Allama Iqbal’s Shikwa Translated (Part 1 of 2)
 By Dr. Zafar M. Iqbal
Chicago , IL

Allama Iqbal is not the first or the only Urdu-Persian philosopher-poet to be translated into English.  

When Iqbal’s Asrar-e-Khudi, his first work which was in Persian, was first published in 1915, it was translated five years later into English ("The Secrets of the Self") by the noted Orientalist, R. A. Nicholson.  When, to complement Asrar, Iqbal produced “ Rumuz-e-Bay-Khudi" (1918)  again in Persian, it was translated into English in 1953 as "The Mysteries of Selflessness: A Philosophical Poem" by A. J. Arberry, a student of R. A. Nicholson.  Arberry also translated Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa (from Bang-Dara,1924) as ‘Complaint and Answer’. It was perhaps Altaf Husain who had translated these verses earlier (1943).  There have been other translators of Iqbal, with Victor Kiernan’s in 1955 among the early efforts.

 No translation conveys and offers you everything from the original language; none is as good to those who speak or are familiar with the original. We cannot ignore Robert Frost’s caution: “Poetry is what gets lost in translation.”

What a translation achieves is to drag the original across the linguistic borders, and how does a piece survive the trek depends on how much of the original do the speakers of other language do get out of it. We can only hope every effort adds something to the growing understanding and appreciation of other linguistic culture and what it has to offer.

 That said,  here’s my own effort in that direction:

Allama Iqbal’s Shikwa  :  Translated by Dr. Zafar M. Iqbal

Why must I forever be the loser,

forego the benefits,

not worry about tomorrow,

and remain consumed by the past?

 

Why must I listen to

A wailing nightingale and

be not moved?  

Friends, am I just a flower

to remain  silent ?

 

I have a voice, unafraid,

and I have -- woe is me --

a complaint

against God !

 

-----

 

It’s true we are known for

our obedience to You;

we tell You our grievance

because we feel we must.

 

There’s no music,

we’re full of grief;  if that grief

comes to our lips, it’s because

we can’t hold it in, anymore.

 

O God, listen to the complaint

by  Your faithful servants;

We already offer you hymns,

now listen also to some of our grief.

 

-----

 

You are omnipresent

from eternity;

flowers adorned the garden

but there was no breeze.

 

O God, the Magnanimous,

be fair:

How could the fragrance waft

if there’s  no breeze?

 

About us and our people,

we were a bit worried,

although  we loved

Your favorite Messenger.

 

-----

 

Before us, the world

was very different:

some worshipped the stone,

some trees.

 

Used to believing what

we see,

how could  we believe in

You, the unseen?

 

Do You know who recited

Your name then?  Only by the will

and strength of Muslims,

was Your work done here?

 

-----

 

There were Turkish and Irani tribes,

 in the world then,

the Chinese ruled  China; 

the Sassanians, Persia.

 

In the same world

lived the Greek,

the Jews and

the Christians.

 

But who

took up arms for You ?

Who straightened out

the things in ruin?

 

 

-----

 

We were the only ones

who fought so hard for You,

some time on the land,

some time on the rivers.

 

We  called for prayers

in the Churches of Europe,

some time in

hot African deserts.

 

Least impressed by

the regal grandeur and power, 

we kept praying to You

under the shadows of swords..

 

-----

 

We lived for the rigors

of the battles,

died for the majestic glory

of Your name.

 

We didn’t raise our swords

to rule the world;

Did we risk our lives in this world

 just for money ?

 

If our people were keen only

in the world’s wealth, why didn’t  they 

sell those idols (of gold) 

instead of  smashing them?

 

-----

 

In a war, 

we never  wavered

or  retreated,  though tigers

would have panicked.

 

When someone disobeyed you,

we were enraged.

Sword is nothing, we threw

ourselves at the canons.

 

We stamped every heart

with Your  ‘One-ness’;

Even under the sword,

we spread this message.

 

------

 

Tell us who overcame

the Khyber Pass  ? [1]

Who destroyed

the capital of Roman empire ? [2]

 

Who demolished

the idols created by  humans ?

Who cut down

the armies of non-believers?

 

Who put out

the fires in Iranian altars ? [3]

Who resurrected

Your  faded but eternal name [4] ?

 

---------

 

Who  else desired

any one but You

and took the trouble

to fight for You?

 

Whose sword  began

to rule the world?

Whose policies

Re-awakened Your world ?

 

Whose fear kept

 the idols quiet?

Falling on their faces

who used to recite God is One ? [5]

 

------

 

When during the battle came

the time to pray, people of Hejaz [6]

kissed the ground

facing the Ka’aba,  [7]

 

In one line stood

Mahmud and Ayaz [8]

side by side:  no  slave,

no Master !

 

The lowly and the high,

the needy and the rich

were not different – In Your

presence,  both  equal!

 

------

 

In the halls of the world

we circulated among people,

night and day, like glasses filled

with Faith’s wine.

 

In the hills and the deserts

we carried Your message.

Do You recall if we

ever failed  to spread  Your message ?

 

Let alone the deserts, we didn’t

forget the rivers.

In the ocean of darkness

we marched in, with our galloping horses.

 

 

-------

 

We erased lies from

the pages of  the world,

We rescued the humanity

from the chains of  slavery.

 

Your Ka’aba’s ground, [7]

we filled with our foreheads..

We clutched Your Quran

close to  our chests.

 

Still You complain

we are not faithful to You.

If  You say we aren’t faithful,

You haven’t shown us Your love,  either.

 

-------

 

There are other Faiths, and in them are also

the sinners, the humble, the conceited,

the lazy, the ignorant, the wise, and there are

hundreds  even tired of Your name.

 

On others,

You shower mercy and kindness;

Only the poor Muslims are struck by

Your lightning.

 

------

 

Idols in the temples say

the Muslims are gone.

They are happy that

the guardians of Ka’aba have left.

 

Stations of the world say

the caravans of camels

are gone,  with their Quran

under arm.

 

Such sneering is taboo,

do You understand this or not?

Do You have any regard for

You being the ‘One-and-Only’ God?  [9]

 

------

 

This is not a complaint :

those whose coffers are full

don’t even have the manners

to converse in a society.

 

Alas, the unbelievers receive

Houris and Palaces [10]

and the poor Muslims must

live only on  promises.

 

No longer Your favors and

Your benevolence for us!

How strange, Your old ways

have disappeared too ! 

 

 

Notes:

 

[1]   Khyber, a historical, strategic location, and a  Mountain Pass (Over 3,510 ft Alt.)  that links Pakistan and Afghanistan, and a critical control point in an important trade route between South Asia and Central Asia.

[2]  Rome

[3]  Zoroaster / Zarathustra began the religion of Zoroastrianism in old Persia, of which the fire altar was an important symbol.

[4]  Yuzdaan:  for  divine or God

 [5]   Arabic phrase used:  La-hoo Allah-ul-Ahad    

 [6]  Hejaz, a Western region in  present-day Saudi Arabia.  Main cities in this region are Jeddah, Mecca and Medina.  Hejaz  represents Islam's holy places, and people of Hejaz, Muslims.

[7]  Muslims, guardians of Ka’aba in Mecca,  the most sacred place in Islam.  It is toward Mecca’s direction, Muslim around the world  face for prayers, 5 times a day. It ‘s in Ka’aba, the Muslims gather for Hajj pilgrimage ceremonies. 

 [8]   Ayaz was  a  Tukic slave, devoted  to King Mahmud of Ghazni.

 [9]   ‘Tawheed’: The basic concept of Allah’s  ‘oneness’, ‘singularity’ and ‘uniqueness’ (with no  sharing  that position / concept)

 [10]  In Islam, the Hoor / Houri are described as beautiful female companions in Paradise where the good, ‘God-loving’  Muslim are believed to  go after death.

(To be continued)


 

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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