Muhammad Iqbal Quotes

The alchemist of the West has turned stone into glass But my alchemy has transmuted glass into flint Pharaohs of today have stalked me in vain

Ki Muhammad se wafa toonay to ham teray hain Ye jahan cheez hai kiya lauho qalam tere hain

وممات الحي فقدان الرجاء يُطفئ الشعلة فِقدان الهواء

Look at the evils of the world around you and protect yourself from them. Our teachers give all the wrong messages to our youth, since they take away the natural flare from the soul. Take it from me that all knowledge is useless until it is connected with your life, because the purpose of knowledge is nothing but to show you the splendors of yourself!

I have seen the movement of the sinews of the sky, And the blood coursing in the veins of the moon.

The heart is like a mirror. Do not prevent it from being broken. It’s breakage is more dearer in the sight of its maker [Allah], than its safety. Almighty Allah being indeed the Maker

But only a brief moment is granted to the brave one breath or two, whose wage is The long nights of the grave

For centuries Eastern heart and intellect have been absorbed in the question � Does God exist? I propose to raise a new question � new, that is to say, for the East � Does man exist?

I am but as the spark that gleams for a moment, His burning candle consumed me - the moth; His wine overwhelmed my goblet, The master of Rum transmuted my earth to gold And set my ashes aflame.

كفنا ألقت بخيط الوحدة كم تري فى أمرنا من عُقدة ؟ قد مضينا كنجوم حائرة إخوة لكن وجوه نافره

كل من فى نفسه لا يحكمُ هو فى حُكم سواه مُرغَمُ

The highest stage of Man's ethical progress is reached when he becomes absolutely free from fear and grief.

The poet's nature is all searching, creator and nourisher of desire; the poet is like the heart in a people's breast, a people without a poet is a mere heap of clay. If the purpose of poetry is the fashioning of men, poetry is likewise the heir of prophecy.

let this be our beautiful departure from stagnation; let our minds come alive; enter another dimension; go beyond the stars eagerly struggling to find that... which our naked eyes did not know existed; rise like a falcon born to soar and not be alone but be present amongst others.

Diyar-e-Ishq Mein Apna Maqam Paida Kar, Naya Zamana, Naye Subah-o-Sham Paida Kar; Khuda Agar Dil-e-Fitrat Shanas De Tujh Ko, Sakoot-e-Lala-o-Gul Se Kalaam Paida Kar; Mera Tareeq Ameeri Nahin, Faqeeri Hai, Khudi Na Baich, Ghareebi Mein Naam Paida Kar Build in love’s empire your hearth and your home; Build Time anew, a new dawn, a new eve! Your speech, if God give you the friendship of Nature, From the rose and tulip’s long silence weave The way of the hermit, not fortune, is mine; Sell not your soul! In a beggar’s rags shine.

The highest art is that which awakens our dormant will-force, and nerves us to face the trials of life manfully. All that brings drowsiness and makes us shut our eyes to reality around-on the mastery of which alone life depends�is a message of decay and death.

The causality-bound aspect of Nature is not the whole truth. Ultimate Reality is invading our consciousness from other directions as well, and the purely intellectual method of overcoming Nature is not the only way.

Since love first made the breast an instrument Of fierce lamenting, by its flame my heart Was molten to a mirror, like a rose I pluck my breast apart, that I may hang This mirror in your sight Gaze you therein

خرد مندوں سے کیا پوچھوں کہ میری ابتدا کیا ہے کہ میں اس فکر میں رہتا ہوں، میری انتہا کیا ہے خودی کو کر بلند اتنا کہ ہر تقدیر سے پہلے خدا بندے سے خود پوچھے، بتا تیری رضا کیا ہے مقامِ گفتگو کیا ہے اگر میں کیمیا گر ہوں یہی سوزِ نفس ہے اور میری کیمیا کیا ہے نظر آئیں مجھے تقدیر کی گہرائیاں اس میں نہ پوچھ اے ہمنشیں مجھ سے وہ چشمِ سرمہ سا کیا ہے اگر ہوتا وہ مجذوب فرنگی اس زمانے میں تو اقبال اس کو سمجھتا مقام کبریا کیا ہے نوائے صبح گاہی نے جگر خوں کر دیا میرا خدایا جس خطا کی یہ سزا ہے وہ خطا کیا ہے؟

What is the character and general structure of the universe in which we live? Is there a permanent element in the constitution of this universe? How are we related to it? What place do we occupy in it, and what is the kind of conduct that befits the place we occupy? These questions are common to religion, philosophy, and higher poetry

But the perception of life as an organic unity is a slow achievement, and depends for its growth on a people's entry into the main current of world-events.

Alas for a love whose fire is extinct, A love that was born in the Holy Place and died in the house of idols!

People who have no hold over their process of thinking are likely to be ruined by liberty of thought. If thought is immature, liberty of thought becomes a method of converting men into animals.

he philosophy of Islam will be shown in terms of the modern philosophy, and if there are imperfections in the old ideas then they shall be removed. My task is merely constructive, and in this construction I shall take into consideration the best traditions of Islamic philosophy.

Ich hört' in meiner Bücherei des Nachts Den Bücherwurm den Schmetterling befragen: "Ich habe mein Nest in Ibn Sinas Blättern, Bin in Farabis Manuskript beschlagen - Den Sinn des Lebens hab' ich nicht verstanden, Ganz sonnenlos leb' ich in finstern Tagen!" Wie schön sprach darauf der halbverbrannte Falter: "Nach diesem Punkt darfst du nicht Bücher fragen: Nur Fieberglut kann neues Leben bringen, Nur Fieberflut gibt deinem Leben Schwingen!

-To Javed- My way of life is poverty, not the pursuit of wealth; Barter not thy Selfhood; win a name in adversity.

civilization able to produce a Mahavira, a Mirabai, a Malik Ambar, a Periyar, a Muhammad Iqbal and a Mohandas Gandhi is a place open to radical experiments with self-definition. It

Jahan mein ehle-e-imaan soorat-e-khursheed jeetay hain, Idhar doobey, udhar nikley; udhar doobey, idhar nikley In this world, men of faith and self-confidence are like the sun, They go down on one side to come up on the other.

همم الأحرار في إيمانها...سنن الخلاق في أكوانها سنة الله التي لا تبدل...مالها كر الليالي حول

أرأيت الصقر في متن الرياح...يطلب الرزق بعزم وجناح طائرا في الجو يسمو عازما...لا يرى حول الدنايا حائما

But only a brief moment is granted to the brave one breath or two, whose wage is The long nights of the grave.

In an over-organized society the individual is altogether crushed out of existence. He gains the whole wealth of social thought around him and loses his own soul.

إنما العقل أسير...زاده التحليق أسرا

يا جهولا بقدر نفسك لولا... أنت كان العقيق كالصوان

Who am I? Who art Thou? Where is the world?

على دنياك تقضي بالهوان...وستر للمغيب كل آن فأحكم يومك المشهود واعلم...بأن غدا ضمير في الزمان

أضاء القلب من عقلي ولكن...جعلت عيار عقلي في فؤادي

All will be annihilated in this age except the one who established in his ways and firm in his thought is

Arise and pour pure wine into my cup, Pour moon beams into the dark night of my thought, That I may lead home the wanderer And imbue the idle looker-on with restless impatience; And advance hotly on a new quest And become known as the champion of a new spirit

If you wish to be heard in the noise of this world, let your soul be dominated by a single idea. It is the man with a single idea who creates political and social revolutions, establishes empires and gives law to the world.

فأمل الخير وصابر لا تمل...إنما الدنيا رجاء وعمل وقضاء الله عون الآملين...وهو في عون الأباة العاملين لا يرد الله قلبا آملا...لا يرد الله عبدا عاملا

كل من أدلى بقول طيب...ينبت الخير كغيث صيب

Khuda tujhe kisi toofaan se aashna karde, Ke tere behr ki maujon men iztiraab naheen May God grant you a storm! The voyage of your life is on too placid an ocean…

كل ما أدركت من معنى جميل...كل ما أبصرت من أمر جليل

كل من أثر فيها أثرا...خالدا للخير ما بين الورى ..... فاصطنع للخير فكرا ويدا....ولسانا وابغ في الخير يدا

অনেক দিন পর শেষ পর্যন্ত আমি আমার মায়ের কাছে ফিরে গিয়েছিলাম বলে হাসছিলাম।

إذا حلك الظلام كعين ظبي... أنرت بنور أضلاعي طريقي

كن مثل الشيخ فريد الدين العطار في معرفته, و جلال الدين الرومي في حكمته, و أبي حامد الغزالي في علمه و ذكائه, و كن مع من شئت في العلم و الحكمة, و لكنك لا ترجع بطائل, حتى تكون لك أنّة في السَحَر

You remember what Goethe said in the moment of his death [...] 'More light.' Death opens up the way to more light, and carries us to those regions where we stand face to face with eternal Beauty and Truth. I remember the time when I read Goethe's poems with you, and I hope you also remember those happy days when we were so near to each other spiritually speaking. Iqbals Briefwechsel mit Emma Wegenast (S. 45, Iqbal and Goethe, Christina Oesterheld)

The idea that thought is essentially finite, and for this reason unable to capture the Infinite, is based on a mistaken notion of the movement of thought in knowledge. It is the inadequacy of the logical understanding which finds a multiplicity of mutually repellent individualities with no prospect of their ultimate reduction to a unity that makes us sceptical about the conclusiveness of thought. In fact, the logical understanding is incapable of seeing this multiplicity as a coherent universe. Its only method is generalization based on resemblances, but its generalizations are only fictitious unities which do not affect the reality of concrete things. In its deeper movement, however, thought is capable of reaching an immanent Infinite in whose self-unfolding movement the various finite concepts are merely moments. In its essential nature, then, thought is not static; it is dynamic and unfolds its internal infinitude in time like the seed which, from the very beginning, carries within itself the organic unity of the tree as a present fact.

إنما التكلان عزم وعمل...إنه الإقدام في ضوء الأمل

هو بالله وفي الله غني...ضاق عن هذا الغنى كل ثري

همم الأحرار تحيي الرمما...نفخة الأبرار تحيي الأمما لا يصد الحر عما يأمل... أو يحد البر فيما يفعل هو بالله العلي اتصلا...جل ربي عن حدود وعلا

امض في الدنيا كنهر في جبال... واعرف الأغوار فيها والنجودا أو مثال السيل فجرف كل شيئ...لا تباليه هبوطا أو صعودا

إن موت الحر في ذلته...وحياة الحر في عزته

وفقير وغناه لا يحد...فقره استغناوه عن كل يد هو بالله وفي الله غني...ضاق عن هذا الغنى كل ثري

أرايت العزم في شكل جناح...خافقا لا ينثني دون النجاح لا يصد الطير خوف التهلكة...أو تبالي بطريق مهلكة

من ينم عن سعيه لا يتكل...إنما التكلان سعي متصل

إنما العابد من خاض الحياة...موضحا فيه سبيلا للنجاة آخذ بالعدل ما عنه حول...ذاكرا مولاه في كل عمل

كنت سطرا لم يفسره أحد...خطه في غيبه الله الصمد في ضميري كل معنى منبهم...حرت في الإعراب عنه بالكلم .... رب معنى في ضمير يكتم...ليس في الناس عليه محرم

I said, "The thing we quested after is never attained." He said, "The unattainable - that thing is my desire!

صير الرومى طيني جوهرا، من غباري شاد كونا آخر

10% of my Life is out of my control. I am responsible for 90% only.

This money ought to be given to our Sultan, Who is a beggar wearing the raiment of a king.

nations are collectively judged, and suffer for their misdeeds here and now.

No one can stop you growing in this digital world.

Individuality, therefore, harbours its own enemy at home.’2

متاع الحيا، تعلم، جهاد... وصبر على محنة وجهاد

فنفسك فاحفظ وعش في جذل... جريئا متينا قوي العضل

إن تكن للعفو لست بأهل... فإلى الأعداء فاقصد بحقدك لا تقم في الصدر مصنع حقد... لا تصب الخل في كأس شهدك دع التسآل عن طبع دقيق... يشق الشعر في الليل البهيم

عسير على الناس فهم الممات... وفهم الحياة لهم أعسر

ولا تصحب سوى نظر عريف... ولا تمرر بأرضك كالغريب

كل سر كان يخفى... غشي الشوق نهارا

إنما الحكمة أمر... ليس فيه من نهاية ليس في كتابها لل...حب والعشق بداية

أسفي عليك تطوف من دير إلى... حرم وفي معناك لم تجد النظر

صور اليأس على آفاقنا... عقلنا اليأس فاحذره رفيقا

يقول الحسن: صبحي... ليس يغشاه ظلام فيقول العشق: وجدي... ليس يخبر والهيام

فعيون العقول تظهر فيها... هذه الكائنات سحر العيان وعن العشق خذ دروس الجهاد... وافعى ما تشاء في كل آن إنما العشق جوهر لشعور... وهو روح الإدراك والعرفان

أأصلحت في الأرض بعد عناء... فجئت لتصلح جو السما

ما كل معنى ينطوي... في اللفظ، كم معنى يثور أنصت لقلبك ساعة... فلعلما يدنو العسير

فلا تحفل بكون فيه نقص... به المولى وليس به الغرور

ففي الأخطار للهمم اختبار...لأرواح وأجساد عيار

رفعت للعرش العلي تربي...بالسر قد أفشيته لقلبي

فكري قد أجد كل سير... وطاف بين حرم ودير

أنا من حجار صنعت مرايا... أنا من سموم صنعت دوايا

رأيت الكفاح يعد الحياة... رأيت الكفاح يمد الحياة

ولا تقبلن طعمة من أحد ... وكن راشدا واستمع للرشد

لا صابر نظري ولا... قلبي عن الآمال غافل

فكن محكم الرأي شهما جسورا...على السجايا أبيا غيورا

محكما كالجبال عش، لا ضعيفا...واهن النار طائشا كالهشيم

وإن ينقص قواك الشيب فأخذ...من الدنيا نصيبا من الشباب

إلام تعيش في رث الإهاب؟...إلام تعيش نملا في تراب؟ فطر كالصقر معتزما وحلق...إلام أسير في حبا في اليباب

أخا الأوهام لا ترهب حماما...فإن نفس مضى فالقلب يبقى

جلست مع الطبيعة ألف عام....وصلت بها وعن فصمت قصارى سيرتي في ذاك أن قد...نحت، وقد عبدت، وقد حطمت

فلا تطمع جليسي في حديثي!....فإني من فؤادي في نداء

Bien qu'ils possèdent des moyens variés, moi je ne veux prendre des Européens que des mises en garde. Ô toi qui es prisonnier de leur imitation, libère-toi! Prends refuge dans le Qoran, et libère-toi!

He is no mean poet, and his verse can rouse or persuade even if his logic fail to convince. His message is not for the Mohammedans of India alone, but for Moslems everywhere: accordingly he writes in Persian instead of Hindustani—a happy choice, for amongst educated Moslems there are many familiar with Persian literature, while the Persian language is singularly well adapted to express philosophical ideas in a style at once elevated and charming.

Muhammad Iqbal, who had spent three rewarding years as a student in Europe in the first decade of the twentieth century, now wrote of it in the satirical tradition of the Illahabadi: The West develops wonderful new skills In this as in so many other fields Its submarines are crocodiles Its bombers rain destruction from the skies Its gases so obscure the sky They blind the sun’s world-seeing eye Dispatch this old fool to the West To learn the art of killing fast- and best On his previous trips to the West, Liang, like Tagore and Iqbal, had been a qualified admirer. During his longest sojourn there, he began to develop grave doubts about the civilization that had so blithely thrown away the fruits of progress and rationalism and sunk into barbarism. The ‘materialist’ West had managed to subdue nature through science and technology and created a Darwinian universe of conflict between individuals, classes and nations. But to what effect? Its materialistic people, constantly desiring ever-new things and constantly being frustrated, were worn out by war, were afflicted with insecurity, and were as far from happiness as ever.

Rise above sectional interests and private ambitions, and learn to determine the value of your individual and collective action, however directed on material ends, in the light of the ideal which you are supposed to represent. Pass from matter to spirit. Matter is diversity; spirit is light, life and unity.

The reality of the Islamic metaphysical world was not taken seriously despite the fact that Iqbal, who was the ideological founder of Pakistan, had shown much interest in Islamic philosophy, although I do not think that he is really a traditional Islamic philosopher. He himself was influenced by Western philosophy, but at least was intelligent enough to realize the significance of Islamic philosophy. The problem with him was that he did not know Arabic well enough. His Persian was very good, but he could not read all the major texts of Islamic philoso- phy, which are written mostly in Arabic. Nevertheless, he wrote on the development of metaphysics in Persia, and he had some philosophical substance, much more than the other famous reformers who are men- tioned all the time, such as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan or Muh:ammad ‘Abduh.