Zindagi : Allama Iqbal’s Poem Translated by
Dr Mahjabeen Islam

I’ve always felt that the majority of great Urdu poets of old spun out their work in the midst of a major depression. They are wonderful to read when you’re lonely or going through a rough patch. Sadness sometimes has to go through that wallowing, immersive phase and Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir and Daagh Dehlavi to name a few, validate your grief.  

Years ago, I approached Allama Iqbal’s poetry with the same mindset, only to find that he is motivational, logical and upbeat. The only barrier in reading him is his profound philosophy, and dense language, which require close study and interpretation.  

Fortunately for us we have an Allama Iqbal class every Sunday at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, and it is essentially a spiritual and emotional rejuvenation that we go through afterwards. One of his poems Zindagi, is my mainstay.   And I translated it and read it and remind myself of it, both when things are great and especially when life turns tough. It is quite the tonic, you will agree.  

Zindagi

Life            

Bar tar az andesha-e-sood-o-ziyaan hai zindagi

Hai kabhi jaan aur kabhi taslim-e-jaan hai zindagi

Life is beyond the concern for gain and loss

At times it is living at others it is sacrifice

 

Tu isey paimanaey imroz o farda say na naap

Javidaan paiham dawaan har dam jawaan hai zindagi

Don’t measure it with the mundane passage of day and morrow

Life is eternal; it is in perpetual motion and forever youthful

 

Apni dunya aap paida kar agar zindoan main hai

Sirr-e-adam hai zameer-e-kun fakan hain zindagi

Create your own unique world if you are among the truly alive

The secret of being human is to reflect the Divine essence: “be and it is”

 

Zindagani ki haqeeqat kohkan key dil sey pooch

Joo-e-sheer or teeshaey sang-o-giraan hai zindagi

Ask Farhad, the mountain digger, what the reality of life really is

Life is creating the river of milk by digging and pulverizing granite

 

Bandagi mein ghut ke reh jati hai ik joo-e-kam aab

Aur azadi mein behrey bai karaan hai zindagi

Enslavement strangles you like a static stream which grows toxic

And a life of true freedom acquires the quality of a limitless ocean

 

Aashkara hai yeh apni quwatey taskheer sey

Garchey ik mitti kay paikar mein nihaan hai zindagi

Humans manifest themselves with their power to conquer

Even though life remains latent within the structure of clay

 

Qulzamey hasti sey tu ubhra hai manind-e-hubab

Is ziyan-khaney mein tera imtihaan hain zindagi

You have surfaced from the ocean of life like a bubble

The mortal universe is a test for life to move beyond it

 

Khaam hai jab tak to hai mitti ka ik ambar tu

Pukhta ho jaey to hai shamsheer-e-bey zinhaar tu

Undeveloped, you are but a mound of clay

Self-developed you become a fearless blade

 

Ho sadaqat key liye jis dil mein marney ki tarap

Pehley apney paikar-e-khaki mein jaan paida karey

If one’s heart is burning to sacrifice for the sake of integrity

Then one must first create  life  in one’s own embodiment of clay

 

Phoonk daley ye zameen-o-asmaaney musta’ar

Aur khakistar sey aap apna jahan paida karey

Discard borrowed existence and throw away false glory  

And then create your own unique world from the ground up

 

Zindagi ki quwat-e-pinhaan ko kar dey aashkar

Taa ye chingari farogh-e-jawidaan paida karey

Make the power of inner life rise and manifest

Till this spark creates an everlasting momentum

 

Khaak-e-mashriq par chamak jaaye misaal-e-aftab

Taa Badakhsaan phir koi laal-e-giraan paida karey

Like the sun, brighten the horizon of the East

Till Badakhsaan produces those rare rubies (Muslims) again

 

Soo-e-gardoon nala-e-shabgeer ka bhejey safeer

Raat key taaroan mein apney raazdaan paida karey

Send your emissaries of lamentation to the heavens in the late night

And make the stars your confidantes  

 

Yeh ghari mehshar ki hai tu arsa-e-mehshar mein hai

Paish kar ghafil amal koi agar daftar mein hai

This is a moment of reckoning and you are in an apocalypse

Present deeds if you have any in the record of your lifetime

(Mahjabeen Islam MD FAAFP FASAM is an addiction and family physician practicing in Toledo, Ohio.  mahjabeen.islam@gmail.com )