Iqbal’s Heidelberg; Heidelberg’s Iqbal

Posted on April 15, 2010
Filed Under >Fawad, History, People, Travel
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Fawad

For a few years now I have worked for a European company headquartered near Heidelberg in Germany so I have had an opportunity to visit this lovely, historic city several times. Heidelberg is a beautiful town located on the banks of the river Neckar which originates in the Black Forest and flows into the river Rhine only 12 miles northwest of the city.

But before I had ever been to Heidelberg, the city was associated in my mind with the great poet-philosopher Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. And so, my recent trips to Heidelberg have turned into opportunities to think more about the German philosophical influences on Allama Iqbal. When visiting Heidelberg, I have occasionally tried to retrace Iqbal’s steps. I have wandered the halls of the philosophy department at the University of Heidelberg where he studied.

Normally I stay at the Marriott Hotel in Heidelberg and “Iqbal Ufer,” the street honoring the great poet, is right across from that hotel and a constant reminder of the philosopher-poet’s years of association with this city. “Ufer” means river bank in German and this location is right on the river Neckar. ATP has done a post about this location in the past.

However a colleague of mine, knowing my interest in Iqbal, just sent me a couple of rare photographs (below) of the house where Iqbal lived in Heidelberg and where a sandstone plaque from 1966 acknowledges the historic landmark.

The plaque reads:

Mohammad Iqbal
1877 – 1938
National Philosopher, Poet and Spiritual Father of Pakistan lived here in the year 1907

This honorary plaque was displayed on September 16th, 1966 by the minister of cultural affairs of the state of Baden Wuerttemberg Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Hahn in the presence of His Excellency the Ambassador of Pakistan Abdurrahman Khan and the 1st mayor of the city of Heidelberg, Georg Klemm.

Iqbal left Bombay for London by ship in September 1905 to attend Cambridge University. He enrolled at Trinity College and eventually received a B.A degree. From Cambridge, Iqbal went to Germany to pursue a Ph.D in Philosophy and studied in Heidelberg and Munich. It seems amazing but the exact chronology of Iqbal’s stay in Germany has not been established. Most likely he was in Germany during 1906 and 1907. Sometime in 1907, under the supervision of Professor Dr. Friedrich Hommel, Iqbal submitted his Ph.D thesis titled “The Development of Metaphysics in Persia” to the Ludwig Maximilians University at Munich and was granted a doctorate.

There is a fascinating piece written by M.A.H. Hobohm called “Muhammad Iqbal and Germany” in which he provides some wonderful details of Iqbal’s stay in Heidelberg. This essay is worth reading in its entirety.

Iqbal stayed for some time in the “Pension Scherer” which was a boarding house for foreign students. At this boarding house Miss Emma Wegenast was Iqbal’s German language tutor. Iqbal corresponded with Fraulein Wegenast for several years after returning to Lahore. Hobohm has copies of 27 such letters which includes 2 postcards and this collection reveals Iqbal’s fondness for his former tutor but also his love for German literary culture and his affection for Heidelberg. Hobohm provides some wonderful quotes from the letters:

“Here it is: Fraulein Wegenast, that is Goethe, Heine, Kant and Schopenhauer, it is Heidelberg, the Neckar, Germany — it is those happy days!”

“It is impossible for me to forget your beautiful country where I have learned so much. My stay in Heidelberg is nothing now but a beautiful dream. How I’d wish I could repeat it!”

“I’d wish I could see you once more at Heidelberg or Heilbronn whence we shall together make a pilgrimage to the sacred grave of the great master Goethe.”

As with all great literary voices it is always most fitting to end with their own words. After my first visit to Heidelberg I searched Kuliyat-e-Iqbal to see if there was any lasting trace of Heidelberg in Iqbal’s poetry. I found the nazm “Aik Shaam” in “Bang-e-Dara.” The sub-heading says, “Darya-e-Neckar (Heidelberg) ke kinare par.” This is a poem of ambiance and conjures a lovely atmosphere in which the poet standing at the edge of the river at night experiences a calm and peaceful communion with nature. It is not until the powerful last verse when an inner turmoil and sadness is suddenly hinted at, revealing the heart of the poet at odds with his serene surroundings.

Aik Shaam
(Darya-e-Neckar (Heidelberg) ke kinare par)

Khamosh hai chandni qamar ki
ShaakheiN haiN khmosh har shajar ki

Waadi ke nawa farosh khamosh
Kohsaar ke sabz posh khamosh

Fitrat behosh ho gai hai
Aaghosh maiN shab ke so gayee hai

Kuch aisa sakoot ka fasooN hai
Neckar ka kharam bhi sakooN hai

TaaroN ka khmosh kaarvaaN hai
Yeh kafila be dara rawaN hai

Khamosh haiN koh-o-dasht-o-darya
Qudrat hai muraqbe maiN goya

Aye dil! tu bhi khmosh ho ja Aaghosh maiN gham ko lay ke so ja

Fawad blogs at Moments of Tranquility, where this post was first published.

20 responses to “Iqbal’s Heidelberg; Heidelberg’s Iqbal”

  1. Adnan Ahmad says:

    @Nusrat Pasha, A fine comment indeed. Just the other day a gentleman kept on going on Iqbaliaat and I remembering an argument from a distant past questioned midway saying bhai sahib can you give me a line of Iqbal that defines Tauheed; after some thought he went khudi ka surr-e-nihaan.. I said no sir a line that ‘defines’ Tauheed rather than stating Kalima.. he was blank.. at that point I quoted Ghalib ‘the insaan parast shair’ with ‘hum muwahid hein hamara kashe he tark-e-rusoom..’

    But Iqbal’s poetry gives a high of its own and it is indeed unique.

    wohi meri kamnaseebi
    wohi teri beniaazi
    meray kaam kuch naa ayaa
    ye kamal-e-nenanwazi

    mein kahan hoon- tu kahan hey
    yeh maka’n ke laamaka’n hey
    yeh jahan mera jahan hey ya teri karishmasaazi

    issi kashmakash mein guzrein
    meri zindagi ki raatein
    kabhi soz-o-saaze Rumi
    kabhi paich-o- taabe Raazi

  2. Nusrat Pasha says:

    Essentially, Iqbal belongs to the world of literature and commands considerable respect in both Persian and Urdu poetry. If he had been allowed to rest in peace, it would have been a true tribute to him. The greatest wrong done to him was that he was for political purposes, exalted to sainthood posthumously.

    All good poets are philosophers and so was Iqbal. However, in all fairness, among the asaataza or pioneers, Iqbal could positively not be ranked with poets like Mir, Ghalib and Dagh. Among the more contemporary ones, we see that inspite of Iqbal’s being state-sponsored, poets like Faiz, Insha and Faraz command, if not more, no less respect.

    Along the timeline, Iqbal’s portrayal as “musawwir-e-Pakistan” happens to coincide with Pakistan’s drift towards a pro-theocracy path. This sadly, was a wrong done to him.

    Iqbal should best be remembered for his rich contributions to Urdu and Persian literature.

  3. Adam Insaan says:

    In accordance with the spirit of Heidelberg ;

    Nur will Ich Sagen , ganz gut.

  4. adeel says:

    the poem at the end is very beautiful!

  5. Haider says:

    Iqbal WAS a liberal. In the real terms of the word. I think if yo are a Mslim (i.e., NOT a mullah) then you are a liberal by definition. The cruelist thing that happened to Iqbal, to Pakistan and to Islam itself was the invention of the mullah.

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