(Iqbal Lahoori and His Message to the Mankind)
How can a poet be relevant to the present world, who was born in the nineteenth century and departed in the first half of the twentieth century. This is a natural question. Before coming to a direct answer of this question we have to see what does a poet say. In other words, we have to know what is poetry all about ?
The subject matter of poetry is the same as that of all global literature. What is the subject matter of literature? The subject matter of literature, philosophy and all the spiritual books is one i.e: man and his life. If the subject matter of man and life is relevant to the present world, and this can not be denied, then Iqbal’s poetry and his philosophical thoughts are also relevant to the present world. This is one dimension of the relationship of Iqbal’s thought with us.
Muhammad Iqbal was born on 9 November 1877 in Sialkot, British India (now in Pakistan ) . His father Sheikh Noor Muhammad was a poor and self contented person. Iqbal received his initial education in Arabic and Persian from Maulvi Syed Meer Hassn, who was a devoted teacher and friend of his father. He passed his Matriculation and Intermediate from the Scotch Mission School and College Sialkot. For the Graduation, he took admission to the famous Government College, Lahore (now university) in 1895. He did his Masters in Philosophy from the same college in 1899. He then entered his practical life in 1899 with serving as Macleod Arabic Reader at the Oriental College of the Punjab University. He also taught Philosophy and English at the Government College, Lahore. He, however, still wished to learn more and therefore went to London for further studies in 1905. He stayed in London and Germany till 1908 and received his PhD degree in Philosophy by writing his thesis on ‘ The Development of Metaphysics in Persia’ . He did his Bar At Law from the Lincoln’s Inn. After returning from London he taught at the Government College, Lahore as Professor in Philosophy. He also practiced law at the Lahore High Court till 1934.
Side by side Iqbal also served his nation as a practical politician. He was elected as Member Punjab Legislative Council in 1926 and President of All India Muslim League in 1930. As President of All India Muslim League, he delivered his famous Allahabad address in which he presented the idea of a separate Muslim state in the subcontinent. Resultantly Islamic Republic of Pakistan came into being on 14 August 1947.
In his life Iqbal proved himself a dynamic person by traveling widely. His travels to Europe for studies have already been mentioned. In 1931 and 1932 he visited London for representing the Indian Muslims in the Round Table Conferences convened by British Government. In 1933 he visited Afghanistan upon an invitation from king Nadir Shah. He also traveled to Bhopal for his medical treatment. Iqbal breathed his last on 21 April 1938.
چورخت خویش بربستم ازین دیر
ہمہ گفتند باماآشنا بود
ولیکن کس ندانست این مسافر
چہ گفت وباکہ گفت وازکجابود
Choo Rakht e Kheesh Bar Bastam Azeen Daier
Hame Guftand Ba Ma Aashna Bood
Walaikin Kas Na danist Aeen Musafir
Che Guft o Ba ke Guft o Az Kuja Bood
(Translation of Persian verse: Upon my departure from this world, all said we knew him. confront all difficulties, generate novel ambitions, and conquer the world with will and courage. Iqbal provides a new philosophical premise to the concept of selfhood. In his book Asrar-eKhudi, Iqbal has presented an order for the training of selfhood comprising three stages.
The first stage is Ita’at (obedience) while leading his life, man should be obedient to his Creator so that his weakness turns into power
دراطاعت کوش ای غفلت شعار
می شودازجبرپیدااختیار
Dar Ita’at Kaush Ae Ghaflat Shia’ar
Mee Shawad Az Jabr Paida Ikhtiar
(Translation of Persian verse: O ignorant man! be obedient [to God] , so that as a reward for this obligation, you are endowed with the wealth of authority)
The second stage is that of Zabt e Nafs (self control) in this stage man conquers the worldly things by acquiring control on himself as otherwise he would have to be subservient to the world.
When a man successfully completes these two stages, he is granted the elevated position of being God’s caliph. About this caliph of God, Iqbal says:
نوع انسان مزرع و توحاصلی
کاروان زندگی رامنزلی
Nao e Insan Mazra’ o Too Hasili
Karwan e Zindagi Ra Manzili
(Translation of Persian verse: The humanity is a crop, the fruit of which is the person who trains himself to the extent of attaining the status of God’s caliph. In fact this very person is the end product of life’s caravan.)
After the training in selfhood, Iqbal wants man to devote himself for the collective interest of the nation. He names this stage as the ‘Be khudi’. بے خودی
Iqbal wants to make man a strong and productive member of society by his training. He wants the man to have qualities of a Qalandar,which would make him a true Muslim with all the noble qualities of a human being. For him, the greatest achievement for a person is to become a ‘complete man’. Only a ‘complete man’ can steer the marooned convoy of humanity to its destination. In one of his letters Iqbal wrote about this concept in the following words:
“According to me every person who has completed all the stages of training in selfhood, is the ‘complete man’ ”
Iqbal believes that the humanity has to depend upon the creative powers of man for progress. Creative powers of a person or a society have the pivotal importance in human life. In his view, man is different from the other creatures because of his creative gift. His creativeness gives him respect and reliability in the universe. In order to restore the confidence of humanity with regard to human values, it is necessary to brighten the darkness of materialism with sincerity and respect. On 1 January 1935, Iqbal, in his radio message of New Year, said :
“The secret to human survival is in the respect for humanity. Until the intellectual forces focus their attention on the lesson of respecting humanity, this world will continue to be a place of beasts.”
Basically, Iqbal is an artist. He has presented all these thoughts in a very artistic manner. Iqbal has presented this concept in his poem ‘ Fanon-e- Lateefa’ فنون لطیفہ
which is included in his book ‘Zarb-e-Kaleem’ضرب کلیم
In this poem Iqbal has elaborated his concept of art. According to him, art reflects the beauty of human life. The only desirable art is the one which is meant for the service of humanity. In Iqbal’s opinion, beauty means a combination of fury and prettiness. An art which makes the hearts dead and the minds dull, is completely undesirable. It is important that the art should either be the Naghma-e- Jibrail The Melody (or Song) of Gabriel or the Bang-e-Israfeel,The Trumpet Call of Israfeel (or Raphael) Iqbal’s art is a true representative of this concept.
Professor Dr. Zahid Munir Amir is a distinguished scholar specializing in the writings of “Allama Muhammad Iqbal” and currently the Chairperson of Urdu & Pakistan Studies Chair at the Faculty of Literature & Humanities at the University of Tehran, Iran. Prof. Dr. Zahid Munir has a PhD in Oriental and Urdu Literature from the University of Punjab, Pakistan, and has a vast experience at various faculties in Pakistan and abroad, including being Chairperson of Urdu and Pakistan Studies at the Al Azhar University, Cairo. He is the author of over 60 books in Urdu, English, Arabic and Persian.
