Introduction
'All�mah Iqb�l has adopted the didactical style in this poem, in a form which is
known as "Istifs�r-i-Ink�r�" in Urdu. This is a form of interrogation
in which the reply is expected to be in the negative. The limitations and evils of the
life in the terrestrial world and its comparison with the life of the unseen spiritual
celestial world are presented in question form. Each verse, starting with verse 8, has one
or more questions as well as the veiled answer in the negative, except verses 19, 20, and
25. In these three verses the veiled answer in the second hemistich is in the affirmative.
The central message of the poem is that life in the unseen celestial world is on a
pedestal so different from the pedestal of the terrestrial world's life, with which we are
familiar, that the human Intellect has not been able to solve its enigmas. Only Divine
Guidance through the Holy Qur’�n can unravel it’s realities.
Translation
The bright sun is hidden, the night shows
its face
The night's hair is spread on shoulders of the earth
This black dress is preparation for some one's mourning
Perhaps the Nature's assemblage for the sun is mourning
The sky is casting a spell over the talking lip
The night's magician is watching the awakened eye
The wind current is submerged in the river of silence
However, the tolling bell's sound comes from the distance
Heart which in love's turmoil is evading the world
Has dragged me here far from the maddening crowd
I am the spectator of the spectacle of disappointments
I am the associate of those sleeping in solitude's corner
O My restlessness! Wait and let me rest awhile
And let me shed a few tears at this habitation
O those steeped in a swoon, "Where are you?
Tell me something of the land where you live
Is that world also one of prevarication?
Is that world also one of denizens' struggle?
Is Man engulfed by sorrow in that land also?
Is Man's heart suppressed and helpless in that land also?
Does the moth burn itself in candle's love in that land also?
Does the tale of flower and nightingale exist in that garden also?
In this world a single hemistich perturbs the heart
Does there also the warmth of verse soften the heart?
This world's relations and alliances life's woes are
Are similar sharp thorns present in that garden also?
The daily bread and a million calamities this world has
Does the soul freedom from anxieties in that world has?
Are the thunder, the farmer, the harvest there also?
Are the caravan and the robber's fear there also?
Do birds collect bits of straw for nests there also?
Is the search for bricks and clay for house there also?
Are the humans unaware of their reality there also? 1
Are they after nations' and customs' discrimination there also
Does garden not cry at the nightingale's wail there also?
Like this world is there no sympathy in that world also?
Does the Paradise a garden or a restful mansion constitute?
Or does the Eternal Beauty's Unveiled Face it constitute ? 2
Does hell a method of burning away sins constitute?
Or it in flames of fire a way of discipline constitute?
Has walking given way to speedy flying in that world?
What is the secret of what is called death by denizens of this world?
Life eases the heart's restlessness in this world
Is human knowledge also restricted in that world?
Does the separated heart get satisfaction by sight there also?
Are "Lan Tar�n�" saying the ��rs of that land also
3
Does the soul get solace in longing there also?
Is man a victim of desire to learn there also ? 4
Ah! Is that land also filled with darkness?
Or with Love's light is completely illuminated?
Tell us what the secret under this rotating dome 5 is
Death a pricking sharp thorn in the human breast is
Explanatory Notes
1. Man in this world does not fully comprehend the significance of the Islamic concept
of "Taw��d-i-Ins�niyat" (The Unity of Mankind) as enunciated in the
Holy Qur’�n 49:13 and is busy in maximizing the material benefits for himself, his
tribe or his country and not for mankind. This has resulted in the Western concept of
nationalism whose evils are well known and will be discussed in future poems.
2. This verse should be read with the previous verse and the one following it. The Sight of the Jam�l of God on the Day of Judgment and in Paradise thereafter is the highest reward and the climax of felicity for a Mu'min. According to the Holy Qur'�n 56:7-56 men will be sorted out into three classes on the Day of Judgment, of which the highest in rank will be those in the class nearest to God and they will see His Face. Similarly, hell will be a transient abode to a Mu'min, to consume his sins and purify his soul, after which he will be admitted into Paradise. It is appropriate to give here ‘All�mah Iqb�l's views on this matter and his rationale, which are copied below verbatim from Appendix III, No. 27, p. 123:
"However, according to the teachings of the Qur’�n the ego's re-emergence brings him a sharp sight [50:22, (read with 17:13)] whereby he clearly sees his self-built fate fastened round his neck. Heaven and Hell are states, not localities. The descriptions in the Qur’�n are visual representations of an inner fact, i.e. character. Hell, in the words of the Qur’�n is God's kindled fire which mounts above the hearts - the painful realization of one's failure as a man. Heaven is the joy of triumph over the forces of disintegration. There is no such thing as eternal damnation in Islam. The word 'eternity' used in certain verses, relating to Hell, is explained by the Qur'�n itself to mean only a period of time (78:23). Time cannot be wholly irrelevant to the development of personality. Character tends to become permanent; its re-shaping must require time. Hell, therefore, as conceived by the Qur'�n is not a pit of everlasting torture inflicted by a revengeful God; it is a corrective experience which may make a hardened ego once more sensitive to the living breeze of Divine Grace. Nor is Heaven a holiday. Life is one and continuous. Man marches always onward to receive ever fresh illuminations from the Infinite Reality which 'every moment appears in a new glory. And the recipient of Divine Illuminations is not merely a passive recipient. Every act of a free ego creates a new situation, and thus further opportunities of creative unfolding."
3. This alludes to the Holy Qur’�n 7:142-43. It means that Man is unable to see God in this material world and prophets are no exception to this.
4. The material human desire to understand everything terrestrial as well as celestial has led him into fields of materialistic knowledge which have partially or fully blinded him to the Beauty of Light and Truth, or the Jam�l of God. However, every person derives the blessing or the curse of knowledge according to the measure of his effort and sincerity. Some people go completely astray and some witness the full Light of Truth and the majority get a combination of both to varying degrees. Im�m Ghaz�l� R.A. has discussed the different kinds of knowledge in detail in his famous book Al-I�y� al-'Ul�m. Some flavor of this book can be obtained from a study of the reference at Appendix III, No. 44, pp. 73-359. Mawl�n� R�m� (Appendix I, No. 65) has put all this wisdom in a nutshell in the following verse:
(158) Apply knowledge to the body, a serpent it becomes
Apply knowledge to the heart, a friend it becomes
5. Metaphor often used for the sky in Urdu and Persian on the basis that in the medieval cosmology the sky was described as a dome covering the earth.