IN  AUDIENCE  WITH  THE  HOLY  PROPHET S.A.W.

Introduction
This short poem, full of pathos, is the sincere out-pouring of �All�mah Iqb�l�s heart-felt  grief. It is an allegory of an audience with the Holy Prophet S.A.W. It is usual with �All�mah Iqb�l, in common with Khaw�jah Altaf Hussain H�l� (See Appendix I, No. 36) to present his feelings to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) at critical times and to request him for supplication to God to alleviate the situation. This poem was written in 1913 for the immediate problem of the invasion of Libya by Italy, as is indicated by the last verse. However, it also reflects the �All�mah�s feelings on the deplorable condition of the Muslim Ummah throughout the world in the first two decades of the present century. At that time the imperialist countries of Europe were ransacking the whole world, pillaging the natural resources of the defenseless nations of all countries outside Europe. Not stopping there they obliterated the cultures and religions of the vanquished people in the misplaced enthusiasm of making them �civilized�, and protecting them from hell-fire. Their strategy consisted of forcing as well as enticing them into the fold of Christianity, among other things, by their doctrine of vicarious atonement of S.��s� A.S. In case of the Muslim countries there was an added reason for enmity in their attempt to wreak vengeance of their repeated defeats at the hands of Muslims in the Wars of Crusades over a long period of time.

�arabilus (Tripoli) is a port in Tripolitania, which is the northwestern province of the present day Libya, extending from the Mediterranean to the Sahara. It was invaded and conquered by Italy in 1911-12, when it was a part of the Khil�fah.

The machinations of the European imperialists against the Islamic Ummah have been documented in many books which can be consulted for details. However, Appendix III, Nos. 6, and 12 are suggested as a small sample.

The bereavement of Muslims was caused not only by the conquest of Muslim countries by Europeans but by the atrocities during and after such conquests. All colonial countries have witnessed them. The following few quotations from Appendix III, No. 12, show the seriousness of the matter:

(Shak�b Arsal�n (1869-1946) was a Druze Muslim, who fought constantly against European powers throughout his life. - Author.)

�His (Arsal�n�s) commitment was most evident in his reaction to the Italian invasion of Libya in October 1911, when he went to the battle-front himself. This response although more direct than others was not unrepresentative of reverberations which the Italian invasion produced throughout the Arab Islam. In Tunisia there were open anti-Italian riots; in Egypt a strong wave of pro-Uthmaniyah sentiment swept across all levels of society. Fear of the systematic European campaign against Islam was heightened by the fact that French forces had occupied Fez in the spring of 1911, initiating the final stages in the process that added Morocco to the international system of protectorates.� (p. 19)

The so-called �International system of protectorates� was the establishment of suzerainty of European powers.  (Author)

�In this earlier phase, which is our concern here, Arsal�n was never more outspoken than in his condemnation of General Graziani�s brutalization of the Cryenaican population. He wrote to Rida that when he learnt of the deportations, executions, tortures and sexual humiliations inflicted on the civilian population of Jabal al- Akh�ar �I let my pen loose on those dogs�. In article after article, he enumerated the horrors committed by the Italian forces and condemned Fascist Italy as being beyond the pale of humankind......... He told his readers that when the Italian forces captured the oasis of Kufrah, they turned the Great Sanusi¹ Zawiyyah² into a tavern where they drank toasts to the extermination of Muslims of Tripoli ; and they threw the  Holy Qur��n�s beneath their horses� hooves and then used them to light the fires of their cooking pots.� (p. 100).

�The Italian abuse of Islam and the population of Libya meant more than the atrocities themselves. The real objective of the Fascist government was the extermination of Islam from the entire region and replacing it with Christian colonists. Arsal�n saw the Fascists in Libya acting as Ferdinand and Isabella had done toward the Moor of Spain. (pp. 100-101)

In reality one does not have to read any books to appreciate the serious nature of the situation with reference to the relationships of the Western world and their henchmen with the Islamic world. One has only to look around in the present day world to witness the heart rending atrocities of the Western nations and their proxies against the Islamic world. First sight observation is worth a million books.

Translation
When I felt this ignoble strife of the world grievous
Packing up my goods and chattel I departed from the world

Though I did pass life within limits of morning and evening
I never got acquainted with the old system of the world

                The angles took me to the assembly of the Holy Prophet
                They took me to the audience of the symbol of God�s Mercy

The Holy Prophet said � O nightingale of the garden of  �ij�z!
Each flower-bud of yours is melted with your music�s warmth

Your heart is always ecstatic with the wine-cup of God�s proximity
Your supplication is  the envy of prostrations in Divine Love

In your flight from the lowly world to the celestial world
The angels taught you the elegance of the flight

                You have come like fragrance out of the world�s garden
                With what gift for me have come you?�

�Sire ! Satisfaction on the earth is not available
The life I am searching for is not available

Thousands of tulips and roses exist in the garden of existence
The flower-bud with the fragrance of fidelity is not available

But I have brought a lover�s wine-glass as an offering ³
Whatever is in this even in paradise is not available

                Glistens your Ummah�s honor in this
                Blood of Tripoli�s martyrs is in this�

Explanatory Notes
1. San�s�- A member of the S�fi brotherhood founded in 1837 in North Africa by Mu�ammad Ibn ��l� al-San�s� (d. 1859),  an Algerian leader.

2. Z�wiyyah- This is a school in which a ��fi conducts his spiritual lessons and exercises.

3. This verse and the next one refer to �All�mah Iqb�l�s entire poetic works.