ADVICE

Introduction
This poem is a sarcastic commentary on the condition of the common leaders. Outwardly these leaders have all the attributes of leadership and virtue but inwardly they pay only lip service to the values which they profess to defend and enforce. The real advice, which is the title of the poem, is contained in the last verse which has been borrowed from Khw«jah Alt«f Hussain H«lâ, for whom see Appendix I, No. 36. That advice is reminding Man that his duty in the material world under the sky is struggle against the forces of evil, oppression and exploitation.

Translation
One day by way of advice I said to Iqb«l
Neither you fast nor are regular in prayers

You are also perfect in the ways of hypocritical people
You pine for London in the heart but you talk of  £ij«z

Your  lies are also based on what is expediency
The manner of your flattery also is fully miraculous

Your lecture ends on glorification of the government
Your bright thought is the inventor of methods of entreating

Officials’ doors are also like Maq«m-i-Maémud ¹ to you
Your designs are more interlocked than locks of  Ay«z’ hair ²

Like other people you can also conceal
Secrets of self aggrandizement in your cloak of din’s service

You are seen in the mosque also on the Eid day
Your heart is also softened by the sermon’s effect

You practice reading country’s newspapers also
Which are obligated to sing your repute’s songs

On top of all this you can also write verse
Your poetry’s goblets are full of the wine of Shir«z

Whatever are the attributes of leaders, you have them all
Incumbent on you is rising and joining the struggle

You are not afraid of hunters, as you have wings also
Then why are you not inclined for flight?

                “The end of our life is the cemetery
                Presently raise tumult in the sky’s vault”

Explanatory Notes
1. Maq«m-i-Mahmëd - This is the elevated place and the elegant status of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) on the Day of Judgment from where he will request God for forgiveness for his Ummah. Placing the status of Maémëd and the lock of hair of Ay«z in the same verse is poetically very elegant.

2. Ay«z - See Appendix I, No. 34. The entangled hair of the locks of the beloved is a mark of his beauty in Urdu literature.