DR. SIR MUHAMMAD IQBAL

 

                                                DR. SIR MUHAMMAD IQBAL

Dr. Sir Muhammad  Iqbal was born in British India on 9 November 1877 in Sialkot, and died in Lahore on 21 April 1938. These cities are now part of Pakistan. He studied as well as taught in Lahore.

            Dr.Iqbal earned his research degree in 1908 from the University of Munich (Germany) on The Development of Metaphysics in Persia”. He also earned a degree in philosophy from the University of Cambridge, and qualified as a barrister in London.

            He was knighted in 1922.

            Besides being one of the greatest poets in Urdu and Persian, he was an advocate . As a philosopher he wrote a book comprising six lectures on The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam published in 1934.

            Dr.Iqbal’s books in Urdu and Persian poetry run into a large number. However, one of his long philosophical poems is known as  Asrar-i-Khudi (The Secrets of the Self). Translated into English by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson (first published 1920), the key concepts of  this poem are based on man’s self-realization and the development of a powerful personality.

            According to Dr. Iqbal man can achieve  through a life of purpose, action and love “autonomy, self-mastery, and deeper connection with the divine, embodying divine attributes and participating in the ongoing creation of the universe.”       

            Dr.Iqbal inspires man to go on developing himself endlessly, rise higher and higher, and not rest or relax in a cage like a sluggish bird. In one of his poems he says:

            “Beyond the stars there are still other worlds;

            There are other fields to test man’s indomitable spirit.

            “Do not remain contented with this sensible world;

            Beyond it there are other gardens and nests as well.

                If thou hast lost one nest, what then?

            There are other places for sighing and wailing as well.

            Thou art an eagle; thy business is to soar in the empyrean;

            Thou hast other skies in which thou canst range as well.

            Be not entangled in this world of days and nights;

            Thou hast another time and space as well.

            (Quoted from A History of Urdu Literature by Muhammad Sadiq,        Principal Dayal Sing College, Lahore, 1964).   

           

            Iqbal Day is celebrated on November 9 . However, he is not merely a poet    of the East; but also a great poet for the whole world. His vision of man as the regent of God (an active partner in the creative and moral ordering of the universe) is full of inspiration for the entire mankind.  

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G.R.Kanwal

9^th November 2025.