The Interrogatio

Allama Muhammad Iqbal 1877 (Sialkot, Punjab) – 1938 (Lahore, Punjab)



The bright sun is hidden, the night shows its face
The night's hair is spread on shoulders of the earth

This black dress is preparation for some one's mourning
Perhaps the Nature's assemblage for the sun is mourning

The sky is casting a spell over the talking lip
The night's magician is watching the awakened eye

The wind current is submerged in the river of silence
However, the tolling bell's sound comes from the distance

Heart which in love's turmoil is evading the world
Has dragged me here far from the maddening crowd

I am the spectator of the spectacle of disappointments
I am the associate of those sleeping in solitude's corner

O My restlessness! Wait and let me rest awhile
And let me shed a few tears at this habitation

O those steeped in a swoon, 'Where are you?
Tell me something of the land where you live

Is that world also one of prevarication?
Is that world also one of denizens' struggle?

Is Man engulfed by sorrow in that land also?
Is Man's heart suppressed and helpless in that land also?

Does the moth burn itself in candle's love in that land also?
Does the tale of flower and nightingale exist in that garden also?

In this world a single hemistich perturbs the heart
Does there also the warmth of verse soften the heart?

This world's relations and alliances life's woes are
Are similar sharp thorns present in that garden also?

The daily bread and a million calamities this world has
Does the soul freedom from anxieties in that world has?

Are the thunder, the farmer, the harvest there also?
Are the caravan and the robber's fear there also?

Do birds collect bits of straw for nests there also?
Is the search for bricks and clay for house there also?

Are the humans unaware of their reality there also? 1
Are they after nations' and customs' discrimination there also

Does garden not cry at the nightingale's wail there also?
Like this world is there no sympathy in that world also?

Does the Paradise a garden or a restful mansion constitute?
Or does the Eternal Beauty's Unveiled Face it constitute? 2

Does hell a method of burning away sins constitute?
Or it in flames of fire a way of discipline constitute?

Has walking given way to speedy flying in that world?
What is the secret of what is called death by denizens of this world?

Life eases the heart's restlessness in this world
Is human knowledge also restricted in that world?

Does the separated heart get satisfaction by sight there also?
Are 'Lan Tar

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:15 min read
48

Quick analysis:

Scheme XX AA XX BB CX XX XD XX DX EE EE FF GE HH EE EE EE EE II II CC CC EG
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 2,423
Words 437
Stanzas 23
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Allama Muhammad Iqbal

Muhammad Iqbal, known as Allama Iqbal, was a poet, philosopher, theorist, and barrister in British India. He is held as the national poet of Pakistan. He has been called the "Spiritual Father of Pakistan" for his contributions to the nation. Iqbal's poems, political contributions, and academic and scholarly research were distinguished. He inspired the Pakistan movement in Subcontinent and is considered a renowned figure of Urdu literature, although he wrote in both Urdu and Persian. Iqbal is admired as a prominent poet by Indians, Pakistanis, Iranians, Afghans, Bangladeshis and other international scholars of literature including the west. Though Iqbal is best known as a poet, he is also an acclaimed "Muslim philosophical thinker of modern times". His first poetry book, The Secrets of the Self, appeared in the Persian language in 1915, and other books of poetry include The Secrets of Selflessness, Message from the East and Persian Psalms. His best known Urdu works are The Call of the Marching Bell, Gabriel's Wing, The Rod of Moses and a part of Gift from Hijaz. Along with his Urdu and Persian poetry, his Urdu and English lectures and letters have been influential in cultural, social, religious and political discourses. In the 1922 New Year Honours, he was made a Knight Bachelor by King George V. While studying law and philosophy in England, Iqbal joined the London branch of the All-India Muslim League. During the League's December 1930 session, he delivered a speech, known as the Allahabad Address, in which he pushed for the creation of a Muslim state in north-west India. more…

All Allama Muhammad Iqbal poems | Allama Muhammad Iqbal Books

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