XII-VI

Let us play a chess1 like a royal game,
To melt the world whole with mutual flame.
Use thy own skill,2 may be a grain of sand,
For a paradise true on every land.3


1.         Here waste land is a hint (an allusion) to man’s intrinsic nature, devoid of good qualities.

2.         Nard; chess or chausar as invented/played first by Bazur Jamuhr of Persia.

Ba afsoon-i-hunar; with own intrinsic qualities and capabilities.

Iqbal has expressed this phillanthropic, altruistic idea for whole mankind’s benevolence on page 45, Israr-i-Khudi

            Get boon of new life by marvel of deed,
            With a new touch revive thy deeds indeed.

3.         Fasad; corruption, villainery, violence, vice etc.