THE  ISLAND  OF  SICILY

Introduction
This poem is complementary to the previous one. It resulted from two things. One was ‘All«mah Iqb«l's deep first hand knowledge of the apparent and material prosperity and the outward courtesy of the Western people, but their moral and ethical bankruptcy. The second was the Western nations' inherent hatred for and their machinations against the Muslim world, which resulted in the latter's decline. These feelings attained their climax when he reached the Island of Sicily on his return journey to India.

Sicily had been conquered by the Aghlabad Dynasty of Tunisia in the early ninth century and was ruled by them as well as by other Arab dynasties till it was conquered back by the Normans in the second half of the eleventh century. This poem has resulted from the flood of thoughts which must have streamed through his mind on reaching the Island of Sicily. The sight of the island brought back to his mind the Muslim world with its glory in ethical as well as social, economic and political fields. The Muslim world, which at one time was spread over northern Africa, southern Europe, central, southern and south‑eastern Asia and was the cradle of the highest civilization of all times, and in moral and ethical spheres, was the highest power, had crumpled down by his time. This sight must have brought to his mind the whole panorama of the period of Muslim suzerainty in Africa and southern Europe. After the Norman conquest of Sicily the Muslim world and society have experienced constant decline which has continued till today. In contrast with the memory of the past glory must have passed his mind the extremely poor condition of the Muslim world in his time. This reminiscence must have made ‘All«mah Iqb«l very painfully sad as is evident from the verses of this poem.

 At that time little did ‘All«mah Iqb«l know that the Muslim Ummah would have to go through much more afflictions than imagined at that time, till he cried out in 1924:

            Rendered cheap like water is the blood of the Muslim
            You are agitated as your heart is not aware of the secret

(Appendix III, No. 25 )

More perturbing than the affliction itself was his life‑long realization which poured out of his afflicted heart in 1935:

            What an outrage, extinguished is the Love's fire
            The Muslim is no more than a heap of burnt ashes !

(Appendix III, No. 29.)

Translation
O blood-dripping eye! Now cry to your heart's content
There you can see the mausoleum of the civilization of Hijaz

This was the rendezvous of those Arab Bedouins once
The ocean was the play ground of whose boats once

Who shook up the audience halls of emperors
Thunderbolts were harbored in whose swords

Whose appearance was the message of birth of a new world
Whose restless sword destroyed the whole ancient world

The dead world with whose "Qum" ^l was infused with life
Man was freed from the chains of superstitious beliefs

                The ear is still full of pleasures from whose zeal
                Is that Takbâr  ² now silenced for ever?

Ah! O Sicily! You are giving dignity to the ocean
You are like a guide post in the water's expanse

May the ocean's cheek ever remain elegant with your mole
May your lights ever remain a comfort for the ocean sailor

May your sight ever remain beautiful to traveler’s eyes
May the wave on your shore's rocks ever remain dancing

                You were the cradle of that nation's civilization once
                Whose universal beauty was the object for spectacle

The Nightingale of Shâr«z³ was the lamentor on  Baghd«d
D«gh ⁴ shed the tears of blood on Jah«nab«d ⁵

When the sky destroyed the State of Gharn«èah⁶
The unhappy heart of Ibn Badrën ⁷ lamented

                The ill‑fated Iqb«l has been conferred mourning for you
                Destiny has selected the heart that was your confidante

Whose story is concealed in your relics?
In your shore's silence is a style of speech

Tell me your pathos, I am also embodiment of pathos
I am the dust of the caravan of  which you were a stage


Show me the old picture painted again
Make me restless by relating the tale of bygone days

                I will take your gift towards India
                I myself weep here, and will make others weep there

Explanatory Notes
1. This is an allusion to the miracle of S.Is« A.S. by which he could bring the dead to life with the permission of God. The first line of this verse means that just as S. Is« A.S. brought the dead to life the Muslim civilization brought the Europe's dark ages to new life. It is also a reference to the re‑birth of Europe under the influence of the Islamic civilization of Spain and Baghdad. For S. Is« A.S. see Appendix I, No. 44.

2. Takbâr‑ See Appendix II.

3. The Nightingale of Shâr«z - This is the honorific title of Sheikh Musleh al-Din Sa ‘’adi of Shiraz (Appendix I, No. 66). This hemistich alludes to Sheikh Sa‘adâ’s elegy on the destruction, pillage, mass murders and unprecedented atrocities at the hands of Halaku Khan at the time of invasion of the Tartars on Baghdad in 1258. Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid Khil«fah headed by al-Musta‘aÅam Billah. Sheikh Sa‘adâ wrote  two allegies, one in Persian and the other in Arabic, of which the first is very famous. The heart rending grief which this allegy cast on Sheikh Sa‘adâ can be visualized by the following two verses:

(189) The sky is fully entitled to rain blood on the earth
          At the fall of the country of Musta‘aÅam, Amâr al-Mu’minân

(190) O Muhammad ! If you would rise from the ground on the Last Day,
          The Last Day has already risen from the ground over creation, rise and see

 4. Nawab Mirz« Kh«n D«gh‑ See Appendix I, No. 19.

5. Jah«nab«d‑ This is an abbreviation for "Sh«hjah«nab«d" which was the name given to Delhi by the Mughal Emperor Sh«hjah«n after rebuilding it. The allusion refers to the allegy of D«gh on the destruction of  Delhi at the time of the First War of Indian Independence in 1857.

6. Gharn«èah‑ This is the Arabic name for the Kingdom of Grenada, established in the southern part of Spain about 1160 and destroyed in 1492, which removed the last vestiges of  Muslims from Spain.

7. Abu al‑Q«sim `Abd al‑Malik Ibn `Abd Allah al-£aîramâ Ibn Badrën ­- He was a Muslim poet. He is known in the literary world through his commentary and critique of the works of Ibn `Abdën (Abë Muéammad `Abd al-Majâd Ibn ‘Abdën al‑Fahirâ) who was an Arab poet and writer of Muslim Spain. Ibn Badrën is more famous as a critique of Ibn ‘Abdën’s “QaÅâdah” in which he had chronicled the history of Muslim rulers. This book was similar to Firdawsâ's "Sh«h N«mah" in Persian, which is very famous, and the recent "Sh«h N«mah-i-Islam" by Hafâz J«landharâ of Indo‑Pakistan during the twentieth century.