THE  CANDLE  AND  THE  POET

Introduction
This is one of the series of long poems starting with poem 88, Shakwah (The Complaint). As explained in the introduction to that poem this series of poems deals with the rise, glory, achievements, decline and fall of the Muslim world. As stated earlier this subject was the one dearest to �All�mah Iqb�l and perhaps the raison d`etre of his works. In Shakwah  the emphasis is on the services and achievements of the early Muslims in the cause of Islam and God. In the present poem the field has widened. The poem is an allegory describing a conversation with the candle. The poet himself represents an average Muslim leader, spiritual as well as secular. He starts with asking the candle the reason for its effectiveness in creating its love in the moth and the one for his own ineptitude in the field of influencing his own circle. The candle states the reason to be its own sincerity and the lack of it in the leaders. The main cause of the present deplorable condition of the Muslim Ummah is its distancing itself from the Holy Qur��n and Islamic values. The recent efforts at reform are inadequate as well as too late. However, like other works of �All�mah Iqb�l, in this poem also the state of his frustration is not permanent. The candle gives  the message of hope and points out that the Muslim Ummah is waking up to its responsibilities and is starting to face its adversaries with the help of the Holy Qur��n. The great potential of the Ummah is described in detail and the poem ends with firm hope and promise of success for the Ummah and defeat of our enemies and their value system. The climax is reached in the last verse.

Translation

The Poet

Last night I said to the candle of my desolate house
�Your hair gets combed by the wings of the moth

In the world I am like the lamp of the wilderness� tulip
I am neither in an assembly�s lot, nor in a house� fortune

Since a long time I am also burning my breath like you
Though  I am circling the flame no moth has hit its wing

Many an effulgence is crammed in my life of unfulfilled desires
Not a single loving heart rises in this assembly

                From where have you acquired this world-illuminating fire?
                You have infused the love of  Kal�m ¹ in the poor insect� !

The Candle

�The blow of breath which gives me the message of death
By the same blow of breath your lip is melodious

I am alight because burning is built into my nature
You are alight so that the moths may have the love of yours

I am weeping because a flood gushes forth from my heart
You shed dew so that garden�s assembly may sing praises yours

My morning is adorned with the roses from my night�s toil
Your tomorrow is unaware of the today of yours

Though you are lightened your are devoid of the inner heat
Like the lamp of the wilderness� tulip is the flame of yours

Just think if cup-bearer�s title is appropriate for you
Assembly is thirsty and the wine-measure is empty of yours

Your ways are different, the law of the Millat is different
Your mirror has been disgraced by the ugly appearance of yours

With the Ka�bah by your side you are temple�s lover
How rebellious is the irresponsible love of yours

That Qais be produced in your assembly is not possible
Your wilderness is straitened, without Lailah is the litter of yours

O brilliant pearl ! O the one reared in the wave�s lap
Unacquainted with the taste of storms is the ocean of yours

                Why are you singing now? your garden is in disorder!
                Your singing is out of place, your music is out of season

Those who were anxious for the Spectacle have departed
Your coming now with general Sighting�s promise matters little

Those old ardent lovers of wine are gone from the assembly
O cub-bearer ! Your coming now in assembly with strong wine in the cup matters little

Ah ! When the rose garden�s organization has already got disorganized
If the flower got the message of spring breeze matters little

The lover�s condition was worth seeing at the night�s end
The Beloved�s arrival early in the morning matters little

Extinguished is the flame which was every moth�s objective
If some pursuer of perfect love came now it matters little

                The flowers do not care, you may or may not sing
                The caravan is callous, the bell may or may not ring

If devoid of love�s warmth you remained even as  assembly�s candle
Your moths also unacquainted with this taste remained

If you could string them together on the thread of Love
Then why did the beads of your rosary scattered remain?

Gone is the courageous Love, gone is the sublime thinking
In your assembly neither the insane ² nor the sages remain

Gone is that burning of Love, gone is that heart�s pathos
What good it is if the moths round the candle did remain?

Very well, the cup-bearer you may be, whom will you serve wine
Now neither those wine-drinkers nor those taverns did remain

Today a broken decanter is crying for the cup-bearer
Whose goblets in circulation till yesterday did remain

Today are silent those Love-cherishing expanses
Where Lailah and her lovers  dancing  did remain

                How disappointing ! The caravan�s wealth is gone
                The feeling of loss from caravan�s heart is gone

With whose activities the wilderness was once flourishing
Their cities are wiped out, habitations desolate have became

The prayers which established the grandeur of Taw��d
Those prayers offerings to Brahman in India have become

In this world ever-lasting comfort on laws� observance depends
To the ocean wave freedoms prelude to lamentation have become

The Manifestation Itself was longing for whose eyes
Those eyes despaired of Aiman�s light ³ have become

Thousands of nightingales were flying about in the rose-garden
What happened to them that they confined to the nests have become ?

In the celestial expanse whose lightning power was panoramic
Those lightning�s satiated with the barn�s sides have become

Why should the blood letting eye ingratiated to the rose garden be ?
With continuous tears the eyes fully satiated with embers have become

                However, the grief�s night gives the message of  �Eid�s morning
                In the darkness of the night the ray of hope has appeared

Glad tidings, O cup-bearer of the tavern of  �ij�z
After ages your rinds have regained consciousness

Wealth of self-respect was the price for other�s wine
Now your shop is again  full of calls for the carousal

About to break is the magic of India�s white faced masters ⁴
Again the Sulaima�s eye is the harbinger of clamor�s message

There is clamor again for cup-bearer to bring the home-made wine
As the heart�s uproars have been silenced by the West�s wine

Sing because this is not the time for silence
The dawn�s sky is shouldering the sun like decanter

Burn in sympathy with others and also make others burn
Listen if you can, a bright �ad�th has been conveyed to you

Ancestors have said that poetry is a part of prophethood
Yes, convey to the Millat  the glad tidings of the Messenger Angel !

                Awaken the eye with the promise of the Beloved�s Sight
                Bring the heart to life with the warmth of speech�s skill

Your love for indulgence became a robber of courage
You were an ocean in wilderness, in garden a brook you became

When you stood firm in your purity, you had the nation also
Caravan of fragrance after leaving the rose scattered became

The life of the drop has lessons of the secrets of life
Sometimes pearl, sometimes dew, sometimes tear it became

Obtain it from somewhere it is a great wealth
What good is life if the heart unaware of bosom became

Your honor depended upon the organization of the Millat
When this organization departed, disgraced world wide you became

                The individual is firm by nation�s coherence, otherwise nothing
                The wave is only in the ocean, and outside it is nothing


Keep the love concealed in your heart�s veil still
That is do not disgrace your wine like the decanter

Pitch your tent in the Valley of  Sinai like Kal�m ¹
Make the Truth�s flame destroyer of home�s comfort

The candle should also know the result of atrocities
Make the moth�s ashes restorer of the morning

If you are self-respecting be not obliged to the cup-bearer
In the ocean�s midst turn the goblet up side down like the bubble

No joy remains in the old mountains and wilderness
Your love is new, you should create new wilderness

If the destiny  has destroyed you completely
From downfall make a new rod like the seed

Yes !@ Build your nest again on the same old branch
Make the rose garden�s residents martyrs of the song of intoxication

In this garden be the nightingale�s follower or rose� pupil
Either be all complaint or do not produce any music

                Why are you silent in the garden like dew�s retreat
                Open your lips, you are the music of the world�s harp!

Become somewhat acquainted with your own reality O farmer!
The grain, the cultivation, the rain, as well as the produce you are

Ah ! Whose search keeps you aimlessly wandering
The path, the traveler, the guide, as well as the destination you are

Why is your heart trembling with the fear of the storm?
The sailor, the ocean, the boat, as well as the sea-shore you are

Come and look some time in the lane of the torn collars ⁶
Qais, Lailah, the wilderness as well as the litter on the camel you are

Woe foolishness ! You are in need of the cup-bearer
The wine, the decanter, the cup-bearer, as well as the assembly you are

Becoming a flame burn down the rubbish of Godlessness
Why are you afraid of the falsehood? The destroyer of falsehood also you are

                O imprudent one ! You are the essence of time�s mirror
                The ultimate message of God in the world you are !

O imprudent one ! Be aware of your own reality as
Though you are only a drop your reality is also like the boundless ocean

Why are you imprisoned in the spell of poor resources
Just look, concealed in you is also the storm�s power!

Your breast is custodian of the love�s message of the one
Who is Apparent as well as Hidden⁷ in the universe� system

What conquers the whole world without sword and gun
If you understand the material is also in your mettle

O indolent One! Do you remember that covenant also?
On which Mount F�r�n⁸ till now is a silent witness

O ignorant one ! Only you became contented with some flower buds
Otherwise in the rose-garden there is also cure for the receiver�s small capacity!

The heart�s state is produced in the speech�s curtain
In decanter�s veil the wine is apparent as well as veiled

My fiery music has burnt me down
And this is the very means of my life!

                Look into my breast for the secret of this fiery music
                Look into heart�s mirror for destiny�s manifestation !

The sky will shine mirror-like with the morning�s light
And the night�s darkness will be speeding away!

The spring breeze will be so melody inspiring
That flower-bed�s silent fragrance will become melodious!

The garden�s afflicted ones will unite with other afflicted ones
The zephyr will become companion of the rose� assembly!

My gentle spray of dew will produce warmth and music
Every flower-bud of this garden will become appreciative of pathos!

You will see the result of the glory of the river�s flow
The restless wave itself will become its ankle�s chain!

The hearts will again recall the message of prostrations
The foreheads  will become acquainted with the �aram�s dust

The hunter�s wailing will give material for the birds� singing
Colored with flower-picker�s blood the flower-bud will became

Whatever the eye is seeing cannot be described by the lips
I am lost in amazement as to what the world will become !

                The night will eventually disappear by sun�s appearance!
                This garden will be filled with the Light of Taw��d!

Explanatory Notes
1. Kal�m-See Appendix 1, No.48

2. Insane and Sage-The original word is the Urdu equivalent of insane. The behavior of a person in ardent love, including such Love of God, is strange and is so selfish that it appears insane to ordinary people. Hence, lovers are also called �insane�.

3. Aiman- This is the valley of Mount ��r. Its light is the effulgence of God which S. M�s� A.S. saw on the mount.

4. India�s white-faced masters- Reference to the British who had full and unfettered mastery over India and were very hostile to Muslims and Islamic values

5. Simile for the up-side down, i.e. empty wine-cup.

6. As stated in Note 1, a person in ardent love is considered insane. In Urdu and Persian literature torn collar represents ardent love of its wearer

7. The Apparent One, The Concealed One- Allusion to God, whose attributes include �Al-�hir� (The Apparent One) and �Al-B��in� (The Concealed One). This verse means that as a Muslim you are the repository of the treasures of the last message of God.

8. Mount F�r�n- It is the peak of the mountain on which the cave of �ir� is located and where the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) used to retire for prayer and meditation and where he got his first Wa�y.