Adil Najam
To me, the 23rd of March is a day to reflect on the message of Mohammad Iqbal, just like the 14th of August is to ponder on the legacy of Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
We, as Pakistanis, have not really been kind to the legacy of either man. We turned both into idols. And once we convinced ourselves that these were ’supermen’ we conveniently absolved ourselves of the responsibility to learn from - let alone emulate - either. We are fond of celebrating but incapable of incorporating either the actions of Mr. Jinnah nor the thoughts of Mohammad Iqbal.
After all, once we turned Mr. Jinnah into the ‘Quaid-i-Azam’ and conferred near-divine status on him it became all too easy to say that we, mere mortals, could not be expected to act in the way - or even on the principles - that he did. His blemishes were to be denied, not just because we hold him in reverence but also because to acknowledge them is to accept that maybe ordinary - even flawed - human beings can stil have principles worth following. We have done the same to Iqbal. Because his the ‘the’ Allama, he is to be put on a pedestal. His work read with respect and honor; to be savored, but not really to be understood. Certainly not to be questioned, and absolutely not to be allowed to influence that we do. After all, he is an Allama; and we are not.
The Allama-ization of Iqbal, just like the Quaid-i-Azam-ization of Jinnah has been a disservice to both. For ultimately it has turned these two giants into mere statues; the iconography of the ‘Allama’ and the ‘Quaid’ have enabled us to turn them into dieties of reverence while at the same time distancing ourselves - if not outright disowning - the thought of the first and the actions of the later.
We at ATP have been rather remiss in not paying enough tribute to Mohammad Iqbal. This is a mistake I have been wanting to rectify. Today, the eve of Pakistan Day is a good time to begin doing so. The events and the idea behind the 23rd of March owes more to Iqbal than anyone else. And as a first offering of tribute to Iqbal I offer you this wonderful video. I found it on YouTube:
I do not really know who produced it although for some reason the voice sounds familiar. The selection of poetry as well as the pictures are excellent. Indeed, I wou urge you to focus on both. The pictures are not the ones you usually see of him and many of them evoke a humanness that is lost in many of our ‘official’ portraits on the man. But also focus on the ideas. This is a work less known that, say, Shikwa and Jawab i Shikwa, but it has ideas that are so contemporary that he may as well have been talking about the events of last week. For example:
anpay watan meiN houN kay ghareeb-ud-diyar houN
Darta houN daikh daikh kay iss dasht-o-dar ko meiN
Pervaiz Sahib, I can’t partly because a friend borrowed it from me about a year ago and it still hasn’t been returned. :) I also remember hearing something to this effect on tv recently from Javed Iqbal. Again no back. In no way I want to pick an argument (discourse i.e.) here given my very limited knowledge of Iqbal. You can correct me and I will take it.
On a seperate note I used to wonder why I never read Iqbal like I read other poets of urdu. The only reason I can come up with is that while growing up starting from age 6 we used to watch Qauid-e-Azam ne farmaya and a verse from Iqbal after khabarnama during Zia’s time.. and it had such a revulsion in me that I almost never opened any of his books in our collection. And this was despite my elders asking me to read him. While writing these lines I still feel a degree of suffocation remembering those times.
Sidhusaaheb:
In fact Iqbal has written two poems in that format. His poem selectively adopted in India, the one you are referring to, is titled “Tarana-e-Hindi” (Indian Anthem). It is from his pre 1905 period. His second poem titled “Tarana-e-Milli” (National Anthem), not taught to the Indian children, is from his post 1908 period and goes like this:
Chine-0-Arab hamra, Hindustan hamara.
Muslims hain, hum watan hain, sara jahan hamara.
The second poem reflects his thoughts on pan-Islamism. Now you know.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 3:12 pm
“My knowledge too is limited but I am afraid that is true, Akif. His son in a way alluded to this fact in his remarkable autobiography. That said, he had given his blind support to Jinnah and that meant something given his towering stature as a thinker (not an accurate translation of muffakir) and a poet of then India.”
Adnan Ahmad: Could you back up your statement with any quote from the autobiography of Justice Javed Iqbal.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 2:51 pm
“He was a brilliant poet but I never really understood his contribution towards the creation of Pakistan…….. I don’t pretend to know much about this topic but it always seemed to me that “Iqbal the Leaderâ€Â? was a creation of some one’s imagination long after Pakistan was created.”
Akif Nizam: Iqbal as Syed Ahmed Khan before him was the architect of the idea of Pakistan. He was at one time president of the All India Muslim League, the political party that fought for the Muslim rights and was ultimately responsible for the creation of Pakistan the state. Read his 1930 address at his party convention. There is a process of evolution from 1903 to 1947 in creation of Pakistan. At the end the Indian Congress was as much responsible in the creation of Pakistan as was Muslim League. If you are able to read his poetry and prose including speeches you will see the progression. Iqbal was much more than a poet of Urdu and Persian. He was a thinker, teacher, lawyer, philosopher, and inspiration for downtrodden. His total contribution towards literature, history and philosophy and in fact towards humanity goes well beyond Pakistan and India. If nothing else please read and understand his poetry. Like Faiz he is a political poet except he needs no apologizers. No one could minimize his contributions towards the awakening of the Indians in general and Indian Muslims in particular of the twentieth century.
I have been trying to read and understand Iqbal for sometime as it is as hard and twisting as his works…but one thing I have understood is his concept of ‘Self’ or ‘Self-realization’….I think Muslims of today’s world and on other note this concept of ‘Self’ is for entire humanity….discovering your true self and reaching to the heights of self awakening…..his teachings are a blessing in disguise for all of us. I am pasting few lines which he said to his son, Javaid Iqbal and indirectly to the Muslim youth:
Create a place for thyself in the world of love;
Create a new age, new days, and new nights.
If God grant thee an eye for nature’s beauty,
Converse with the silence of flowers; respond to their love.
Do not be beholden to the West’s artisans,
Seek thy sustenance in what thy land affords.
My ghazal is the essence of my life-blood,
Create thy elixir of life out ‘of this essence.
My way of life is poverty, not the pursuit of wealth;
Barter not thy Selfhood; win a name in adversity
This I found online I think better version then mine. I am cut & pasting it from a forum online.
”
wrote ibne insha..deep foresight indeed.
yeh konsa mulk hai?
yeh englistaan hai!
is main konsi qaum rehti hai?
is main englistani qaum rehti hai!
yeh konsa mulk hai?
yeh france hai!
is main konsi qaum rehti hai?
is main fransisi qaum rehti hai!
yeh konsa mulk hai?
yeh pakistan hai!
is main pakistani qaum rehti ho gi?
nahee.
is main bangali qaum rehti hai,
is main punjabi qaum rehti hai,
is main sindhi qaum rehti hai,
is main yeh qaum rehti hai,
is main woh qaum rehti hai.
Yeh sub qaumain to Hindustan main bhee rehti hain!
phir yeh alag mulk kyoon banaya?
ghalti ho gayee!
ainda nahee banaain gay!
“
I read this some where and Iqbal picture(the one in which he is thinking) reminds me of it. I think its from Ibn Insha’s book.
Person: Englistan may koon ray tay hain?
Ibn Insha: Angraiz qaum rayti hay.
Person: France may qaum ray tay hain?
Ibn Insha: Franceese qaum ray te hay?
Person: Pakistan may koon se qaum ray te hain?
Ibn Insha: Punjabi ray te hain
Sindhi ray te hain
Phaktoon ray te hain
Baloch ray te hain
Person: pir Pakistan kiyoon banayeh?
Ibn Insha: ghalti(mistake) hogai pir nahi
banahain gay
The father of the nation is the Quaid but the grandfather is certainly the Allama whose vision of a Muslim homeland created the second Madina.
I urge all my Pakistani brothers and sisters to fulfil the vision of this man. They can start by holding demonstrations against the sacking of the Chief Justice with a view to ridding us of a military regime.
Remember all great revolutions begin with students, yet I know of hardly any demonstations that our students have taken part in. It is now or never, Pakistan please wake up NOW!!!!!!!!!!!