Dr Allama Iqbal, The Poet of the East

Most of us, Urdu and Persian poetry lovers or others, have read Allama Muhammed Iqbal at least some of him somewhere. To many he remained hard-to-understand philosopher poet and highly sophisticated philosopher. Iqbal has written pure poetry and prose too which is equally remarkable. Urdu poetry lovers find his poetry the most interesting, most intriguing and most touching. It leaves an indelible mark on reader's mind.
Dr Iqbal (1877 – 1938) was a Persian and Urdu poet, philosopher and visionary of Indian sub-continent. He is considered spiritual father of Pakistan and is recognized as the national poet of Pakistan. November 9, his birthday is a national holiday in the country.
Many non-literary people would recognize him for his famous and popular poem ‘Taraana-e-Hind’

“Saaray jahaan se acha Hindustan hamara” - Better than the whole wide world is our India.

I vitalize Iqbal’s style also his gift for conciseness and frugality. Some of Iqbal’s poetry is very much in the usual sense. Looks like the great influence of traditional style of poetry exercised over Iqbal's mind. This appeals to the lighter mood where simplicity combined with reasonable depth. Isn't it beautiful?

"Gharz nishat hay shughel-e-sharab se jin ke
halal cheez ko goya haram kartay hain
bhala nibhay ge teri hum se kyonkar ay waez
ke hum tu rasm-e-mohabbet aam kartay hain
ju be-namaz kabhi parthay hain namaz Iqbal
bula ke deer se mujh ku imam kartay hain"

Iqbal was a philosopher poet, not a pure poet and he freely borrowed ideas from different schools and systems in accordance with the demand of his poetry. One of them is the transformation of Nietzsche's Ubermensch into 'shaheen' and 'mard-e-mouman'. But these symbols carry Iqbal's very own colour. Borrowing ideas does not mean that his thoughts are incoherent or entirely visionary, in point of fact his poetry is a historic product rooted in the intellectual climate of an age which witnessed the Indian war of independence and new era for Muslims of India. To write about the regeneration of the Muslim nation in such an age was by no means a quixotic venture.

“Tha zabt boht mushkil iss sail-e-ma'ani ka
keh dalay qalander nay asrar-e-ketab akhir”

The couplet above is a typical Iqbal-type. Those who read Iqbal's poetry at once recognize in him a devout and ardent Muslim/Easterner defending the Islamic and oriental values against the supremacy of Western culture. He certainly moralises his 'songs' and he succeeds proving true to what he advocates mostly in his poetry. But Iqbal has other 'colours' too. In Iqbal's poetry I have noted that Iqbal imitated Akbar Allahabadi's style of writing. Iqbal's couplets written in comic sense show influence of Akbar in the meaning of the themes, words, the syntax, and even the division of sentences. I personally believe that if this sort of poetry had been written entirely in a different style it would have been a failure as a poetry and if had been written in Iqbal's own style it would have lacked the 'desperate sense of humour 'necessary for making it worth reading. Please see..

"Shaikh saheb bhe tu parday ke koi hami nahe
mufta main college kay larkay unn se badzan hogayay
wa'az main farma diya kal aap nay yeh saaf saaf
"Parda akhir kis se ho jab mard he zan hogayay"

There is an abundance of humour and fun in Akbar's poetry and yet this is another ingredient by which Akbar added novelty to the classical poetry of his time. Iqbal succeeded in establishing the similar tone but obviously could not apply Akbar's elevated style to the trivial subjects which make the poetry humourous and elegant at the same time, though we do recognize the grand style as having a mock-serious motive whereas he too used vivid and startling language which is colloquial rather than conventional. Fortunately, yes fortunately this style of poetry did not work for Iqbal as it did for Akbar. And, this led Iqbal work on his own style and colours.

Iqbal achieved his effects largely through the generalization of his descriptions working on the readers’ sensitivity to the religion and union being one nation. If we object Iqbal's poetry consists of all the obvious ideas of Islam, and thoughts enveloped in a characteristic atmosphere of philosophy then we are recognizing his symbolic appropriateness, which is at its best and beautifully sustained at every point in his poetry. He avoided the smooth easy pattern of most of his predecessors e.g. Daagh Dehlvi, Ameer Meenai etc. and his contemporaries preferring to arrest attention rather than to lull the senses. His poet ‘Aql-o-Dil - Intellect and Heart’ is a classic piece of literary work:

“One day Intellect said to the heart
A guide to the misguided ones I am
Being on the earth I reach up to the sky
Look, how deep in comprehension I am
Interpreter of the book of life I am
The Manifestation of God's Glory I am
Hearing this the heart said, All this is true
But look at me as well, what I am
You understand the secrets of life
But seeing them with my own eyes I am
Concerned with the manifest order you are
And acquainted with the inward I am
Learning is from you, but Divine Knowledge is from me
You only seek Divinity, but showing Divinity I am"

He is essentially a philosopher poet whose primary concern is purposefulness.

"Main sh'er kay asraar se mahram nahe lakin
ye nukta hay tareekh umam jis ke hay tafseel
wo sh'er ke paigham hayat-e-abdi hay
ya naghma-e-Jibraeel hay ya baang-e-Israfeel"

His poetry is inspired by religious thoughts, philosophical conceptions and the role assigned to the human spirit in the great drama of existence. He directs his readers to where to look for the truth. Iqbal is aware of the clash between the old and the new, the world of faith and the world of reason and the clash between the civilisations. He combined this with two elements; the fantastic in form and style and the 'incongruous' in matter and manner.

I read somewhere a quote of Abdul Rehman Bajnoori that there are two divine books of India: The holy Vedas and Diwaan-e-Ghalib. Certainly Iqbal as a poet is the greatest after the mighty Ghalib, and as a thinker and philosopher among the very greatest. His poetry is pure inspiration, a thing of lightness, melody and grace. His ideas are incomparable. He remains a philosopher poet, the greatest that sub-continent or perhaps the modern East has produced. There is no doubt that Iqbal's poems represent the highest achievement of philosophical poetry.

"Youn daad-e-sukhn mujh ko daitay hain Iraq-o-Paras
ye kaafir hindi hay be-teegh-o-sanan khoon raiz"