
صلہ اس رقص کا درویشی و شاھنشاھی
Leave for Europe movements of body’s dance, In spirit’s dance lies the Prophet’s might. The former produces thirst of the mouth, The latter gives you faqr and kingship.
257. ‘Ilm-u hukm, knowledge and judgement, the two qualities that, according to the Qur’ān, are the characteristics of the prophets. In xii.22, it is said of Joseph : “And when he attained his maturity we gave him wisdom and knowledge.” The same is said of Moses in xxv iii.14.
259. Jadhb-i Kalim, love characteristic of Moses, that does not take into consideration dangers of the path in view of the ideal which one has in view. It is best expressed in the following verse :
بے خطر کود پڑا آتش نمرود میں عشق
عقل ھے محو تماشائے لب بام ابھی
Love jumped down into the fire without Sear,
Reason is still waiting an the rooftop calculating the consequences.
Iqbal has used this phrase for love in contrast to reason. See Bāl-i fibril (p. 98) :
یا حیرت فارابی یا تاب و تب رومی
یا فکر حکیمانہ یا جذب کلیمانہ
Either Fārābi’s wonder or Rūmi’s ecstasy ; Either philosopher’s reason or Love of Kalim.
In another place in the same book (p. 81), Iqbal used the equivalent phrase, jazb-i qalandari:
تیری نگاہ سے دل سینوں میں کانپتے تھے
کھویا گيا ھے تیرا جذب قلندرانہ
Your look put terror in the people, You have lost your qalander-like love.
260. Mulk-i ‘azim, a great kingdom. It may mean spiritual kingdom as well as temporal. The words are used in the Qur’ān iv. 34 : But indeed we have given to Abraham’s children the Book and the Wisdom, and we have given them a grand kingdom.
