Iqbal: 3 phases of a dreamer

Shair-e-Mashriq, Hakeem-e-Ummat
Sir Dr. Alama Mohammed Iqbal
THREE PHASES OF A VISIONARY
by
Moin Ansari

"Iqbal, that immortal poet of Islam, whose poetry served as a
beaconlight in the darkest period of our history and whose message
will ever help us on the way to our destiny," Choudhary Rahmat Ali
(1947, 'Pakistan').

alt.language.urdu.poetry
"Saare Jahan se Aachha/ Hindusthan Hamara"
Page 28: On Musalmaan

It was the best of times. Ras Tofari became the emperor of Ethiopia. The planet Pluto was discovered by C.W. Tombaugh. All’s quiet on the Western front was playing in the theaters.

It was the worst of times in the New World. In Germany, Nazis were gaining power. D.H. Lawrence the English novelist had died. The U.S. population was 122 million, and in the land of the Dollar the bottom had fallen out of the financial markets. Wall Street was is total disarray. The stock had crashed. Savings accounts had been wiped out. People had given up hope. Many Millionaires had lost their fortunes and flung themselves out of their windows to their death. Conspicuous consumption had taken its toll. America was in the midst of a depression. It was the year 1930.

And in the old world, an ‘Indian’ dreamer, was making a speech in the city of Allahbad. He was speaking at the session of the All India Muslim League.

“It cannot be denied that Islam regarded as an ethical ideal plus certain kind of polity by which expression I mean a social structure regulated by a legal system and animated by a specific ethical idea has been chief formative factor in the life history of the Muslims of India.”

Would you like me to see Islam as a moral and political ideal, meeting the same fate in the e world of Islam as Christianity has already met in Europe “ Is it possible to retain Islam as an ethical ideal and to reject it as polity in favor of national politics in which religious attitude is not permitted to play its part ?”

Iqbal was philosophizing about separating religion form politics. He maintained that one could not put Islam in a separate compartment, and deal with the political realities of the time. Iqbal maintained that Islam had to be part and parcel of everything a Muslim did. He refuted the secular claim that one could practice religion in the mosque and live in a United India. K. Ali a noted Pakistani historian states that “the construction of a polity on national lines, if it means the displacement of the Islamic principle of solidarity, is simply unthinkable to a Muslim.”

Iqbal, speaking as the President of the All Indian Muslim League was saying “Islam is in jeopardy “, and we must save it by creating a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. Perhaps he was saying that Islam is in jeopardy in India, and we must provide it a nurturing ground, in certain parts of India, where it can grow and prosper, and influence. Iqbal went on to announce his thoughts at the Allahbad session and I quote Iqbal

“ India is a continent of human groups belonging to different races, speaking different languages and professing different religions .... To base a constitution on the conception of a homogenous India .... is to prepare for a civil war. The formation of a consolidated North West Indian State appears to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of North-West India”.

K. Ali writes, that “This scheme of a separate Muslim state in India appeared to a be a dream of a the poet Iqbal at that time, and it was bitterly criticized. Since 1930, the idea of a separate State was gaining ground in the hearts of the Muslims of India“ Iqbals’s idea was given the moniker of P-A-K-I-S-T-A-N by one Chaudry Rehmat Ali, an Indian Muslim student studying in England. Iqbal had been propagating the idea for a separate homeland for the Muslims. He had been writing to Jinnah, asking him to be the lawyer to defend the cause of the Muslims of India. Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammed Ali Jinnah took the challenge, and the rest as they say is history.

It is clear that earlier statements by Iqbal when the creation of Pakistan was still in the embryonic stage cannot be taken as his true endorsement of a united India. In the thirties almost the entire Muslim population was not entertaining the idea of separatism, and even the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah and others were working for the unity of India.

Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammed Ali Jinnah said that:

“ the differences in India, between the two major nations, the Hindus and the Muslims are a thousand times greater when compared with the continent of Europe. India is not a national state, India is not a country, but a sub-continent composed of nationalities, the two nations being Hindus and Muslims whose culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, name and nomenclature, sense of value and proportion, laws and jurisprudence, social and moral codes, customs and calendar, history and traditions, aptitudes and ambitions, outlook on life and of life are fundamentally different nay in many respects antagonistic”.

Any discussion of Iqbal becomes a discussion of Pakistan. That is a tribute to the poet dreamer. The discussion of Pakistan is incomplete without bringing up Iqbal, and the biography of Pakistanis is never complete without discussing the philosophy of “ The poet of the East “.

The two nation theory was initially enunciated by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, dreamt by Iqbal, and preached by Mohammed Ali Jinnah. It was this enunciation of the two nation theory that appealed to the hearts and minds of Mussalmans all over the subcontinent. They in one voice voted for the Muslim League and Jinnah. Muslims from the Southern tip of Tamiland, to the Central India, to Eastern India accepted and fought for the Two nation Theory. It is incredible that the Pakistan movement began in the United Provinces of India (U.P, a conglomeration of independent princely states, that were railroaded into a province by the British) , and was led by Muslims of Northern India from Aligarh, Lucknow, and Delhi, Muslims who never had any hope of becoming part of Pakistan. Muslims all over the subcontinent voted, worked and died for the ideals dreamt by Iqbal, and preached by Jinnah.

Who was Iqbal ? One of the first to advocate a separate homeland in India, Iqbal ( 1876-1938) was the second crucial link in our independence struggle, the factor that took Sir Syed’s ( 1817-1898) ideals and passed the torch to Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah ( 1876-1948)

The Freedom Struggle Torch carried through generations:

1817-1898 1876-1938 1876-1948




Sir Syed Iqbal Jinnah

RESUME OF MOHAMMED IQBAL
Goals
To awaken the Muslims of India so that they could regain their lost glory and greatness. To wake up the Muslims and be more practical. To show the Muslim youth of India the path of truth and progress

Biography
Name: Mohammed Iqbal
Other names (ALAISes) : Poet of the East, The Poet Thinker, The Poet who dreamt Pakistan, The poet who awakened the Muslims of India. Spiritual father of Pakistan.
Born: November, 1876 at Sialkot
Profession: Taught Philosophy and Law. Barrister at Law. Member Punjab Legislative Council 1926-1930. President of Muslim League 1930
Knighted by the British in 1992 for poetry
Hobbies and Passion, and claim to fame : Poetry in Urdu and Persian
Greatest influence: Nietzsche and other German nation constructors

Publications
Asrar-e-Khudi translated as the Secrets of Self, 1920, 1940
Piyam -e Mashriq. Message of the East 1930
The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam 1930
Bang-e-Dara
Baal-e-Gibreel
Ughuman-e-Hijaz and many others
Education
M.A. Government College Lahore
Barrister at law England
Doctorate in Philosophy Germany 1905-1908
Experience
Khilafat Movement: Alama Iqbal took part in the brief but important struggle that was carried out by the Muslims of the subcontinent for the restoration of the Khilifat headquartered in Turkey. In WW1 Turkey had allied itself with Germany against Britain. When Germany and Turkey were defeated in 1918 the British had abolished the Muslim caliphate at the Treaty of Versailles in 1920. The Muslims of the subcontinent ( led by Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali, and Abul Kalam Azad ) were outraged, and led a nationwide campaign of agitation to protest the abolition of the Ottoman Empire Caliphate. To this day young Turks remember this movement, and think of Pakistanis as the natural successors of that movement.

All India Muslim league: He expressed great satisfaction at the formation of the Muslim League in 1906.

MPA Lahore: In 1926 Iqbal contested the election from Lahore, and won by a large majority

Nehru Report: In 1928 when the Nehru report came out, Iqbal was disappointed by the he Hindu attitude. At this juncture he made up his mind to form a separate homeland for the Muslims of India

Vision for Pakistan: In 1930 as President of the All India Muslim League, he enunciated the Two nation Theory. “ The Muslims wish to lead a life of freedom and honor. They want to live as a nation and this can be achieved if they have a separate Islamic state“.

Struggle for Pakistan: To his last day, Alama Iqbal was a sincere friend of Quaid-e-Azam, assisting him in putting together a coalition of Muslims together. Iqbal was coaxing the slumbering masses to wake up and demand a homeland. Iqbal was criticized by the orthodox religious right for his “shikwah” and “jawab-shiwah”.


THE THREE PHASES OF IQBAL

1) HUM BULBULAIN HAIN IS CHAMAN KI , YEH WATAN HAI HUMARA. HINDUSTAN HUMARA

The first phase of Iqbal was as an Indian nationalist. He believed that both the Hindus and the Muslims could live together to return the subcontinent of India to its pre-British Moghul glory. This belief was made under the hypothesis that the two-century British period was an aberration in the thousand year history of the country. Iqbal believed that after the British left ‘Indians’ could live together in peace and harmony and make the country of India great. At the time Muslims were about 40% of the population of ‘India’ and Hindus were in slight majority. However the cultural and social centers of India were in the hands of the Muslims. During this phase of his life Iqbal believed that India is as big as Western Europe could compete as a great nation against Europe, America and China. Jinnah at the time also experimented with unity and was called “ The ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity “.

Here is Iqbal clearly disassociating himself from the scheme of Pakistan though he still defends his Allahbad speech made four years earlier

----------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Sir Mohd. Iqbal Kt. M. A., Ph.D.
Barrister-at-Law Lahore
4th March 1934
My dear Mr. Thompson

I have just received your review of my book. It is excellent and I am
grateful to you for the very kind things you have said of me. But you
have made one mistake which I hasten to point out as I consider it
rather serious. You call me [a] protagonist of the scheme called
'Pakistan'. Now Pakistan is not my scheme. The one that I suggested
in my address is the creation of a Muslims Province--i.e. a
province having an overwhelming population of Muslims--in the
North west of India. This province will be, according to my scheme,
a part of the proposed Indian Federation. Pakistan scheme proposes
a separate federation of Muslim Provinces directly related to
England as a separate dominion. This scheme originated in
Cambridge. The authors of this scheme believe that we Muslim Round
Tablers have sacrificed the Muslim nation on the altar of Hindu or
so called Indian Nationalism

Yours sincerely,

Mohammad Iqbal

2) CHEEN - O ARAB HUMARA, HINDUSTAAN HUMARA, MUSLIM HAIN HUM, WATAN HAI SARA JAHAN HUMARA

Disappointed by the Hindu attitudes, Iqbal began to think himself as a Muslim first, and an ‘Indian’ second. During this stage of his thinking, Alama Iqbal began believing in Pan-Islamism. Iqbal worked with Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali and Abul Kalaam Azad. He actively wrote poems on his belief that all Muslims should think of themselves as Muslims first. Caste and Creed were to be given up, and nationalism was shunned for the crescent and star.

THE CONCEPT OF KHUDI (self)

Iqbal wrote on the concept of self. “ Khoodi ko kur bulund itna kai khuda bundai say khood poochay, buta teri ruzaa kiya hai “. This concept of self asked the Muslims to improve their lot by themselves, and not be at the mercy of any other person or nationality.



3) KHANJAR HILAL KA HAI QAUMI NITAAN HAMARAH

This is the third and final stage of Iqbal’s’ thinking patterns. Influenced by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan writings, Iqbal changed his thinking. During this phase of his life, Iqbal worked for the All India Muslim League, whose sole purpose was the creation of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Subcontinent

Of his different phases Iqbal himself wrote:

“ I have myself been of he view hat religious differences should disappear from this country, and even now act on the principle, in my private life. But now I think that the preservation of their national identities is desirable for both the Hindus and the Muslims. The vision of a common nationhood for India is a beautiful idea, and has a poetic appeal, but looking to the present conditions and the unconscious trends of the two communities, appears incapable of fulfillment”.

By the year 1941 He was indeed a firm believer in Pakistan and the Two Nation Theory

" Cant you see that a Muslim, when he was converted more than
a thousend years ago, bulk of them, then according to your hindu
religion and philosophy, he becomes an outcast and he becomes a
Malecha (an untouchable) and the Hindus ceased to have anything
to do with him socially , religiously , culturaly or in any other
way? He, therefore belongs to a different order not merely religious
but social and he has lived in that distinctly separate and
antagonostic social order, religiously, socially and culturally...
can you posibally compare this with that nonsensical talk that
mere change of faith is no ground for a demand for Pakistan? Cant
you see the fundamantle difference ? "

2 march 1941. Pres. address to
Punjab Muslim Students Fed.

As can be seen from the above that the entire Muslim nation of India did not actually belive in "Pakistan" untill after the failure of the Cabinet Mission Plan. It was after the failure of the CMP that Quaid-e-Azam and the Muslim League had accepted that the MOVEMENT TOWARDS Pakistan or an independent Muslim state began. Earlier writings from Iqbal DO NOT DETRACT anything from Iqbal becasue as early as 1930 he WAS propogating a SEPERATE identity of the Muslims of India

CRITICISM OF IQBAL
Any good writing on Iqbal must discuss his criticism. Here is an Indian author trying to shred the Pakistan ideaology:
Much is made of Iqbal as the philospher of Partition. In this connection his address to the Allahabad Muslim League Session 1930 is lavishly quoted. The reader is never informed that the British had split the League into Shafi Leag-ue and Jinnah League, after League president Jinnah had decided to boycott the Simon Commission. Iqbal was only presiding over the pro-British Shafi League, attended by less than a hundred delegates. Nor is the reader told that, in his later years, Iqbal thought better of Jawaharlal than of Jinnah and that he wrote to Edward Thomson (vide ‘Enlist India for Freedom’, p. 58) that “the Pak-istan Plan would be disastrous to the British Government, disastrous to the Hindu community, disastrous to the Muslim community. But I am the President of the (Shafi) Muslim League and it is, therefore, my duty to support it”.

This is what Sanjeev Sharma says about Iqbal:

“Iqbal never was for a total separate state for Muslims
of India, he wanted them to have a self-determination
in federal republic of India, and even until he
died nowhere in his poems or anywhere we have any
evidence of his support for the dominion of a
Pakistan outside of India, matter of the fact is that
only after he died in 1938, Muslim league passed
a resolution in 1940 at Lahore for a seperate state
of Pakistan, at that Jinnah was its leader.

Iqbal, was a great poet no doubt about it, but
a politician! no way, and Jinnah ,not only he failed
to realized what will happen 40 years down but also
he was directly responsible of 4-10 million murders,
and largest migration of this history on earth.
Again Iqbal, was never for this blood shed and
migration, he insisted on the federal states of
india, unlike Jinnah, who wanted to have a state
for him”.


Criticism from the Religious Right Mualvi establishment
Iqbal was severely criticized for attacking the establishment. His book Zarb-e-Kaleem was titled “Declaration of War against the establishment of Today “. His articles, poems and anthologies attacked the status quo and asked the Muslims to raise their lot. His poems “Shikwah” and “Jawab-e-Shikwah” were severely criticized by the maulvis of his day. In “Shikwah” Iqbal complains to god about the poor lot of the Muslims, and in “Jawab Shikwah” Iqbal plays God and answers man. Many orthodox Muslims called Iqbal a “kafir” for this innovation in his poetry.

I consider "shikwah" good poetry. I wouldn't have had it memorized
otherwise. For the firebrand ideologue Shikwah has great inspirational
power. But "shikwah" (together with most of Iqbal's excellent poetry)
has limited ideological appeal. If you are a Hindu, you'll be disgusted
by "shikwah". (Remember the "muNh ke bal gir kay hua Allah aHad kehtay
thay" part.) In a larger context I see this as a conflict between
the classic ghazal and what they call "maqsadi sha'iri".i

German influence in Iqbal’s writings (Doctorate in Philosophy Germany 1905-1908)

Iqbal was greatly influenced by the German philosophers of his time, Soren Kierkegaard, Fredrick Wilhelm Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer. During his stay in Germany the ‘country’ (the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Prussia) was going though its great nationalistic binge. .....The Nazis used Nietzsche for building a nation that was defeated in war, was disarmed, was occupied and was split up into small portions. German states were trying to come together as a nation.

Iqbal’s response was that his inspiration was “Surah Hashar” of the Quran and not any other.

Iqbal was greatly influenced by the German’s nation attempt to re-construct itself. He thought he could transfer the concept to his homeland India. Iqbal is said to have been particularly affected by the German philosopher Nietzsche. Some have even accused him of plagiarizing German concepts. In Nietzsche’s famous Thus Spake Zaratustra (1883-85) Nietzsche “introduced in eloquent poetic prose the concepts of the superman and the will to power .... such a heroic man of merit has the courage ... to rise above the masses. Some scholars compare Iqbal’s concepts of Mard-e-Momin to the Nietzsche ‘superman’, and Iqbal’s Khudi to Nietzsche’s will to power. There is no denying the influence of Nietzsche on Iqbal poetry. Iqbal was intelligent enough to use the German concepts for a positive purpose for his own people.

Comparison with Ghalib and Profoundness of Poetry
American research scholars like Marcus and Vonetta Franda have called Iqbal “One of the greatest poets of the Indian subcontinent “. However some researches have compared Iqbal to other great Indian poets like Ghalib, and have found Iqbal’s’ poems trite in comparison. The depth of Ghalib can not be found in Iqbal’s poetry. One Pakistani poet said “Iqbal’s poetry conveys a profound message but is not profound.” Perhaps Iqbal was writing for the common man, and did not want to complicate the message. Iqbal was on a mission. Ghalib, like Wordsworth, and Tennyson and others were poets without missions.

IQBAL AS FOUNDER OF PAKISTAN
Awami National Party leader Wali Khan waved a document at a teachers's function to prove that poet Mohammad Iqbal had not conceived the idea of Pakistan. The document was a letter from the late poet in which he said he had never provided any idea about the creation of Pakistan.

The same letter reveals that it was Sir Zafarullah Khan who
originally mooted the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of
the sub-continent.

Source: UNI, June 1, 1996

Iqbal was one of the greatest sons of the subcontinent. He was born in the social, and political backwaters of the subcontinent, Sialkot, and acheived greatness in spite of his humble beginings. He galvanized a subdued and defeated nation who were under the yoke of British colonialism. The Muslims of the subcontinent of had lost their Mughal empire to the British, and and lost the economic and educational battle against the Hindus. The Hindus had gained a status in India that was of greater importance. The Muslims were truly third class citizens of India. Iqbal attempted and succeeded in combining the Muslims of different creeds, castes, and nd linguistic groups into a concept of nationhood based on Islam. Pakistan was but the inevitable result of his efforts.

IHSAN IBN ASLAM says about Iqbal:

I promised recently that I’d deal separately with this subject. So here it is! Lovely, juicy myths. Contrary to a widely held belief, Allama Iqbal did NOT propose an independent Muslim State in 1930.
That was the demand of Choudhary Rahmat Ali in 1933. I make my point by reference to original sources, including a vital letter of Iqbal dated 1934 in which he disowned and disassociated himself from the Pakistan scheme.—Ihsan

IQBAL'S 1930 ADDRESS: NO SEPARATE STATE/PAKISTAN

1. INTRODUCTION

All people have a tendency to exaggerate and to create myths around their heroes and historical events. One such myth is that which surrounds Allama Iqbal’s address in 1930. In this address, Iqbal is widely quoted as proposing the creation of an independent Muslim State. Renowned historians such as Prof. S. Wolpert and Dr Ishtiaq H. Qureshi, as well as writers such as Rajmohan Gandhi and almost every Pakistani commenting on this address is of this view. However, this view is NOT based on fact and is not supported either by the full and original text or by other statements by Iqbal himself. The view is based on *misquotes* from the address and unsupported *interpretations*. Here I look at the original text of the address and provide other relevant sources, particularly a vital, but little-known (ignored?), letter of Iqbal dated 1934. Iqbal was a brilliant poet, but politics was not his strength.

2. IQBAL'S ALLAHABAD ADDRESS

a) OVERVIEW

The article concerns Iqbal's presidential address at the annual session of the All-India Muslim League held at Allahabad on December 29, 1930. The text of the address stretches just over 19 pages and is
divided into the following sections:
Islam and Nationalism
Muslim India within India
Federal States
The Simon Report
Hindu Machinations
The Problem of Defence
The Alternative
The Conclusion

The famous (mis)quote is from the section “Muslim India within India”, which speaks for itself. Had people even made a cursory glance at this address they would have seen that Iqbal is talking throughout about Muslims *within* India, ie. a part of the country India.

b) IQBAL'S MUSLIM INDIA WITHIN INDIA: THE 1930 QUOTE

"...Personally I would go further than the demands embodied in it
[resolution of All-Parties Muslim Conference at Delhi in 1928
concerning Muslim India within India]. I would like to see the
Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan
*amalgamated* into a *single state*. Self-Government within the
British Empire, or without the British Empire, and the formation of
a consolidated North-West Indian *Muslim state* appears to me to be
the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of North-West India.
The proposal was put forward before the Nehru Committee. They
rejected it on the ground that, if, carried into effect, it would
give a very *unwieldy state*...Thus, possessing full opportunity of
development *within* the body-politic of India, the North-West
Indian Muslims will prove the best defenders of *India*...Nor should
the Hindus fear that the creation of *autonomous Muslim states*...
I, therefore, demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim state in
the best interests of India and Islam...For India it means
security and peace resulting from an *internal balance* of power...

c) COMMENTS BASED DIRECTLY UPON THE ADDRESS

The highlights in the quote above (*) have been added. Some points to bear in mind are the following: (i) Though this was Iqbal’s presidential address to the Muslim League, he was not speaking *officially* for he prefixed his suggestion by “Personally I would...”. His personal proposal was not binding on the Muslim League, who never passed any resolution in support of it and did not adopt Iqbal’s idea as a policy. (ii) The crucial misquote turns Iqbal’s “state” (small ‘s’) into “State” (capital ‘s’). Iqbal is using “state” as a synonym for “province” and not referring to State, as in an independent country. Note that he is speaking of “amalgamating” the four provinces for the “formation” of a larger “consolidated” “single state” within India. (iii) In the proper context of the whole address the the “Self-Government within the British Empire, or without the British Empire” refers to India, of which Iqbal’s large Muslim province/state was an integral part of.
(iv) That he is talking of this province/state *within* India is quite obvious from the quote. Also, as noted above, this quote is headed “Muslim India within India”. Iqbal is speaking of Muslims “within the body-politic of India” and speaks of them defending India and the large Muslim province/state providing “internal balance of power”. It can only be “internal” if it was a part of India. The Nehru Committee rejecting this suggestion as an “unwieldy state”, obviously means a large, cumbersome province difficult to administer as a unit of India. A reading of the whole address bears this out. The section following this one is entitled “Federal States”, for example, which puts the proposal of the “redistribution of territory” for the formation large Muslim province/state into context: it’s a federal unit of India. In “Hindu Machinations” he mentions the Round Table Conference proposal for an “All-India Federation” for India.
3. IQBAL’S LETTER TO EDWARD THOMPSON
Crucial evidence clarifying Iqbal’s 1930 address came to light in 1979 with the publication of Iqbal’s letters to Edward Thompson of Oxford (Ahmad 1979). Almost all historians and writers have failed to refer to this vital source of information. Of the letters, one dated March 4, 1934 is the most important, since it deals directly with the issue. Without much ado, I’ll now let Iqbal speak for himself.

a) TEXT OF IQBAL'S LETTER OF 1934

----------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Sir Mohd. Iqbal Kt.
M. A., Ph.D.
Barrister-at-Law Lahore
4th March 1934
My dear Mr. Thompson

I have just received your review of my book. It is excellent and I am
grateful to you for the very kind things you have said of me. But you
have made one mistake which I hasten to point out as I consider it
rather serious. You call me [a] protagonist of the scheme called
'Pakistan'. Now Pakistan is not my scheme. The one that I suggested
in my address is the creation of a Muslims Province--i.e. a
province having an overwhelming population of Muslims--in the
North west of India. This province will be, according to my scheme,
a part of the proposed Indian Federation. Pakistan scheme proposes
a separate federation of Muslim Provinces directly related to
England as a separate dominion. This scheme originated in
Cambridge. The authors of this scheme believe that we Muslim Round
Tablers have sacrificed the Muslim nation on the altar of Hindu or
so called Indian Nationalism

Yours sincerely,

Mohammad Iqbal
----------------------------------------------------------------

b) COMMENTS ON IQBAL'S LETTER OF 1934

(i) Note that he disassociates himself from the “serious” “mistake” of attributing the Pakistan idea to him. (ii) This is the earliest evidence of Iqbal using the term “Pakistan”, which speaks of its wide and popular usage within a year of its invention (1933).

(ii) Iqbal clearly states that his 1930 proposal was to do with the “creation of a Muslim Province” as a “part of the proposed [Round Table Conference] Indian Federation”, i.e. not a separate Muslim State. (iv) The Pakistan scheme “originated in Cambridge” and proposed a separate Muslim Federation of Muslim provinces. This proposal orginated in the Pakistan Declaration issued on January 28, 1933 from Cambridge and the movement launched by Choudhary Rahmat Ali (the only signatory of the Declaration from Cambridge). Iqbal must have read the Declaration. His last statement on the “Muslim Round Tablers”, of whom Iqbal was a *member*, comes from the Declaration, which condemned the Muslim members in no uncertain terms. Incidentally, Iqbal and Rahmat Ali met during Iqbal’s attendance of the Round Table Conferences in 1931 and 1932 (the Iqbal/Rahmat Ali relationship merits a separate post).

4. PAKISTAN DECLARATION (1933) ON IQBAL'S ADDRESS

In the letter above Iqbal comments on the 1933 Pakistan Declaration. Here is a relevant quote from the Declaration on Iqbal's Address:

"This demand [for Pakistan, which included Kashmir] is basically
different from the suggestion put forward by Doctor Sir Mohammed
Iqbal in his Presidential address to the All-India Muslim League in
1930. While he proposed the amalgamation of these Provinces into a
single state forming a unit of the All-India Federation, we propose
that these Provinces should have a separate Federation of their
own."

Self-explantory.

5. CONCLUSION

There are other relevant sources which help understand Iqbal’s 1930 Address in the correct light (Ahmad 1942, Ali 1947, and see Aziz 1987 for detailed discussion). However, I think the above should be sufficient to dispel the myth that Iqbal proposed a separate Muslim State in his address. An explanation as to why the myth continues to be perpetrated lies party with the “founding party of Pakistan”, the All-India Muslim League, and partly with historians and other writers. Here is my interpretation, but first a list of important dates:

December 29, 1930: Iqbal's Allahabad address
January 28, 1933: Rahmat Ali's Pakistan Declaration
March 24, 1940: A-I Muslim League adopts Lahore Res.
August 14, 1947: Independence Day of Pakistan

After passing the Lahore (“Pakistan”) resolution in 1940, the League tried to find some sort of historical base for their decision after seven years of opposing Rahmat Ali’s Pakistan scheme. Instead of acknowledging the 1933 Pakistan Declaration, which essentially remains unknown to this date, they jumped to Iqbal’s 1930 Allahabad address. Here, from their political perspective, they had two plus points: first, the address was by a renowned Muslim poet, who was later to be adopted officially as the “Poet of Pakistan”, and, second, the address was at the annual session of their party. As for their opposition to, and non-acknowledgement of, Rahmat Ali and his Movement, that is outside the scope of this article.
The Allahabad myth is partly also due to poor scholarship, where reference is not made to original sources, and misquotes have led to misinterpretations or interpretations are made which are contrary to other relevant sources, including Iqbal’s own works. Iqbal did not “convert” to the idea of Pakistan until about 1937 when he wrote letters to the then President of the All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. It is said that about this time Iqbal expressed an interest to join Rahmat Ali’s Movement, but he died soon thereafter (Wasti 1982).
In conclusion, then, Allama Iqbal did NOT propose an independent Muslim State in 1930. That is the stuff of the myth-makers.

REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

ALI, CHOUDHARY RAHMAT, 1933, "Now or Never: Are we to Live or Perish
for Ever?", Cambridge.

ALI, CHOUDHARY RAHMAT, 1947, "Pakistan: Fatherland of the Pak
Nation", Pakistan National Movement, Cambridge

AHMAD, KHAN A., 1942, "The Founder of Pakistan: From Trial to
Triumph", London. (The "Founder" referred to is Rahmat Ali.)

AHMAD, S. HASAN, 1979, "Iqbal: His Political Ideas at the
Crossroads: A Commentary on Unpublished Letters to Professor
Thompson", Aligarh.

AZIZ, K.K., 1987, "A History of the Idea of Pakistan", Vol.1,
p.184-327, Vanguard, Lahore.

IQBAL, M., 1930, "Presidential Address", _in_ RAIS AHMAD JAFRI
(NADVI), (ed.), "Rare Documents".

IQBAL, M., 1934, "Letter to E. Thompson dated March 4, 1934" _in_
Ahmad 1979, see above.

WASTI, S.M., 1982, "My Reminiscences of Choudhary Rahmat Ali",
Royal Book Co., Karachi, 175pp.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Cambridge University: The libraries of Emmanuel College, Centre of
South Asian Studies, and the University. Shahid Karim
(karim.8@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu) who queried me on this matter
in a post dated 31 January 1996 in connection with my post
"CRITIQUE--1. Prof. Wolpert on "Zulfi" (ZAB)". Shahid wrote:
"I don`t have any concern about this poster except your remarks
about IQBAL. KK AZIZ is not an authority on Pre and post
Independence events of Pakistan movement. Iqbal was the first person
who proposed an independent homeland for muslims. I would appreciate
some references other than KK AZIZ." Well, as promised, here's my
more detailed respone. Hope it suffices:-)

====================Ihsan Ibn Aslam====================
========Cambridge,England: ihsan@pak.win-uk.net======== Ar-Rahman, 55:60


Allama Dr Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938)
Poet-Philosopher
1930 Allahabad address:

"The Muslims of India are suffering from two evils.
The first is the want of personalities...By leaders
I mean men who, by Divine gift or experience, possess
a keen perception of the spirit and destiny of Islam,
along with an equally keen perception of the trend
of modern history. Such men are really the driving
forces of a people, but they are God's gift and cannot
be made to order. The second evil from which the
Muslims of India are suffering is that the community
is fast losing what is called the herd instinct."

Source: Allama's presidential address at the annual
session of the All-India Muslim League held at
Allahabad in 1930. Full text in "Rare Documents".



POETRY OF IQBAL

Article: 209383
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan
From: abbas@seas.gwu.edu (Ali Abbas)
Subject: Iqbal on Freedom
Date: 30 Apr 1997 22:52:31 GMT


THE SlGNIFlCANCE OF ISLAMIC FREEDOM
and
SECRET OF THE KARBALA EVENT

Dr Mohammad Iqbal, the Poet of the East.

Whoever makes a covenant with the Omnipresent,
Is freed from the bondage of all (false) gods.
A believer's existence is dependent on Love,
While Love, for its manifestation, is dependent on the believer,
What is impossible for mortals is rendered possible through Love.
Reason is ruthlessly sharp, but Love is sharper;
It is chaster, more shrewd, more daring.
Reason is lost in the maze of cause and effect;
Love is the champion in the field of action.
Love captures its prey through sheer strength;
While Reason captures through deceit by laying a snare.
Doubt and fear are the assets of Reason;
Self-Confidence and firmness of puryose are the integral
parts of Love.
Reason builds to destroy,
While Love destroys to re-create.
Reason has a little value like the air in this World,
Love is highly inestimable.
Reason is absorbed in questioss of how and how much;
Love in its purity transcends them.
Reason advises self-assertion,
While Love counsels self-examination.
Reason is indebted to other things for knowledge.
Love originates in grace (of God) and is contended with self
knowledge.
Reason says, Be happy and prosper,
While Love advises, Surrender thyself and be free.
Love finds both comfort and consolation in freedom,
Freedom is its source of guidance.
Have'nt you heard how summarily, on the occasion of the great conflict,
Love dealt with conceited Reason.
That Imam (Chief) of all lovers, the son of Fatima,
That cypress in the Prophet's garden.
What a marvellous phenomenon ! (Husains) great
grand-father (Ishmael) set the first example of self sacrifice,
Whose meaning and significance became fully explicit
in him (Husain) the great grand-son.
For that Prince of ideal character (Husain),
The last Prophet offered his own shoulder as a substitute for
a camel's back.
Love's majestic visage glowing with pride because of
the blood of the martyred Husain,
The colourfulness of this line is due to the theme of martyrdom.
Husain's unique position in the muslim community,
Is like the honoured place Occupied by the verse (Qul ho-Allah)
in the Quran.
Moses and Pharoah, Husain and Yazeed,
They are, but the conflicting forces of life.
Truth survives and triumphs because of Husain.
Falsehood is destined to meet with failure and grief.
At the moment when the leadership of the faithful broke the link with
the Quran,
Human freedom was poisoned in the blood.
There arose a man, the best of the best among nations,
Like a rain-laden eastern cloud, bringing water to a parched,
rocky soil.
This cloud rained for a moment on Karbala,
Causing the desert to bloom and passed on.
He (Husain) exterminated tyranny for ever,
From his martyred blood, there rose a new garden (of human values)
in the wilderness.
Writhing in dust and blood for defending truth,
He became the corner stone of "La Ilah"
Had Power been his objective,
He would have not set forth so ill-equipped.
His enemies were in multitude just like the sands of the desert,
While the number of his companions was equal to the numerical
value of the word Yezdan (72).
In him (Husain), the mystery of Abraham and Ishmael unfolds and expounds
itself.
He is the illustration of their faith.
His will was firm as a rock;
Swift and triumphant (like a river).
The sword was for him a weapon meant solely for the defence of the faith;
And the protection of the Divine Law.
The muslim owes allegiance to none but Allah.
His head never bows before a tyrant.
This was the secret that Husain unveiled with his blood.
And roused his people from slumber.
When he (Husain) unsheathed the sword of denial of false gods;
He caused the blood to flow from the veins of their supporters.
He inscribed the words Illallah on the desert sands of Karbala,
Thus, he imprinted the first line of the charter of our salvation.
It is from Husain that we have learnt the hidden meaning of the
Holy word (Quran).
The flames of burning faith we borrowed from his fire.
The splendour that was once Syria and Baghdad;
And the glory of Granada are all now a forgotten tale.
At the touch of Husain's plectrum the strings of our being still vibrate;
His cry of Allah o Akbar still keeps our Faith alive.
O Wind! Thou messenger of far-flung people !
Present our tears to the sacred dust that covers Husain's remains.

Shikwa-Jawab Shikwa
Complaint and Answer
Translated by:A.J. Arberry

This is what Khalid Muhammed Shahzad says about the poet of the East

The ‘Shikwa’ and the ‘Jawab-i-Shikwa’, are among the most popular of Iqbal’s poems; they are deservedly celebrated, for they are among the first to bring their author fame as an advocate of Islamic reform and rebirth. The date of their compsition can be fixed very accurately by a reference to contemporary events contained in the second of them; when Iqbal wrote - ‘Now the onslaught of the Bulgars sounds the trumpet of alarm’ he was commemorating the invasion of Turkey by Bulgaria in the late autumn of 1912, an attack which threatened at one time to penetrate as far as Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the last home of the Caliphate. These poems were therefore composed four years after Iqbal’s return from Europe. They mark the beginning of that remarkable career as philosopher and poet which brought Iqbal ever-increasing renown, until he was recognized as the leading thinker of ISLAM in India and the greatest figure in Urdu literature. It is all the more interesting to find him adumbrating in these early pieces that theory of Selfhood (Khudi) and Selflessness (Bekhudi) which later played such an important part in his religious and political philosophy.
The central theme of both poems is the decay of Islam from its former greatness, and the measures to be adopted if it was to re-establish its authority and regain its vitality. The subject was, of course, not a new one; ever since the decline and final extinction of the Moghul Empire, Muslims in India had been searching their minds and their consciences for the explanation of so lamentable a disaster. Nor were Indian Muslims alone in deploring the seeming collapse of Islamic civilization; their co-religionists further West, from Persia to Morocco, had been occupied with the same self-examination. But in these two poems Iqbal stated the problem in singularly arresting directness; the literary form chosen for its exposition, a dialogue between the poet, as a spokesman for Muslims the world over, and God - this dramatic presentation of the common dilemma made an immediate and compelling appeal to Iqbal’s public, an appeal moreover which has lost nothing of its force in the intervening years.
To make a worthy translation of these poems into English is certainly no easy task. To begin wuth, the translator ( A.J. Arberry) has to confess to a very inadequate knowledge of Urdu, the language used by Iqbal on this occasion. Left to his own devices, he would been obliged to abandon the attempt; but the publisher, Sh. M. Ashraf, procured for him a literal rendering of the originals into English prose, ably executed by Mazheruddin Siddiqi, to whom the grateful and cordial thanks of the writer are hereby expressed. But that is by no means the end of the matter; Iqbal naturally illustrated his discourse with metaphors and references familiar enough to those accustomed to read Urdu poetry, but in many instances utterly strange, indeed outlandish, to an English audience. Rather than impose on the poet transformations, of which he would certainly and justly have disapproved, the translator has preferred to reproduce his model as closely and as faithfully as he could, appending notes to his version to light up the dark passages wherever they are found.
************************************************************************************
************************************************************************************

(an asterisk (*) denotes “noon-ghunna”)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Kiyu* ziya’ kar banu* sood framosh rahu* ?
(Why must I forever suffer loss, oblivious to gain ?)

Fikr-e-farda na karu* mehv-e-gham-e-dosh rahu* ?
(Why think not upon the morrow, drowned in grief for yesterday ?)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Naale bulbul ke sunu* aur hama tan gosh rahu*
(Why must I attentive heed the nightingale’s lament of pain ?)
Ham navaa! mai* bhi koi gul hoo* ke khamosh rahu* ?
(Fellow-bard! am I rose, condemned to silence all the way?)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Jur’at aamoze miri taab-e-sukhan hai mujh ko
No; the burning power of song bids me be bold and not to faint;
Shikwa Allah(s.w.t.) se “khakam badahan” hai muhj ko Dust be in my mouth, but God - He is the theme of my complaint.
---------------------------------------------------------------
************************************************************************************
************************************************************************************

To be continued....insha-Allah
Aslaamu-alaikum

Standard Disclaimer.Subject: Was Iqbal a Baloch?
From: amahboob@evax12.eng.fsu.edu
Date: 15 Jun 94 13:54:22 EST
Message-ID: <1994jun15.135422.1@evax12.eng.fsu.edu>


Athar Mahboob asks an interesting question has been asked on the net. Was Iqbal a Baloch?
If he was not one then how dare he talk about the "Advice of a Wise Baloch
to his Son". Before we ask if Iqbal was a Baloch we must first ask If
Iqbal was an Arab. If he was not an Arab how dare he wrote "Jang-e-yarmook
ka aik waaqiah". The first verse of that poem can be translated as

The gallant Arab warriors were ready with their swords
The land of Syria was awaiting for them as a bride waits for
henna to be put on her

And also if Iqbal was not an Arab why he wrote a poem "Taariq ke Duaa".
"The prayer of Taariq bin Ziyaad in the battlefield in Spain". One verse
in that poem reads

KhayabaN mein hey muntazir lala kub sey
Qubaa chaheay iss ko khoon e arab se

The lala (a kind of flower) has been waiting for long in the garden
It needs its color from the blood of the Arabs

Also if Iqbal was not an Arab why he wrote the poem "Khitaab ba jawaanaan e
Islam" in which he says to the young Muslim.

You have been reared by a nation
that crushed the crown of Darius under its feet
O what should I tell you of those desert dwellers
They were a people that overcame the whole world
They understood the world
They beautified the world
They took care of the wrold
They were the founders of the greatest civilization
They showed the world how to govern
And they were simply a people from the deserts of Arabia
i.e. the home of the camel herders

How dare Iqbal also says in one of his poems

I would let the hindu in India open his mouth
Only if he is not going to say anything derogatory about Arab leaders
Hasn't our nation been taught the rule
To get close to Mohammad you have to get away from Abu Lahab
The world of Arabs is not founded on geographic boundaries
The world of Arabs is simply founded on belief in Mohammad

It is getting outrageous on part of Iqbal. Iqbal also said

If the Jews have a right over Palestine
Why don't then the Arabs have a right over Spain


The people who ask such questions about who was who should first come out of their shell of fake ethnic pride and unfouded sense of superiortity. Iqbal was a poet and a sensitive human being. You donot have to be a flower to talk about a flower. You donot have to be an ant to talk about an ant. You donot have to be a horse to talk about a horse. You donot have to be god to talk about god. A poet uses everyday things to convey his message to us. That is why Iqbal used the “Wise Baloch” to teach us the wise stuff.

Going back to Iqbal being an Arab for a moment. Iqbal said in one of his
poems
I am descended from a pure Somnathi family.
My ancestors were true lovers and worshippers of Laat and Manaat

Note: Somnath was a big hindu temple about 1000 years ago.
Laat and manaat are names of two idols (gods) which have been
worshipped in some form or the other by all pagan people and
were the major attaraction in the Kaaba before Islam.

Here he talks about his Hindu lineage and that also from a pure Brahmin family.
So even though Iqbal's ancestors had been stalwarts of Hinduism until a couple
hundred years ago the light of Islam had pentrated their hearts now. And there
is no turning back from the straight path once it has been found.

That is not all Iqbal also uses Khushaal Khan Khattak in a similar poem as “The advice of a Wise Baloch” to convey the message of self-respect and developing self-confidence in one’s self. The poem is titled “The advice of Khushaal Khan Khattak”. Also Iqbal has a whole set of twenty poems and ghazals under a section titled “Mehraab Gul Afghaan ke Afkaar”. Meaning “The thoughts of Mehraab Gul Afghaan”. I don’t know who Mehraab Gul was. But Iqbal uses his thoughts to teach something positive to everybody.
So should we ask if Iqbal was a pure Pashtoon. If he was not then he cannot use the positive qualities of Pushtoons and teach them to others who lack them.
In the world of people who are wrapped up in a shell of fake and hollow pride one human being cannot learn from another human being. In their world there are unpassable barriers to cultural interaction and social inter-course. But their fake world will not be able to withstand the onslaught of the true spirit of human civilization. If we would not be so blind to read our own histories of how our cultures have been formed. Culture is not something static. It is the most dynamic phenomenon known to man. If you come in the way of cultural intermingling you will only destroy yourself.
Going back to Iqbal. Iqbal talked about ants, flowers, women, Turks, Arabs, Indians, Europeans, cows, goats, sqirrels, camels, mountains, rivers, Lenin, Mussolini and thousands of other things. And so has every other poet befor him and after him done the same, talk about things.
I could talk about all the poets that have existed and because of their spirit of love and their preacing of cultural interaction their names (and message) will last till the end of the world. I could talk about Sachal Sarmast, Amir Khusro, Shah AbdulLatif Bhitai, Amir Karore, Bhulley Shah, Waaris Shah, Bahadur Shah. The message of all these people is the same. They use different words and different styles but they teach us the same message. That message is the brotherhood of mankind.
I would use the words of Iqbal himself to conclude

BayaaN meiN nuktae tawheed to aa sakta hey
terey dimagh meiN butkhaana ho to kiya keheay

Yes! I can explain the idea of oneness of God to you
But if you have a whole temple full of idols in your head
what good it would do for me to explain all
that tawheed to you

This is what Nadeem Jamali says

Jang-e-yarmook... the poem is specifically about a certain war
Tariq bin Ziad... this is about what a particular person said
Khitab ba jawanaan..... here Iqbal is addressing Muslims
Hindu.... Iqbal is expressing his feelings
Palestine... again Iqbal's own feelings

In the poem about the ``Wise Baloch’’, Iqbal is pretending to know how a wise Baloch thinks. He is not writing about one particular person... he’s trying to make a statement about the Baloch way of thinking in general. Unless he has based the poem on something, it is logical to raise the question. And mind you, I only asked if anyone knows the background.

This is what Khurram has contributed on Iqbal:

Majnun nay shehar chora tu sehra bhi chor day
Nazaray ki havas ho to Laila bhi chor day

Wa'iz kamal-i-tarak say milti hai ya'n murad
Dunya jo chor dee hai to Uqba bhi chor day


TRANSLATION:

Majnun left the cities for the wilderness of the deserts, but you (O dervish)
also renounce the latter
If you deire for 'Mushahidas' also give up your Laila


O Preacher! Renunciation leads one to the goal on this path
Now that you have given up dunya also renounce the Hereafter

*****************************************************************************

I am posting a verse of Iqbal that I don't correctly remember. Could someone
please correct it.

Jab is bay-bal-o-par may hota hay zauq-i yaqin paida
To yay _____________ kar laita hay Ruhul Amin paida

The essence of these verses is:
When a passionate desire (for his Lord) surges in the heart of a man
Then this wingless person gives birth to a Ruh-ul Amin within him

***********************************************************************

There's a punjabi quadruplet on the same topic:

Zahid zuhd kamanday thakay rozay nafal namazaan Hu
Aashiq gharq huay vich Wahdat fillah nal Muhabat razaan Hu
Makhi qaid shehad vich phati ki ur'si naal Shebazaan Hu
Jinhan majlis naal Nabi Sarwar day Bahu O sahib raaz niazan Hu

The ascetic died of rigorous prayers and attained paradise
The Lover, in love for Allah, drowned in the ocean of Oneness
and attained his Lord
A bee so caught in honey's snares, how can it accompany the hawk
Bahu, those who attend the Holy Majlis of the Last messenger, they are the
possessors of Divine knowledge




Subject: Iqbal's Mystries of Selflessness (excerpts, part I)
From: altaf@crl.com (Altaf Bhimji)
Date: 28 Oct 1994 18:29:23 -0700
Message-ID: <38s8hj$ej4@crl7.crl.com>


This is what Altaf Bhimji contibutes on Iqbal:

Excerpts from the Mysteries of Selflessness

A Philosophical Poem by Muhammad Iqbal

Translated, with Introduction and Notes by
Professor A.J.Arberry (First Edition 1953 --out of print)

Muhammad Iqbal (1876-1938) was not only the leading Urdu poet
of his generation, but is considered by many as the spiritual founder
of Pakistan. His writings were certainly most influential in preparing
the way for the independence of Pakistan. As a philosopher and a
thinker he is one of the greatest figures in modern Islam. In the
Mysteries of Selflessness Iqbal puts forward his views on the
relationship between the Individual and the State, of course from the
Muslim standpoint, using the language and rich imagery of Persian
poetry.

Dedication to the Muslim Community

You, who were made by God to be the Seal (i)
Of all the peoples dwelling upon earth
That all beginnings might in you find end;
Whose saints were prophetlike, whose wounded hearts
Wove into unity the soul of men;
Why are you fallen now so far astray
From Mecca's holy Kabba, all bemused
By the strange beauty of the Christian's way?
The very skies are but a gathering
Of your street's dust, yourselves the cynosure
Of all men's eyes; whither in restless haste
Do you now hurry like a storm-tossed wave,
What new diversion seeking? No, but learn
The mystery of ardor from the moth
And make your lodgment in the burning flame;
Lay Love's foundation-stone in your own soul,
And to the Prophet pledge anew your troth.
My mind was weary of Christian company,
When suddenly your beauty stood unveiled,
My fellow-minstrel sang the epiphany (ii)
Of alien loveliness, the lovelorn theme
Of tresses and soft cheeks, and rubbed his brow
Against the saki's door, rehearsed the chant
Of Magian wenches. I would martyr be
To your brow's scimitar, am fain to rest
Like dust upon your street. Too proud am I
To mouth base panegyrics, or to bow
My stubborn head to every tyrant's court
Trained up to fashion mirrors out of words,
I need not Alexander's magic glass (iii)
My neck endures not men's munificence;
Where roses bloom, I gather close the skirt
Of my soul's bud. Hard as the dagger's steel
I labor in life, my luster win
From the tough granite. Though I am a sea,
Not restless is my billow; in my hand
I hold no whirlpool bowl. A painted veil
Am I, no blossom's perfume-scattering,
No prey to every billowing breeze that blows.
I am a glowing coal within Life's fire.
And wrap me in my embers for a cloak.
An now my soul comes suppliant to your door
Bringing a gift of ardor passionate.
A mighty water out of heaven's deep
Momently trickles o'er my burning breast,
The which I channel narrower than a brook
That I may fling it in your garden's dish.
Because you are beloved by him I love
I fold you to me closely as my heart.
Since Love first made the breast an instrument
Of fierce lamenting, by its flame my heart
Was molten to a mirror; like a rose
I pluck my breast apart, that I may hang
This mirror in your sight. Gaze you therein
On your own beauty, and you shall become
A captive fettered in your tresses' chain.
I chant again the tale of long ago,
To be your bosom's old wounds bleed anew.
So for a people no more intimate
With its own soul I supplicated God,
That He might grant to them a firm-knit life.
In the mid watch of night, when all the world
Was hushed in slumber, I made loud lament;
My spirit robbed of patience and repose,
Unto the Living and Omnipotent God
I made my litany; my yearning heart
Surged, till its blood streamed from my weeping eyes
"How long, O Lord, how long the tulip-glow,
The begging of cool dewdrops from the dawn?
Lo, like a candle wrestling with the night
O'er my own self I pour my flooding tears."
I spend my self, that there might be more light,
More loveliness, more joy for other men.
Not for one moment takes my ardent breast
Repose from burning; Friday does not shame (iv)
My restless week of unremitting toil.
Wasted is now my spirit's envelope;
My glowing sigh is sullied all with dust.
When God created me at Time's first dawn
A lamentation quivered on the strings
Of my melodious lute, and in that note
Love's secrets stood revealed, the ransom-price
Of the long sadness of the tale of Love;
Which music even to sapless straw imparts
The ardency of fire, and on dull clay
Bestows the daring of the reckless moth.
Love, like the tulip, has one brand at heart,
And on its bosom wears a single rose;
And so my solitary rose I pin
Upon your turban, and cry havoc loud
Against your drunken slumber, hoping yet
Tulips may blossom from your earth anew
Breathing the fragrance of the breeze of Spring.
---------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

(i) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) being commonly called the Seal of the Prophets because in him God concluded His series of revelations to manking. Iqbal borrows the term and refers to the
Islamic community as the Seal of the Peoples.

(ii) The reference is to the continuing fashion among Urdu poets to imitate the conventional love-lyrics of Persia in which the images mentioned are very common.

(iii) Alexander the Great is said in Persian legend to have possessed a magic mirror in which he saw the whole world at a glance.

(iv) Friday being the day for Muslim congregational prayer.

ADDITION TO IQBAL
Subject: Was Iqbal a Baloch?
From: amahboob@evax12.eng.fsu.edu
Date: 15 Jun 94 13:54:22 EST
Message-ID: <1994jun15.135422.1@evax12.eng.fsu.edu>


An interesting question has been asked on the net. Was Iqbal a Baloch?
If he was not one then how dare he talk about the "Advice of a Wise Baloch
to his Son". Before we ask if Iqbal was a Baloch we must first ask If
Iqbal was an Arab. If he was not an Arab how dare he wrote "Jang-e-yarmook
ka aik waaqiah". The first verse of that poem can be translated as

The gallant Arab warriors were ready with their swords
The land of Syria was awaiting for them as a bride waits for
henna to be put on her

And also if Iqbal was not an Arab why he wrote a poem "Taariq ke Duaa".
"The prayer of Taariq bin Ziyaad in the battlefield in Spain". One verse
in that poem reads

KhayabaN mein hey muntazir lala kub sey
Qubaa chaheay iss ko khoon e arab se

The lala (a kind of flower) has been waiting for long in the garden
It needs its color from the blood of the Arabs

Also if Iqbal was not an Arab why he wrote the poem "Khitaab ba jawaanaan e
Islam" in which he says to the young Muslim.

You have been reared by a nation
that crushed the crown of Darius under its feet
O what should I tell you of those desert dwellers
They were a people that overcame the whole world
They understood the world
They beautified the world
They took care of the wrold
They were the founders of the greatest civilization
They showed the world how to govern
And they were simply a people from the deserts of Arabia
i.e. the home of the camel herders

How dare Iqbal also says in one of his poems

I would let the hindu in India open his mouth
Only if he is not going to say anything derogatory about Arab leaders
Hasn't our nation been taught the rule
To get close to Mohammad you have to get away from Abu Lahab
The world of Arabs is not founded on geographic boundaries
The world of Arabs is simply founded on belief in Mohammad

It is getting outrageous on part of Iqbal. Iqbal also said

If the Jews have a right over Palestine
Why don't then the Arabs have a right over Spain

The people who ask such questions about who was who should first come out of their shell of fake ethnic pride and unfouded sense of superiortity.

Iqbal was a poet and a sensitive human being. You donot have to be a flower to talk about a flower. You donot have to be an ant to talk about an ant.

You donot have to be a horse to talk about a horse. You donot have to be god to talk about god.

A poet uses everyday things to convey his message to us. That is why Iqbal used the "Wise Baloch" to teach us the wise stuff.

Going back to Iqbal being an Arab for a moment. Iqbal said in one of his
poems
I am descended from a pure Somnathi family
My ancestors were true lovers and worshippers of Laat and Manaat

note: Somnath was a big hindu temple about 1000 years ago.
Laat and manaat are names of two idols (gods) which have been
worshipped in some form or the other by all pagan people and
were the major attaraction in the Kaaba before Islam.

Here he talks about his hindu lineage and that also from a pure Brahmin family. So even though Iqbal’s ancestors had been stalwarts of Hinduism until a couple hundred years ago the light of Islam had pentrated their hearts now. And there is no turning back from the straight path once it has been found.
That is not all Iqbal also uses Khushaal Khan Khattak in a similar poem as “The advice of a Wise Baloch” to convey the message of self-respect and developing self-confidence in one’s self. The poem is titled “The advice of Khushaal Khan Khattak”. Also Iqbal has a whole set of twenty poems and ghazals under a section titled “Mehraab Gul Afghaan ke Afkaar”. Meaning “The thoughts of Mehraab Gul Afghaan”. I don’t know who Mehraab Gul was. But Iqbal uses his thoughts to teach something positive to everybody.
So should we ask if Iqbal was a pure Pashtoon. If he was not then he cannot use the positive qualities of Pushtoons and teach them to others who lack them.

TAWHID
I would use the words of Iqbal himself to conclude

BayaaN meiN nuktae tawheed to aa sakta hey
terey dimagh meiN butkhaana ho to kiya keheay

Yes! I can explain the idea of oneness of God to you
But if you have a whole temple full of idols in your head
what good it would do for me to explain all
that tawheed to you

Athar Mahboob
Subject: Verses by Allama iqbal
Subject: Iqbal: Muslim Brotherhood
From: altaf@crl.com (Altaf Bhimji)
Date: 20 Nov 1994 05:01:53 GMT
Message-ID: <3aml81$6j0@nntp.crl.com>

Excerpts from the Mysteries of Selflessness
By Muhammad Iqbal
Translated by A. J. Arberry.

The story of Bu Ubaid and Jaban, in Illustration of Muslim Brotherhood

A certain general of King Yazdajird (i)
Became a Muslim's captive in the wars;
A Guebre he was, inured to every trick
Of fortune, crafty, cunning, full of guile.
He kept his captor ignorant of his rank
Nor told him who he was, or what his name,
But said, " I beg that you will spare my life
And grant to me the quarter of Muslims gain."
The Muslim sheathed his sword. "To shed thy blood",
He cried, "were impious and forbidden sin."
When Kaveh's banner had been rent to shreds, (ii)
The fire of Sasan's sons turned all to dust (iii)
It was disclosed the captive Jaban was,
Supreme commander of the Persian host.
Then was his fraud reported, and his blood
Petitioned of the Arab general;
Bu Ubaid, famed leader of the ranks
From far Hejaz, who needed not the aid
Of armies to assist his bold resolve
In battletide, thus answered their request.
"Friends, we are Muslims, strings upon one lute
And of one concord. Ali's voice attunes
With Abu Dharr's, although the throat be that
of Qanbar or Bilal. Each one of us (iv)
Is trustee to the whole Community
And one with it, in malice or in truce.
As the Community is the sure base
On which the individual rests secure,
So is its covenant his sacred bond.
Though Jaban was a foeman to Islam,
A Muslim granted him immunity;
His blood, O followers of the best of men,
May not be spilled by any Muslim sword."

_____________________________________________________________

i) Yazdajird was the last Sassanian king of Persia
ii)Kaveh, a smith of Isphan, raised the standard of revolt against the
usurping tyrant Zahhak and established Feridun on the throne of Persia.
iii)Sasan was the eponymous founder of the Sassanian dynasty,
overthrown at the Arab conquest of Persia.
iv)Qanbar, formerly a slave, was manumitted by caliph Ali. Bilal, formerly
an Abyssinan slave, was taken by the Prophet at the muezzin.

----------------------- Headers -----------------------

Excerpts from the Mysteries of Selflessness
By Muhammad Iqbal
Translated by A. J. Arberry.

The story of Sultan Murad and the Architect, in Illustration of Muslim Equality

An architect there was, that in Khojand
Was born, a famous craftsman of his kind
Worthy to be an offspring of Farhad.
Sultan Murad commanded him to build
A mosque, that which pleased not his majesty,
So that he waxed right furious at his faults.
The baleful fire flared in the ruler's eyes;
Drawing his dagger, he cut off the hand
Of that poor wretch, so that the spurting blood
Gushed from his forearm. In such hapless plight
He came before the cadi, and retold
The tyrant's felony, that had destroyed
The cunning hand which shaped the granite rock.
'O thou whose words a message are of Truth"
He cried, "whose toil it is to keep alive
Muhammad's Law, I am no ear-bored slave
Patient to wear the ring of monarchs' might.
Determine my appeal by the Quran!"
The upright cadi bit his lips in ire
And summoned to his court the unjust king
Who, hearing the Quran invoked, turned pale
With awe, and came like any criminal
Before the judge, his eyes cast down in shame,
His cheeks as crimson as the tulip's glow.
On one side stood the appellant, and on one
The high exalted emperor, who spoke.
"I am ashamed of this that I have wrought
And make confession of my grievous crime."
"In retribution", quoth the judge, "is life,
And by the law life finds stability.
The Muslim slave no less is than free men
Nor is the emperor's blood of richer hue
Than the poor builder's." Listening to these words
Of Holy Writ, Murad shook off his sleeve
And bared his hand. The plaintiff thereupon
No longer could keep silence. "God commands
Justice and kindliness," recited he.
"For God's sake, and Muhammad's," he declared,
"I do forgive him." Note the majesty
Of the Apostle's Law, and how an ant
Triumphantly outfought a Solomon!
Before the tribunal of the Quran
Master and slave are one, the mat of reeds
Coequal with the throne of rich brocade.


QUAID


Subject: PAKISM--Choudhary Rahmat Ali Day-Correction
From: ihsan@pak.win-uk.net (IHSAN IBN ASLAM)
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 1994 18:25:46 GMT
Message-ID: <291@pak.win-uk.net>

You did'nt see what was wrong with Quaid's date of birth as given by me? Thanks to Hasher and another E-mailer for pointing it out. Pressure of work. Please excuse the typo. mistake.--Ihsan

>11 September: Death Anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah
>25 December: Birthday of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah
>9 November: Iqbal Day
>*16 November: Choudhary Rahmat Ali Day*

>Spare a little thought and du'a for all those who contributed towards the creation of Pakistan and have since strived for it. In particular, today being 16 November, let us remember the man who gave us the name Pakistan and to this day remains forgotten for dedicating his life to the Pakistan movement.

> CHOUDHARY RAHMAT ALI
> 16 November 1897 to 3 February 1951


From: mmunir@inforamp.net ()

This is what Munir M. Pervaiz contributes on IqbaL:

Allama Iqbal like any great intellectual had a great sense of humor.
I have been posting some serious poetry of Allama, and now as an
interlude some humorous poetry from him, befor moving
to serious poetry again:

Shaikh sahib bhi to pardey kay ko'i haami naheeN
Muft meiN college kay larkey unn say bad zan ho gaey
Wa'az meiN farma diya kal aap nay yeh saaf saaf
"Parda aakhir kiss say ho jab mard hi zan ho gaey"
*******

Woh miss boli iraada khood kushi ka jab kiya meiN nay
Mohazzab hay to ay aashiq, qadam bahar na dhhar had say

Na jur'at hay na khanjar hay,to qasd e khood kuushi kaisa
Yeh maana dard e naa kaami gaya tera guzar had say

Kaha meiN kay" ay jan e jahaaN kuchh naqd dilwa do
Kiraaey par manga loonga ko'i afghaan sarhad say"

****************

Takraar thhi mazaar'e o maalik meiN aik rauz
Dono yeh keh rahey thhey mera maal hay zameeN

Kehta thha woh, karey jo zaraa'at ussi ka khait
Kehta thha yeh, kay aql thikaaney teri naheeN

Pochha zameeN say meiN kay , hay kiss ka maal too
Boli mujhhey to hay faqat iss baat ka yaqeeN

Maalik hay ya mazaar'a e shoreeda haal hay
Jo zeir e aasmaaN hay woh dharti ka maal hay
-----------------------------------------
Ta abad aadmi ko dunya meiN
Zindigi ka khiraaj deina hay
Tifl e nau za'ida ko kal say mujhhey
Zehr e rasm o riwaaj deina hay

Another poem from Allama Iqbal's Baal e jibra'eel for lovers of
great Urdu poetry:

PANJAB KAY PEER ZAADON SAY
Hazir hua meiN sheikh e mujaddid ki lehd par
Woh khaak kay hay zeir e falak matla e anwaar

Iss khaak kay zarroN say heiN sharminda sitaarey
Iss khaak meiN posheeda hay woh sahib e israr

Gardan na jhukee jiss ki jahaangir kay aagey
Jiss kay nafas e garm say hay garmi e ahraar

Woh hind meiN sarmaya e millat ka nigehbaaN
Allah nay bar waqt kiya jiss ko khabardaar

Ki arz yeh meiN nay kay ata faqr ho mujhh ko
AankheiN meri beena heiN wa lekin naheeN baidaar

Aaee yeh sada silsila e faqr hua band
HeiN ahl e nazar kishwar e punjaab say baizaar

Aarif ka thikaana naheeN woh khitta kay jiss meiN
Paida kulah e faqr say ho turra e dastaar

Baqi kulah e faqr say thha walwala e haq
TurroN nay charhaya nasha e khidmat e sarkaar
-----------------------------------------

Merey jism o rooh to kab kay, dhoop meiN jal kar raakh huey
Tuum jinn say miltey rehtey ho, woh to merey saaey heiN
(Munir)One wonders why Allama Iqbal was picking topics like this. Was there a purpose. But it also explains why he is systematically censored in Pakistan.
PUNJABI MUSSALMAN
Mazhab meiN bohat taaza pasand iss ki tabi'at
Kar lay kahiN manzil to guzarta hay bohat jald

Tahqeeq ki baazi ho to shirkat nahiN karta
Ho khail mureedi ka to harta hay bohat jald !

Taaweel ka phanda koi sayyad lagaa day
Yeh shaakh e nasheman say utarta hay bohat jald !
GADAAI
Maikaday meiN aik din ik rind e zeerak nay kaha
Hay hamaaray shehr ka waali gadaa e bay haya
Taaj pehnaya hay kiss ki bay kulaahi nay ussay
Kiss ki uryaani nay bakhshi hay ussay zarreeN qaba
Uss kay aab e laala gooN ki khoon e dehqaaN say kasheed
Terey merey khait ki matti hay uss ki keemya
Uss aky nemat khaaney ki har cheez hay maangi hoee
Deney waala kaun hay ? mard e ghareeb o bay nawa
Maangnay waala gada hay sadqa maangey ya khiraaj
Koi maaney yaa na maaney meer o sultaN sab gada
Subj: Iqbal's letter 1
Date: 96-04-30 21:59:36 EDT
From: 93abbass@wave.scar.utoronto.ca (ABBASS SYED AKBAR)
To: NASIM.AWAN@mira.co.uk ("AWAN, NASIM"), moina@aol.com, irfan@cisco.com (syed irfan ashraf), ahmedm@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (manan ahmed), progressive@nelofer.erum.com.pk (Progressive), irf@canadiana.com (Irfan Qureshi)

Dear readers,
After the posting of my article, 'The Truth about Iqbal', I met
with some requests for posting one of the letters written by Iqbal that I
referred to. The following is a reproduction in toto of a letter written
by Iqbal to the editor of the London Times, dated October 15, 1931. It is
indicative of the fact that Iqbal did NOT want a separate muslim nation
at the time, but merely a muslim majority province in the proposed Indian
Federation.

//
NORTH-WEST INDIA- MOSLEM PROVINCES
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES

Sir,-Writing in your issue of October 3 last, Dr. E. Thompson has
torn the following passage from its context in my presidential address to
the All-India Moslem League of last December, in order to serve as
evidence of "Pan-Islamic plotting":-
/I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province,
Sind, and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single State. Self-government
within the British Empire or without the British Empire, the formation of
a consolidated North-West Indian Moslem State appears to me to be the
final destiny of the Moslems, at least of North-West India./
May I tell Dr. Thompson that in this passage I do not put forward
a "demand" for a Moslem State outside the British Empire, but only a
guess at the possible outcome in the dim future of the mighty forces now
shaping the destiny of the Indian sub-continent. No Indian Moslem with
any pretence to sanity contemplates a Moslem State or series of States in
North-West India outside the British Commonwealth of Nations as a plan of
practical politics.
Although I would oppose the creation of another cockpit of
communal strife in the Central Punjab, as suggested by some enthusiasts, I
am all for a redistribution of India into provinces with effective
majorities of one community or another on lines advocated by the Nehru and
the Simon reports. Indeed, my suggestion regarding Moslem provinces merely
carries forward this idea. A series of contented and well-organized Moslem
provinces on the North-West Frontier of India would be the bulwark of
India and the British Empire against the hungry generations of the Asiatic
highlands.
Yours faithfully,
MUHAMMED IQBAL.
St. James's court, S.W.1, Oct. 10.//

I suggest that people interested make a copy of this article. One
thing that should be pointed out is when a 'STATE' is referred to ,it
does NOT mean an independent country/nation. The word 'STATE' is synonymous
with province. The rest I leave to your interpretation. One final thing.
Anyone wishing to peruse the text of the Nehru Report can look for the
following call number directly or via interlibrary loan (Library of Congress
Classification): JQ 215/1928/A7.

I am your sincerely,
Syed Ali Akbar Razavi (President)
-U of T Humanities Research Society
Malaysia organising conference on Iqbal

LAHORE (APP) -- The Institute for Policy Research, Malaysia,is organising an international
conference on poet philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal at Selangor from June 3 to 5.

The three-day conference will highlight the works and achievements of the poet of the East .

A four-member delegation of the Institute for Policy Research is currently visiting Pakistan to seek
the Government's help in procuring various works of Iqbal for display during the conference.

The delegation is led by Khalid Jaffar, Press Assistant to the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim,Raja Rajaratnam,N.V.Raman and Anwar Tahir who are all members of the
Research Institute.

Briefing the newsmen on Saturday, Rajaratnam said the Conference will be the second of the series
designed to highlight the accomplishments of the Asian scholars and intellectuals.

He said the title of the upcoming conference is 'Muhammad Iqbal and the Asian Renaissance.'

Rajaratnam said experts drawn from various countries will read papers on Iqbal and his
works.Some of the topics are Iqbal:Worldview,Metaphysics and Mysticism,Iqbal on
Reform,Justice,Polity & Ethnic Relations, Iqbal and the Muslim World,Iqbal:East,West and the
Renaissance.

He said the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been invited to deliver keynote address on the opening
day of the conference.

The Malaysian scholar disclosed that an exhibition will also be organised on the occasion, displaying
Allama Iqbal's publications, books, manuscripts and photographs.

Rajaratnam said Iqbal was a well known figure in his country especially among the Muslims and the
conference has been designed to project him as an Asian thinker in the East Asia.

' The occasion will provide an excellent opportunity for scholars from other countries to exchange