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)
