THE LIFE OF MAN IS NO MORE THAN A BREATH!

Introduction
This ghazal, though apparently simple, is fairly mystical and ends on the note of sarcasm on the people whose piety is only for outward show.

Translation
The life of Man is no more than a breath!
Breath is a wave of air, it is no more than a flow¹!

The flower was depicting life as a smile, but
The candle said that it is no more than a cry of grief ²!

The secret of life is a secret till there is a confidante
When it is open, it is nothing more than the confidante ! ³

                Somebody should ask the pilgrims of Ka'bah, O Iqb�l
                Is the gift of the �aram nothing more than Zamzam? ⁴

Explanatory Notes
1. Apparently human life is no more than a breath. However, breath is a wave of air, and like all waves is constantly flowing. It is alive only as long as it is flowing. In the same way human life, which this wave sustains, is worth its existence only as long as it is active.

2. Everyone perceives life according to his own lights. The flower, which is an emblem of happiness, sees life as a smile, but the candle, which is an emblem of grief perceives it as grief.

3. The confidant of life is an "��rif ". When the confidant understands the secret he realizes that he, i.e. Man is the only secret in the universe. This secret is that though Man apparently has humble origins, being created from soil, he has the potential of being the vice‑gerent of God on earth.

4. Zamzam‑ This is the sacred spring in the precincts of the K�abah in Makkah Mu �a��amah whose water is carried home by all pilgrims and distributed to friends and relatives as the most precious gift. This verse is sarcastic and carries the lesson that the real gift of the �aram is that the pilgrim should return from there after sacrificing his arrogance, greed and jealousy, after stoning the Satan in his own self and after controlling the evil in himself by circumambulation.