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Muhammad Iqbal

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Muhammad Iqbal, see Muhammad Iqbal (disambiguation).
Allama
Muhammad Iqbal
‫محمد اقبال‬

Iqbal in 1933
Born 9 November 1877
Sialkot, Punjab, British India
Died 21 April 1938 (aged 60)
Lahore, Punjab Province, British India
Resting place Mazar-e-Iqbal, Lahore
Nationality British subject
Other names ‫حکیم االمت‬
Alma mater
Scotch Mission College (FA)
Government College (BA, MA)
University of Cambridge (BA)
University of Munich (PhD)
Occupations
Philosopherauthorpolitician
Notable work Bang-e-Dara, Tarana-e-Milli, The Secrets of the Self, The Secrets
of Selflessness, Message from the East, Persian Psalms, Javid Nama, Sare Jahan se
Accha
Children 6
Institutions Jamia Millia Islamia (co-founder)
Thesis The Development of Metaphysics in Persia (1908)
Doctoral advisor Fritz Hommel
Language
UrduPersianEnglish, Punjabi
Main interests
Urdu literaturePersian poetryIslamic historyIslamic revival
Notable ideas Allahabad Address (1930)
Signature

Muhammad Iqbal (Punjabi: ‫محمد اقبال‬, pronounced [mʊɦəmməd ɪqbaːl]; 9 November 1877 –
21 April 1938) was a Muslim philosopher,[1] Urdu and Persian-language poet,[2]
author,[3] and politician.[4] His poetry is considered to be among the greatest of
the 20th century,[5][6][7][8] and his vision of a cultural and political ideal for
the Muslims of South Asia[9] is widely regarded as having animated the impulse for
the Pakistan Movement.[1][10] He is commonly referred to by the honourific Allama
(Persian: ‫عالمه‬, transl. "learned").[11][12]

Born and raised in Sialkot, Punjab, in an ethnic Kashmiri family, Iqbal completed
his BA and MA at the Government College in Lahore. He taught Arabic at the Oriental
College in Lahore from 1899 until 1903. During this time, he wrote prolifically.
Among his Urdu poems from this time that remain popular are Parinde ki Faryad
(transl. "A Bird's Prayer"), an early meditation on animal rights, and Tarana-e-
Hindi (transl. "Anthem of India"), a patriotic poem—both composed for children. In
1905, he left India to pursue higher education in Europe, first in England and then
in Germany. In England, he completed a second BA at Trinity College, Cambridge, and
was subsequently called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. In Germany, he received a PhD
in philosophy at the University of Munich, having developed his thesis The
Development of Metaphysics in Persia in 1908. After returning to Lahore in 1908,
Iqbal established a law practice, but largely concentrated on writing scholarly
works on politics, economics, history, philosophy, and religion. He is best-known
for his poetic works, including: Asrar-e-Khudi, after whose publication he was
awarded British knighthood;[13] Rumuz-e-Bekhudi; and Bang-e-Dara. His literary
works in the Persian language earned him an audience in Iran, where he is commonly
referred to as Iqbal-e Lahori (lit. 'Iqbal of Lahore').

Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of the Muslim
world as a whole, but particularly of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent; a
series of lectures he delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction
of Religious Thought in Islam in 1930. He was elected to the Punjab Legislative
Council in 1927 and held a number of positions in the All-India Muslim League. In
his Allahabad Address, delivered at the League's annual assembly in 1930, he
formulated a political framework for the Muslim-majority regions spanning
northwestern India, spurring the League's pursuit of the Two-Nation Theory.[9] In
August 1947, nine years after Iqbal's death, the partition of India gave way to the
establishment of Pakistan, a newly independent Islamic state in which Iqbal was
honoured as the national poet. He is also known in Pakistani society as Hakeem-ul-
Ummat (lit. 'The Wise Man of the Ummah') and as Mufakkir-e-Pakistan (lit. 'The
Thinker of Pakistan'). The anniversary of his birth (Yom-e Weladat-e Muḥammad
Iqbal), 9 November, is observed as a public holiday in Pakistan.

Biography
Background
Iqbal's mother, Imam Bibi who died on 9 November 1914. Iqbal expressed his feeling
of pathos in a poetic form after her death.
Iqbal was born on 9 November 1877 in a Punjabi-speaking Kashmiri[14] family from
Sialkot in the Punjab Province of British India (now in Pakistan).[15] His family
traced their ancestry to Kashmiri Pandits (of the Sapru clan) who converted to
Islam in the 15th century[16] and were from a south Kashmiri village in Kulgam.[17]
Iqbal conversed only in Punjabi and Urdu in his daily life.[18] In the 19th
century, when the Sikh Empire was conquering Kashmir, his grandfather's family
migrated to Punjab. Iqbal's grandfather was an eighth cousin of Sir Tej Bahadur
Sapru, an important lawyer and freedom fighter who would eventually become an
admirer of Iqbal.[19] Iqbal often mentioned and commemorated his Kashmiri lineage
in his writings.[20][21] According to scholar Annemarie Schimmel, Iqbal often wrote
about his being "a son of Kashmiri-Brahmans but (being) acquainted with the wisdom
of Rumi and Tabrizi."[22]

Iqbal's father, Sheikh Noor Muhammad (died 1930), was a tailor, not formally
educated, but a religious man.[23][24] Iqbal's mother Imam Bibi, a Kashmiri from
Sambrial,[25] was described as a polite and humble woman who helped the poor and
her neighbours with their problems. She died on 9 November 1914 in Sialkot.[26][27]
Iqbal loved his mother, and on her death he expressed his feelings of pathos in an
elegy:[23]

Who would wait for me anxiously in my native place?

Who would display restlessness if my letter fails to arrive?
I will visit thy grave with this complaint:
Who will now think of me in midnight prayers?
All thy life thy love served me with devotion—
When I became fit to serve thee, thou hast departed.[23]

Early education
Iqbal was four years old when he was sent to a mosque to receive instruction in
reading the Qur'an.[citation needed] He learned the Arabic language from his
teacher, Syed Mir Hassan, the head of the madrasa and professor of Arabic at Scotch
Mission College in Sialkot, where he matriculated in 1893.[28] He received an
Intermediate level with the Faculty of Arts diploma in 1895.[21][29][30] The same
year he enrolled at Government College University, where he obtained his Bachelor
of Arts in philosophy, English literature and Arabic in 1897, and won the Khan
Bahadurddin F.S. Jalaluddin medal for his performance in Arabic.[29] In 1899, he
received his Master of Arts degree from the same college and won first place in
philosophy in the University of the Punjab.[21][29][30]

Marriages

Allama Iqbal with his son Javed Iqbal in 1930

Iqbal married four times under different circumstances.[31]

His first marriage was in 1895 when he was 18 years old. His bride, Karim Bibi, was
the daughter of a Gujrati physician, Khan Bahadur Ata Muhammad Khan. Her sister was
the mother of director and music composer Khwaja Khurshid Anwar.[32][33] Their
families arranged the marriage, and the couple had two children; a daughter, Miraj
Begum (1895–1915), and a son, Aftab Iqbal (1899–1979), who became a barrister.[31]
[34] Another son is said to have died after birth in 1901.
Iqbal and Karim Bibi separated somewhere between 1910 and 1913. Despite this, he
continued to financially support her till his death.[35]

Iqbals second marriage took place on 26 August 1910 with the niece of Hakim Noor-
ud-Din.[36]
Iqbal's third marriage was with Mukhtar Begum, and it was held in December 1914,
shortly after the death of Iqbal's mother the previous November.[37][29] They had a
son, but both the mother and son died shortly after birth in 1924.[31]
Later, Iqbal married Sardar Begum, and they became the parents of a son, Javed
Iqbal (1924–2015), who became Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and
a daughter, Muneera Bano (born 1930).[31][35] One of Muneera's sons is the
philanthropist-cum-socialite Yousuf Salahuddin.[35]
Higher education in Europe
Iqbal was influenced by the teachings of Sir Thomas Arnold, his philosophy teacher
at Government College Lahore, to pursue higher education in the West. In 1905, he
travelled to England for that purpose. While already acquainted with Friedrich
Nietzsche and Henri Bergson, Iqbal would discover Rumi slightly before his
departure to England, and he would teach the Masnavi to his friend Swami Rama
Tirtha, who in return would teach him Sanskrit.[38] Iqbal qualified for a
scholarship from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and obtained a Bachelor
of Arts in 1906. This B.A. degree in London, made him eligible, to practice as an
advocate, as it was being practised those days. In the same year he was called to
the bar as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn. In 1907, Iqbal moved to Germany to pursue
his doctoral studies, and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Ludwig
Maximilian University of Munich in 4 November 1907 (Published in 1908 in London).
Working under the guidance of Friedrich Hommel, Iqbal's doctoral thesis was
entitled The Development of Metaphysics in Persia.[21][39][40][41] Among his fellow
students in Munich was Hans-Hasso von Veltheim who later happened to visit Iqbal
the day before Iqbal died.[42]

Plaque at Portugal Place, Cambridge, commemorating Allama Iqbal's residence there

during his time at Trinity College
In 1907, he had a close friendship with the writer Atiya Fyzee in both Britain and
Germany. Atiya would later publish their correspondence.[43] While Iqbal was in
Heidelberg in 1907, his German professor Emma Wegenast taught him about Goethe's
Faust, Heine and Nietzsche.[44] He mastered German in three months.[45] A street in
Heidelberg has been named in his memory, "Iqbal Ufer". During his study in Europe,
Iqbal began to write poetry in Persian. He preferred to write in this language
because doing so made it easier to express his thoughts. He would write
continuously in Persian throughout his life.[21]

Academic career

Photograph taken during Allama Iqbal's youth in 1899

Iqbal began his career as a reader of Arabic after completing his Master of Arts
degree in 1899, at Oriental College and shortly afterward was selected as a junior
professor of philosophy at Government College Lahore, where he had also been a
student in the past. He worked there until he left for England in 1905. In 1907 he
went to Germany for PhD In 1908, he returned from Germany and joined the same
college again as a professor of philosophy and English literature.[46] In the same
period Iqbal began practising law at the Chief Court of Lahore, but he soon quit
law practice and devoted himself to literary works, becoming an active member of
Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam.[29] In 1919, he became the general secretary of the same
organisation. Iqbal's thoughts in his work primarily focus on the spiritual
direction and development of human society, centered around experiences from his
travels and stays in Western Europe and the Middle East. He was profoundly
influenced by Western philosophers such as Nietzsche, Bergson, and Goethe. He also
closely worked with Ibrahim Hisham during his stay at the Aligarh Muslim
University.[23][44]

The poetry and philosophy of Rumi strongly influenced Iqbal. Deeply grounded in
religion since childhood, Iqbal began concentrating intensely on the study of
Islam, the culture and history of Islamic civilisation and its political future,
while embracing Rumi as "his guide".[23] Iqbal's works focus on reminding his
readers of the past glories of Islamic civilisation and delivering the message of a
pure, spiritual focus on Islam as a source for socio-political liberation and
greatness. Iqbal denounced political divisions within and amongst Muslim nations,
and frequently alluded to and spoke in terms of the global Muslim community or the
Ummah.[47][23]

Iqbal's poetry was translated into many European languages in the early part of the
20th century.[48] Iqbal's Asrar-i-Khudi and Javed Nama were translated into English
by R. A. Nicholson and A. J. Arberry, respectively.[48][49]

Legal career

Iqbal as a barrister-at-law
Iqbal was not only a prolific writer but also a known advocate. He appeared before
the Lahore High Court in both civil and criminal matters. There are more than 100
reported judgments to his name.[50][51][52][53][54][55]

Final years and death

The tomb of Muhammad Iqbal at the entrance of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore
In 1933, after returning from a trip to Spain and Afghanistan, Iqbal suffered from
a mysterious throat illness.[56] He spent his final years helping Chaudhry Niaz Ali
Khan to establish the Dar ul Islam Trust Institute at a Jamalpur estate near
Pathankot,[57][58] where there were plans to subsidise studies in classical Islam
and contemporary social science. He also advocated for an independent Muslim state.
Iqbal ceased practising law in 1934 and was granted a pension by the Nawab of
Bhopal. In his final years, he frequently visited the Dargah of famous Sufi Ali
Hujwiri in Lahore for spiritual guidance. After suffering for months from his
illness, Iqbal died in Lahore on 21 April 1938.[47][21] It is maintained that he
breathed his last listening to a kafi of Bulleh Shah.[59][60] His tomb is located
in Hazuri Bagh, the enclosed garden between the entrance of the Badshahi Mosque and
the Lahore Fort, and official guards are provided by the Government of Pakistan.

Efforts and influences

Political
Further information: Pakistan Movement and Muhammad Iqbal's political philosophy

Iqbal with Muslim politicians.

(L to R): M. Iqbal (third), Syed Zafarul Hasan (sixth) at Aligarh Muslim
University.
Iqbal first became interested in national affairs in his youth. He received
considerable recognition from the Punjabi elite after his return from England in
1908, and he was closely associated with Mian Muhammad Shafi. When the All-India
Muslim League was expanded to the provincial level, and Shafi received a
significant role in the structural organisation of the Punjab Muslim League, Iqbal
was made one of the first three joint secretaries along with Shaikh Abdul Aziz and
Maulvi Mahbub Alam.[61] While dividing his time between law practice and poetry,
Iqbal remained active in the Muslim League. He did not support Indian involvement
in World War I and stayed in close touch with Muslim political leaders such as
Mohammad Ali Jouhar and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was a critic of the mainstream
Indian National Congress, which he regarded as dominated by Hindus, and was
disappointed with the League when, during the 1920s, it was absorbed in factional
divides between the pro-British group led by Shafi and the centrist group led by
Jinnah.[62][unreliable source?] He was active in the Khilafat Movement, and was
among the founding fathers of Jamia Millia Islamia which was established at Aligarh
in October 1920. He was also given the offer of being the first vice-chancellor of
Jamia Millia Islamia by Mahatma Gandhi, which he refused.[63]
Muhammad Iqbal, then president of the Muslim League in 1930 and address deliverer
In November 1926, with the encouragement of friends and supporters, Iqbal contested
the election for a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from the Muslim district
of Lahore, and defeated his opponent by a margin of 3,177 votes.[47] He supported
the constitutional proposals presented by Jinnah to guarantee Muslim political
rights and influence in a coalition with the Congress and worked with Aga Khan and
other Muslim leaders to mend the factional divisions and achieve unity in the
Muslim League.[62][unreliable source?] While in Lahore he was a friend of Abdul
Sattar Ranjoor.[64]

Iqbal, Jinnah, and the concept of "Pakistan"

Ideologically separated from Congress Muslim leaders, Iqbal had also been
disillusioned with the politicians of the Muslim League, owing to the factional
conflict that plagued the League in the 1920s.[citation needed] Discontent with
factional leaders like Shafi and Fazl-ur-Rahman, Iqbal came to believe that only
Jinnah was a political leader capable of preserving unity and fulfilling the
League's objectives of Muslim political empowerment. Building a strong, personal
correspondence with Jinnah, Iqbal was influential in convincing Jinnah to end his
self-imposed exile in London, return to India and take charge of the League. Iqbal
firmly believed that Jinnah was the only leader capable of drawing Indian Muslims
to the League and maintaining party unity before the British and the Congress:

I know you are a busy man, but I do hope you won't mind my writing to you often, as
you are the only Muslim in India today to whom the community has the right to look
up for safe guidance through the storm which is coming to North-West India and,
perhaps, to the whole of India.[65]

While Iqbal espoused the idea of Muslim-majority provinces in 1930, Jinnah would
continue to hold talks with the Congress through the decade and only officially
embraced the goal of Pakistan in 1940. Some historians postulate that Jinnah always
remained hopeful for an agreement with the Congress and never fully desired the
partition of India.[66] Iqbal's close correspondence with Jinnah is speculated by
some historians as having been responsible for Jinnah's embrace of the idea of
Pakistan. Iqbal elucidated to Jinnah his vision of a separate Muslim state in a
letter sent on 21 June 1937:

A separate federation of Muslim Provinces, reformed on the lines I have suggested

above, is the only course by which we can secure a peaceful India and save Muslims
from the domination of Non-Muslims. Why should not the Muslims of North-West India
and Bengal be considered as nations entitled to self-determination just as other
nations in India and outside India are.[47]

Iqbal, serving as president of the Punjab Muslim League, criticised Jinnah's

political actions, including a political agreement with Punjabi leader Sikandar
Hyat Khan, whom Iqbal saw as a representative of feudal classes and not committed
to Islam as the core political philosophy. Nevertheless, Iqbal worked constantly to
encourage Muslim leaders and masses to support Jinnah and the League. Speaking
about the political future of Muslims in India, Iqbal said:

There is only one way out. Muslims should strengthen Jinnah's hands. They should
join the Muslim League. Indian question, as is now being solved, can be countered
by our united front against both the Hindus and the English. Without it, our
demands are not going to be accepted. People say our demands smack of communalism.
This is sheer propaganda. These demands relate to the defense of our national
existence. The united front can be formed under the leadership of the Muslim
League. And the Muslim League can succeed only on account of Jinnah. Now, none but
Jinnah is capable of leading the Muslims.[65]

Madani–Iqbal debate
Main article: Madani–Iqbal debate
A famous debate was held between Iqbal and Hussain Ahmed Madani on the question of
nationalism in the late 1930s. Madani's position throughout was to insist on the
Islamic legitimacy of embracing a culturally plural, secular democracy as the best
and the only realistic future for India's Muslims where Iqbal insisted on a
religiously defined, homogeneous Muslim society. Madani and Iqbal both appreciated
this point and they never advocated the creation of an absolute 'Islamic State'.
They differed only in their first step. According to Madani the first step was the
freedom of India for which composite nationalism was necessary. According to Iqbal
the first step was the creation of a community of Muslims in the Muslim majority
land, i.e. a Muslim India within India.[67][68]

Revival of Islamic policy

Iqbal with Choudhary Rahmat Ali and other Muslim leaders

Iqbal's six English lectures were published in Lahore in 1930, and then by the
Oxford University Press in 1934 in the book The Reconstruction of Religious Thought
in Islam. The lectures had been delivered at Madras, Hyderabad and Aligarh.[47]
These lectures dwell on the role of Islam as a religion and as a political and
legal philosophy in the modern age.[47] In these lectures Iqbal firmly rejects the
political attitudes and conduct of Muslim politicians, whom he saw as morally
misguided, attached to power and without any standing with the Muslim masses.
[citation needed]

Iqbal expressed fears that not only would secularism weaken the spiritual
foundations of Islam and Muslim society but that India's Hindu-majority population
would crowd out Muslim heritage, culture, and political influence. In his travels
to Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, he promoted ideas of greater Islamic
political co-operation and unity, calling for the shedding of nationalist
differences.[23] He also speculated on different political arrangements to
guarantee Muslim political power; in a dialogue with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Iqbal
expressed his desire to see Indian provinces as autonomous units under the direct
control of the British government and with no central Indian government. He
envisaged autonomous Muslim regions in India. Under a single Indian union, he
feared for Muslims, who would suffer in many respects, especially concerning their
existentially separate entity as Muslims.[47]

Iqbal was elected president of the Muslim League in 1930 at its session in
Allahabad in the United Provinces, as well as for the session in Lahore in 1932. In
his presidential address on 29 December 1930 he outlined a vision of an independent
state for Muslim-majority provinces in north-western India:[47][69]

I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan
amalgamated into a single state. Self-government within the British Empire, or
without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated Northwest Indian Muslim
state appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of Northwest
India.[47][69]

In his speech, Iqbal emphasised that, unlike Christianity, Islam came with "legal
concepts" with "civic significance", with its "religious ideals" considered as
inseparable from social order: "Therefore, if it means a displacement of the
Islamic principle of solidarity, the construction of a policy on national lines, is
simply unthinkable to a Muslim."[70] Iqbal thus stressed not only the need for the
political unity of Muslim communities but the undesirability of blending the Muslim
population into a wider society not based on Islamic principles.[citation needed]

Even as he rejected secularism and nationalism he would not elucidate or specify if

his ideal Islamic state would be a theocracy, and criticised the "intellectual
attitudes" of Islamic scholars (ulema) as having "reduced the Law of Islam
practically to the state of immobility".[71]

The latter part of Iqbal's life was concentrated on political activity. He

travelled across Europe and West Asia to garner political and financial support for
the League. He reiterated the ideas of his 1932 address, and, during the third
Round Table Conference, he opposed the Congress and proposals for transfer of power
without considerable autonomy for Muslim provinces.[citation needed]

He would serve as president of the Punjab Muslim League, and would deliver speeches
and publish articles in an attempt to rally Muslims across India as a single
political entity. Iqbal consistently criticised feudal classes in Punjab as well as
Muslim politicians opposed to the League. Many accounts of Iqbal's frustration
toward Congress leadership were also pivotal in providing a vision for the two-
nation theory.[72][73]

Patron of Tolu-e-Islam

Copy of the first issue of Tolu-e-Islam

Iqbal was the first patron of Tolu-e-Islam, a historical, political, religious and
cultural journal of the Muslims of British India. For a long time, Iqbal wanted a
journal to propagate his ideas and the aims and objectives of the All India Muslim
League. In 1935, according to his instructions, Syed Nazeer Niazi initiated and
edited the journal,[74] named after Iqbal's poem "Tulu'i Islam". Niazi dedicated
the first issue of the journal to Iqbal. The journal would play an important role
in the Pakistan movement.[62] Later, the journal was continued[75] by Ghulam Ahmed
Pervez, who had contributed many articles in its early editions.

Literary work
Main article: Works of Muhammad Iqbal
Persian
Iqbal's poetic works are written primarily in Persian rather than Urdu. Among his
12,000 verses of poetry, about 7,000 verses are in Persian.[47] In 1915, he
published his first collection of poetry, the Asrar-i-Khudi ‫( اسراِر خودی‬Secrets of
the Self) in Persian. The poems emphasise the spirit and self from a religious
perspective. Many critics have called this Iqbal's finest poetic work.[76] In
Asrar-i-Khudi, Iqbal explains his philosophy of "Khudi", or "Self".[47][23] Iqbal's
use of the term "Khudi" is synonymous with the word "Rooh" used in the Quran for a
divine spark which is present in every human being, and was said by Iqbal to be
present in Adam, for which God ordered all of the angels to prostrate in front of
Adam.[47] Iqbal condemns self-destruction. For him, the aim of life is self-
realization and self-knowledge. He charts the stages through which the "Self" has
to pass before finally arriving at its point of perfection, enabling the knower of
the "Self" to become a vice-regent of God.[47]

In his Rumuz-i-Bekhudi ‫( رموِز بیخودی‬Hints of Selflessness), Iqbal seeks to prove the

Islamic way of life is the best code of conduct for a nation's viability. A person
must keep his characteristics intact, he asserts, but once this is achieved, he
should sacrifice his ambitions for the needs of the nation. Man cannot realise the
"Self" outside of society. Published in 1917, this group of poems has as its main
themes the ideal community,[47] Islamic ethical and social principles, and the
relationship between the individual and society. Although he supports Islam, Iqbal
also recognises the positive aspects of other religions. Rumuz-i-Bekhudi
complements the emphasis on the self in Asrar-e-Khudi and the two collections are
often put in the same volume under the title Asrar-i-Rumuz (Hinting Secrets). It is
addressed to the world's Muslims.[47]

Iqbal's 1924 publication, the Payam-e-Mashriq ‫( پیاِم مشرق‬The Message of the East), is
closely connected to the West-östlicher Diwan by the German poet Goethe. Goethe
bemoans the West having become too materialistic in outlook, and expects the East
will provide a message of hope to resuscitate spiritual values. Iqbal styles his
work as a reminder to the West of the importance of morality, religion, and
civilisation by underlining the need for cultivating feeling, ardor, and dynamism.
He asserts that an individual can never aspire to higher dimensions unless he
learns of the nature of spirituality.[47] In his first visit to Afghanistan, he
presented Payam-e Mashreq to King Amanullah Khan. In it, he admired the uprising of
Afghanistan against the British Empire. In 1933, he was officially invited to
Afghanistan to join the meetings regarding the establishment of Kabul University.
[44]

The Zabur-e-Ajam ‫( زبوِر عجم‬Persian Psalms), published in 1927, includes the poems
"Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed" ("Garden of New Secrets") and "Bandagi Nama" ("Book of
Slavery"). In "Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed", Iqbal first poses questions, then answers
them with the help of ancient and modern insight. "Bandagi Nama" denounces slavery
and attempts to explain the spirit behind the fine arts of enslaved societies.
Here, as in other books, Iqbal insists on remembering the past, doing well in the
present and preparing for the future, while emphasising love, enthusiasm and energy
to fulfill the ideal life.[47]

Iqbal's 1932 work, the Javed Nama ‫( جاوید نامہ‬Book of Javed), is named after and in a
manner addressed to his son, who is featured in the poems. It follows the examples
of the works of Ibn Arabi and Dante's The Divine Comedy, through mystical and
exaggerated depictions across time. Iqbal depicts himself as Zinda Rud ("A stream
full of life") guided by Rumi, "the master", through various heavens and spheres
and has the honour of approaching divinity and coming in contact with divine
illuminations. In a passage reliving a historical period, Iqbal condemns the
Muslims who were instrumental in the defeat and death of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of
Bengal and Tipu Sultan of Mysore by betraying them for the benefit of the British
colonists, and thus delivering their country to the shackles of slavery. In the
end, by addressing his son Javed, he speaks to the young people at large, and
guides the "new generation".[77]

Pas Chih Bayed Kard Ay Aqwam-e-Sharq ‫ پس چہ باید کرد اے اقواِم شرق‬includes the poem
"Musafir" ‫"( مسافر‬The Traveller"). Again, Iqbal depicts Rumi as a character and
gives an exposition of the mysteries of Islamic laws and Sufi perceptions. Iqbal
laments the dissension and disunity among the Indian Muslims as well as Muslim
nations. "Musafir" is an account of one of Iqbal's journeys to Afghanistan, in
which the Pashtun people are counselled to learn the "secret of Islam" and to
"build up the self" within themselves.[47]

His love of the Persian language is evident in his works and poetry. He says in one
of his poems:[78]

]79[‫گرچہ ہندی در عذوبت شکر است‬

garchi Hindi dar uzūbat shakkar ast

‫طرز گفتار دري شيرين تر است‬

tarz-i guftar-i Dari shirin tar ast

Translation: Even though in sweetness Hindi* [archaic name for Urdu, lit. "language
of India"] is sugar – (but) speech method in Dari [the variety of Persian in
Afghanistan] is sweeter *

Throughout his life, Iqbal would prefer writing in Persian as he believed it

allowed him to fully express philosophical concepts, and it gave him a wider
audience.[80]
Urdu

Sir Muhammad Iqbal in 1935, by Lady Ottoline Morrell

Muhammad Iqbal's The Call of the Marching Bell (‫بانِگ درا‬, bang-e-dara), his first
collection of Urdu poetry, was published in 1924. It was written in three distinct
phases of his life.[47] The poems he wrote up to 1905—the year he left for England—
reflect patriotism and the imagery of nature, including the Urdu language patriotic
"Saare Jahan se Accha".[44] The second set of poems date from 1905 to 1908, when
Iqbal studied in Europe, and dwell upon the nature of European society, which he
emphasised had lost spiritual and religious values. This inspired Iqbal to write
poems on the historical and cultural heritage of Islam and the Muslim community,
with a global perspective. Iqbal urges the entire Muslim community, addressed as
the Ummah, to define personal, social and political existence by the values and
teachings of Islam.[81]

Iqbal's works were in Persian for most of his career, but after 1930 his works were
mainly in Urdu. His works in this period were often specifically directed at the
Muslim masses of India, with an even stronger emphasis on Islam and Muslim
spiritual and political reawakening. Published in 1935, Bal-e-Jibril ‫( باِل جبریل‬Wings
of Gabriel) is considered by many critics as his finest Urdu poetry and was
inspired by his visit to Spain, where he visited the monuments and legacy of the
kingdom of the Moors. It consists of ghazals, poems, quatrains and epigrams and
carries a strong sense of religious passion.[82]

Zarb-i-Kalim ‫( ضرِب کلیم‬or The Rod of Moses) is another philosophical poetry book of
Allama Iqbal in Urdu, it was published in 1936, two years before his death. In
which he described as his political manifesto. It was published with the subtitle
"A Declaration of War Against the Present Times. Muhammad Iqbal argues that modern
problems are due to the godlessness, materialism, and injustice of modern
civilisation, which feeds on the subjugation and exploitation of weak nations,
especially the Indian Muslims.[83]

Iqbal's final work was Armughan-e-Hijaz ‫( ارمغاِن حجاز‬The Gift of Hijaz), published
posthumously in 1938. The first part contains quatrains in Persian, and the second
part contains some poems and epigrams in Urdu. The Persian quatrains convey the
impression that the poet is travelling through the Hijaz in his imagination. The
profundity of ideas and intensity of passion are the salient features of these
short poems.[84]

Iqbal's vision of mystical experience is clear in one of his Urdu ghazals, which
was written in London during his student days. Some verses of that ghazal are:[47]

At last, the silent tongue of Hijaz has

announced to the ardent ear the tiding
That the covenant which had been given to the
desert-[dwellers] is going to be renewed
vigorously:
The lion who had emerged from the desert and
had toppled the Roman Empire is
As I am told by the angels, about to get up
again (from his slumbers.)
You the [dwellers] of the West, should know that
the world of God is not a shop (of yours).
Your imagined pure gold is about to lose its
standard value (as fixed by you).
Your civilization will commit suicide with its own daggers.
For a house built on a fragile bark of wood is not longlasting[47]

English
Iqbal wrote two books, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia (1908) and The
Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930), and many letters in the
English language. He also wrote a book on Economics that is now rare. In these, he
revealed his thoughts regarding Persian ideology and Islamic Sufism – in
particular, his beliefs that Islamic Sufism activates the searching soul to a
superior perception of life. He also discussed philosophy, God and the meaning of
prayer, human spirit and Muslim culture, as well as other political, social and
religious problems.[47]

Iqbal was invited to Cambridge to participate in a conference in 1931, where he

expressed his views, including those on the separation of church and state, to
students and other participants:[47]

I would like to offer a few pieces of advice to the young men who are at present
studying at Cambridge. ... I advise you to guard against atheism and materialism.
The biggest blunder made by Europe was the separation of Church and State. This
deprived their culture of moral soul and diverted it to atheistic materialism. I
had twenty-five years ago seen through the drawbacks of this civilization and,
therefore, had made some prophecies. They had been delivered by my tongue, although
I did not quite understand them. This happened in 1907. ... After six or seven
years, my prophecies came true, word by word. The European war of 1914 was an
outcome of the mistakes mentioned above made by the European nations in the
separation of the Church and the State.[47]

Punjabi
Iqbal also wrote some poems in Punjabi, such as "Piyaara Jedi" and "Baba Bakri
Wala", which he penned in 1929 on the occasion of his son Javed's birthday. A
collection of his Punjabi poetry was put on display at the Iqbal Manzil in Sialkot.
[85]

Iqbal was deeply influenced by Punjabi Sufis. Once a comrade recited a poem by
Bulleh Shah and he was "so much touched and overwhelmed...that tears rolled down
his cheeks."[86]

Modern reputation
"Poet of the East"

Allama Iqbal after the conferment of a Doctorate of Literature by the University of

the Punjab in 1933
Iqbal has been referred to as the "Poet of the East" by academics, institutions and
the media.[49][87][88][89][90][91][92]

The Vice-Chancellor of Quaid-e-Azam University, Dr. Masoom Yasinzai, stated in a

seminar addressing a distinguished gathering of educators and intellectuals that
Iqbal is not only a poet of the East but is a universal poet. Moreover, Iqbal is
not restricted to any specific segment of the world community, but he is for all
humanity.[93]

Yet it should also be born in mind that while dedicating his Eastern Divan to
Goethe, the cultural icon par excellence, Iqbal's Payam-i-Mashriq constituted both
a reply as well as a corrective to the Western Divan of Goethe. For by stylizing
himself as the representative of the East, Iqbal endeavored to talk on equal terms
to Goethe as the representative of West.[94]

Iqbal's revolutionary works through his poetry affected the Muslims of the
subcontinent. Iqbal thought that Muslims had long been suppressed by the colonial
enlargement and growth of the West. For this concept, Iqbal is recognised as the
"Poet of the East".[88][95][96]
So to conclude, let me cite Annemarie Schimmel in Gabriel's Wing who lauds Iqbal's
"unique way of weaving a grand tapestry of thought from eastern and western yarns"
(p. xv), a creative activity which, to cite my own volume Revisioning Iqbal, endows
Muhammad Iqbal with the stature of a "universalist poet" and thinker whose
principal aim was to explore mitigating alternative discourses to construct a
bridge between the "East" and the "West."[94]

The Urdu world is very familiar with Iqbal as the "Poet of the East".[96] Iqbal is
also called Muffakir-e-Pakistan ("The Thinker of Pakistan") and Hakeem-ul-Ummat
("The Sage of the Ummah"). The Pakistan government officially named him Pakistan's
"national poet".[48]

Iran
In Iran, Iqbal is known as Iqbāl-e Lāhorī (Persian: ‫( )اقبال الهوری‬Iqbal of Lahore).
Iqbal's Asrare-i-Khudi and Bal-i-Jibreel are particularly popular in Iran. At the
same time, many scholars in Iran have recognised the importance of Iqbal's poetry
in inspiring and sustaining the Iranian Revolution of 1979.[97][98] During the
early phases of the revolutionary movement, it was common to see people gathering
in a park or corner to listen to someone reciting Iqbal's Persian poetry, which is
why people of all ages in Iran today are familiar with at least some of his poetry,
notably Zabur-i-Ajam.[99][98]

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stated, "We have a large number of non-Persian-speaking
poets in the history of our literature, but I cannot point out any of them whose
poetry possesses the qualities of Iqbal's Persian poetry. Iqbal was not acquainted
with Persian idiom, as he spoke Urdu at home and talked to his friends in Urdu or
English. He did not know the rules of Persian prose writing. [...] In spite of not
having tasted the Persian way of life, never living in the cradle of Persian
culture, and never having any direct association with it, he cast with great
mastery the most delicate, the most subtle and radically new philosophical themes
into the mould of Persian poetry, some of which are unsurpassable yet."[100]

By the early 1950s, Iqbal became known among the intelligentsia of Iran. Iranian
poet laureate Muhammad Taqi Bahar universalised Iqbal in Iran. He highly praised
the work of Iqbal in Persian.[101]

In 1952, Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq, a national hero because of his
oil nationalisation policy, broadcast a special radio message on Iqbal Day and
praised his role in the struggle of the Indian Muslims against British imperialism.
At the end of the 1950s, Iranians published the complete Persian works. In the
1960s, Iqbal's thesis on Persian philosophy was translated from English to Persian.
Ali Shariati, a Sorbonne-educated sociologist, supported Iqbal as his role model as
Iqbal had Rumi. An example of the admiration and appreciation of Iran for Iqbal is
that he received the place of honour in the pantheon of the Persian elegy writers.
[citation needed]

Iqbal became even more popular in Iran in the 1970s. His verses appeared on
banners, and his poetry was recited at meetings of intellectuals. Iqbal inspired
many intellectuals, including Ali Shariati, Mehdi Bazargan and Abdulkarim Soroush.
His book The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam was translated by
Mohammad Masud Noruzi.[98]

Key Iranian thinkers and leaders who were influenced by Iqbal's poetry during the
rise of the Iranian revolution include Khamenei, Shariati and Soroush, although
much of the revolutionary guard was familiar with Iqbal's poetry.[102] At the
inauguration of the First Iqbal Summit in Tehran (1986), Khamenei stated that in
its "conviction that the Quran and Islam are to be made the basis of all
revolutions and movements", Iran was "exactly following the path that was shown to
us by Iqbal".[102] Shariati, who has been described as a core ideologue for the
Iranian Revolution, described Iqbal as a figure who brought a message of
"rejuvenation", "awakening" and "power" to the Muslim world.[103]

Arab countries
Iqbal has an audience in the Arab world, and in Egypt one of his poems has been
sung by Umm Kulthum, the most famous modern Egyptian artist, while among his modern
admirers there are influential literary figures such as Farouk Shousha.[104] In
Saudi Arabia, among the important personalities who were influenced by Iqbal there
was Abdullah bin Faisal Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and himself a
poet.[105]

Turkey
Mehmet Akif Ersoy, considered the national poet of Turkey for having composed its
national anthem, was directly influenced by Iqbal.[106]

In 2016, Turkey's Minister for Culture and Tourism Nabi Avcı presented the Dost
Award to Walid Iqbal, the grandson of Iqbal, in order to honour Iqbal's "services
to Islam", the ceremony being held in Konya, the resting place of Rumi.[107]

Western countries

Sign for the street Iqbal-Ufer in Heidelberg, Germany, honouring Iqbal[108]

Iqbal's views on the Western world have been applauded by Westerners, including
United States Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas, who said that
Iqbal's beliefs had "universal appeal".[109] Soviet biographer N. P. Anikoy wrote:

[Iqbal is] great for his passionate condemnation of weak will and passiveness, his
angry protest against inequality, discrimination and oppression in all forms, i.e.,
economic, social, political, national, racial, religious, etc., his preaching of
optimism, an active attitude towards life and man's high purpose in the world, in a
word, he is great for his assertion of the noble ideals and principles of humanism,
democracy, peace and friendship among peoples.[109]

Others, including Wilfred Cantwell Smith, stated that with Iqbal's anti-capitalist
holdings, he was "anti-intellect", because "capitalism fosters intellect".[109]
Freeland Abbott objected to Iqbal's views of the West, saying that they were based
on the role of imperialism and that Iqbal was not immersed enough in Western
culture to learn about the various benefits of the modern democracies, economic
practices and science.[109] Critics of Abbot's viewpoint note that Iqbal was raised
and educated in the European way of life, and spent enough time there to grasp the
general concepts of Western civilisation.[109]

Legacy

"ؒ ‫"صد سالہ تقریب پیدائش عالمہ محمد اقبال‬

(P, sad, one hundred) (P. sāla/sālha, years) (A taqrīb, anniversary) (P. paidāʼish,
birth) of Allamah Muhammad Iqbal (R.A) on the obverse and
"‫ روپیہ‬1 ‫"حکومِت پاکستان‬
"Government of Pakistan, 1 Rūpiyah" on the reverse, among commemorative coins
issued by the State Bank of Pakistan in 1977
Iqbal is widely commemorated in Pakistan, where he is regarded as the ideological
founder of the state. Iqbal is the namesake of many public institutions, including
the Allama Iqbal Campus Punjab University in Lahore, the Allama Iqbal Medical
College in Lahore, Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, Allama Iqbal Open University in
Pakistan, Iqbal Memorial Institute in Srinagar, Allama Iqbal Library in the
University of Kashmir, the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Iqbal
Hostel in Government College University, Lahore, the Allama Iqbal Hall at Nishtar
Medical College in Multan, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town in Karachi, Allama Iqbal Town in
Lahore, Allama Iqbal Hall at Aligarh Muslim University, Allama Iqbal Hostel at
Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi and Iqbal Hall at the University of Engineering
and Technology, Lahore.[110] Iqbal Academy Lahore has published magazines on Iqbal
in Persian, English and Urdu.

Obverse of the Rs. 75 commemorative banknote issued by the State Bank of Pakistan
in 2022 depicting Syed Ahmed Khan, Fatima Jinnah, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Muhammad
Iqbal (left to right)
In India, his song "Tarana-e-Hind" is frequently played as a patriotic song
speaking of communal harmony.[111] Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, an Indian documentary film
directed by K.A. Abbas and written by Ali Sardar Jafri was released in 1978. It was
produced by Government of India's Films Division.[112][113]

The Government of Madhya Pradesh in India awards the Iqbal Samman, named in honour
of the poet, every year at the Bharat Bhavan to Indian writers for their
contributions to Urdu literature and poetry.[114]

The Pakistani government and public organisations have sponsored the establishment
of educational institutions, colleges, and schools dedicated to Iqbal and have
established the Iqbal Academy Pakistan to research, teach and preserve his works,
literature and philosophy. The Allama Iqbal Stamps Society was established for the
promotion of Iqbal in philately and in other hobbies. His son Javed Iqbal served as
a justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Javaid Manzil was Iqbal's last
residence.[115]

Gallery
Father of Iqbal (Shaikh Noor Muhammad)
Father of Iqbal (Shaikh Noor Muhammad)

Iqbal in London in 1931

Iqbal in London in 1931

At a party during the 2nd Round Table Conference in London in 1931

At a party during the 2nd Round Table Conference in London in 1931

A view of the conference in West Jerusalem. Iqbal is seen sitting on the extreme
right in the first row (1931).
A view of the conference in West Jerusalem. Iqbal is seen sitting on the extreme
right in the first row (1931).

Iqbal reception given by the National League, London, in 1932

Iqbal reception given by the National League, London, in 1932

Iqbal in 1934
Iqbal in 1934

Iqbal in a reception given by citizens of Lahore in 1933

Iqbal in a reception given by citizens of Lahore in 1933

Iqbal at Shimla in 1930s

Iqbal at Shimla in 1930s

Iqbal in Afghanistan with Sulmain Nadavi and Ross Masood

Iqbal in Afghanistan with Sulmain Nadavi and Ross Masood

Poet of East
Iqbal
Bibliography
Main article: Muhammad Iqbal bibliography
Prose book in Urdu
Ilm ul Iqtisad (1903)[47]
Prose books in English
The Development of Metaphysics in Persia (1908)[48][47]
The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930)[48][47]
Poetic books in Persian
Asrar-i-Khudi (1915)[47]
Rumuz-i-Bekhudi (1917)[47]
Payam-i-Mashriq (1923)[47]
Zabur-i-Ajam (1927)[47]
Javid Nama (1932)[47]
Pas Cheh Bayed Kard ai Aqwam-e-Sharq (1936)[47]
Armughan-e-Hijaz (1938)[48][47][62] (in Persian and Urdu)
Poetic books in Urdu
Bang-i-Dara (1924)[47]
Bal-i-Jibril (1935)[47]
Zarb-i Kalim (1936)[47]
See also
Index of Muhammad Iqbal–related articles
References
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in Urdu and Persian and discursive prose, primarily in English, of particular
significance in the formulation of a national ethos for Pakistan.
Iqbal, Sir Muhammad; Zakaria, Rafiq (1981), Shikwa and Jawab-i-shikwa (in English
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561324-7, "Iqbal it is true, is essentially a poet of Islam ... the Islam which
provided a new light of thought and learning to the world, and of heroic action and
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Further reading
Shafique, Khurram Ali (2014). Iqbal: His Life and Our Times. ECO Cultural Institute
& Iqbal Academy Pakistan. ISBN 978-0-9571416-6-7.
Ram Nath, Kak (1995). Autumn Leaves: Kashmiri Reminiscences. India: Vitasta. ISBN
81-86588-00-0.
Mustansir, Mir (2006), Iqbal, I.B. Tauris, ISBN 1-84511-094-3
Muhammad, Munawwar (2003). Iqbal-Poet Philosopher of Islam. Iqbal Academy Pakistan.
ISBN 969-416-061-8.
Sailen, Debnath (January 2010). Secularism: Western and Indian. New Delhi: Atlantic
Publishers. ISBN 978-81-269-1366-4.
V.S., Naipaul (1998). Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted
Peoples. USA: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50118-5.
Annemarie, Schimmel (1963), Gabriel's Wing: a study of the religious ideas of Sir
Muhammad Iqbal, Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill
"Special report: The enduring vision of Iqbal 1877–1938". DAWN. 9 November 2017.
Retrieved 9 November 2017.
"Sir Muhammad Iqbal". Encyclopædia Britannica. 5 November 2023.
Anjum, Zafar (2014). Iqbal: The Life of a Poet, Philosopher and Politician. Random
House India. ISBN 9788184006568.
Burzine Waghmar, Annemarie Schimmel: Iqbal and Indo-Muslim Studies, Encyclopædia
Iranica, New York: Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation, published online, 16 April
2018.
Md Mahmudul Hasan, "Iqbal's and Hassan's Complaints: A Study of "To the Holy
Prophet" and "SMS to Sir Muhammad Iqbal"." The Muslim World 110.2 (2020): 195–216.
Iqbal's and Hassan's Complaints: A Study of "To the Holy Prophet" and "SMS to Sir
Muhammad Iqbal"
S.Aydin, Mehmet (2000). "İKBAL, Muhammed – An article published in Turkish
Encyclopedia of Islam". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam (in Turkish). Vol. 22 (Ihvan-i
Safa – Iskit). Istanbul. pp. 17–23. ISBN 978-975-389-449-4.
Farrukhabadi, Rehmat (1962). ‫[ اقبال اور عورت‬Iqbal and Women] in Urdu. Sukkur: Ajaib
Store Publications.
Online
Muhammad Iqbal: poet and philosopher, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Sheila
D. McDonough, The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Aakanksha Gaur, Gloria Lotha,
J.E. Luebering, Kenneth Pletcher and Grace Young
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