THE NEW TEMPLE
Introduction
This poem is another expression of the ardent desire of
‘All«mah Iqb«l for Muslim-Hindu amity for obtaining independence from the
British. The seemingly heretic expressions like the one in the second verse are
sarcasm against the behavior of insincere religious leaders who misuse religion
for their own aggrandizement. It is also a veiled lesson to the Muslims that
Islam teaches tolerance of other religions.
It is appropriate to explain here that the Indian Muslims in general and their leaders in particular, including ‘All«mah Iqb«l, tried their best, for about two decades to evolve a formula for Muslim-Hindu amity which would be acceptable to the Muslims with honor. This was necessary because the Muslims were the poorer and the less advanced component of the population of India than the Hindus. Students of history know that all the efforts of the Muslims and their leaders failed and the Hindus kept on demanding of the Muslims to sign a carte blanche in their favor. Ultimately ‘All«mah Iqb«l himself became frustrated and had to declare in his presidential address to the All‑India Muslim League meeting at Allahabad in 1930 that the partition of the sub‑continent was the only practical solution to the problem. However, the efforts at amity continued without any success till March 1940, when the All‑India Muslim League was compelled to pass the famous Pakistan resolution at their meeting at Lahore.
Translation
May I tell the truth O Brahman! If it does not displease you
The idols of your temple have become anachronistic
You have learnt grudge with your own people from the idols
God also has taught fighting to Muslim preachers
Becoming tired, I finally abandoned the temple and the Haram
I abandoned the preacher's sermons, as well as your stories
You take the stone idols to contain God
Every speck of the homeland's dust is holy to me
Come! Let us again roll up the curtains of strangeness
Let us unite the separated ones, let us remove the disunion
The heart's habitation is lying barren since long
Let us build a new temple in this country
Let our shrine be higher than the world's shrines
Let us make its spire as high as the sky
Let our morning's incantations be so sweet every morning
That all worshipers be ecstatic with the Love's wine
The power and tranquillity is in the devotees' song
The salvation of the denizens of the earth is in Love