Al-Huda
Foundation, NJ U. S. A
the Message Continues ... 5/99
Newsletter for November 2009
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Iqbal: Between East and West
by Sayyid Ali Khamanei
Excerpted from: Iqbal, the Poet Philosopher of Islamic
Resurgence
(Translated from the Persian by
Mahliqa Qara'i)
The poetry of
Iqbal, the major part of which is in Persian, needs wider
circulation. Out of the fifteen thousand couplets composed by
him nine thousand are in the Persian language. This shows that
his works in Urdu are fewer than those in Persian. Rather it can
be said that the best and the finest part of his poetry is in
our language, and, therefore, we are obliged to devote best of
our energies to understand it. For the first time when I read
Iqbal's poetry I felt that many of his verses could be
understood only with the help of detailed explanatory notes and
comments, and regretfully I could find such commentaries
nowhere. It is essential to compile such annotated editions.
Even the Persian speaking people are in need of such
commentaries in order to fully grasp the ideas and themes dealt
with by Iqbal. Today the major part of Iqbal's teaching directly
concerns us, and some part of it is also relevant to the world
that has not gone our way so far and has to understand it in the
same manner as we did.
Our people have translated into action his doctrine of the
selfhood (khudi). They have invigorated it and have brought it
into action in the world of actuality. Now our people do not
have to be asked to recover their selfhood. Today we are
perfectly aware of being on our feet. We are proud of our
culture and our cultural heritage, and are confident that we can
develop it further on the basis of our ideology and thought. Of
course for a long time we were made to depend upon others
regarding the material aspect of our life, but we are trying to
get rid of these foreign fetters gradually and this process is
going on. The Muslim peoples are anyhow in need of comprehending
the meaning of selfhood; especially the eminent Muslims, whether
they are politically active or culturally creative, need to
embrace Iqbal's message. They have to realize that Islam in
itself, in its essence and in its nature, possesses the richest
potentialities of conducting the affairs of the individual lives
and human societies, and does not need to look towards others.
We do not advocate for summarily dismissing other cultures and
close our doors to them. We should assimilate them, but in the
manner as a living body absorbs the elements that are essential
for its life, and not like a dead and unconscious body which is
injected by others whatever they desire to inject into it. We
have the capacity of assimilating from other cultures whatever
is relevant to us. As Iqbal has said repeatedly, we can learn
the modern science and philosophy from the West, but the ardour
and zest for life can never be borrowed from others:
Wisdom we have learnt from the teachings of the Western
thinkers.
Ardour for life we have acquired in the company of men of
insight.
It means that the Western society and culture is wanting in
ardor and fervor, and Iqbal was quicker than any other person in
perceiving this phenomenon. He could anticipate the dangers
inherent in the Western civilization and its materialistic
culture, and warned the people in advance that it was devoid of
the spiritual elements essential for human welfare. Fortunately,
today the consciousness of selfhood and Islamic identity is
abounding in our country among the people. Our policy based on
the principle of "Neither the East nor the West" is in
conformity with what Iqbal advised and wished to be pursued. Our
policy of self-reliance is identical with Iqbal's views. We, in
our love for the Prophet (S), in our commitment to the Quran, in
our emphasis on learning the Quran, and in our conviction that
the Quran and Islam are to be made the basis of all the
revolutions and movements, are exactly following the path that
was shown to us by Iqbal. At that time, nobody was attentive
enough to pay heed to Iqbal's counsel. In those days there were
not many people who could understand Iqbal's message and his
language. Iqbal's books are replete with complaints and
remonstrances‑remonstrances as to why people do not understand
his message and look towards the West for guidance. In his
introduction to Rumuz‑e bikhudi also he remonstrates with the
Islamic Ummah.
Thou Overt appointed to be the seal of all nations;
Thou Overt destined to be the end of all the beginnings;
Thine `ulama' were made equal to prophets;
Thy martyred comrades could breathe life into the hearts.
Why art thine eyes enchanted by the beauty of the church?
Why host thou fallen away from the path of the Holy Ka'bah?
Believe me. The dust of thy street rises to form heavenly
spheres;
O thy visage attracts the eyes of the entire world.
Why art thou rising and falling restlessly life a wave?
What is that spectacle thou art going to behold?
Learn the secret of lining passionately on your own from the
moth;
Build thy nest amidst the tongues of flames
Kindle the fire of lone from within thy soul;
Restore thy bond with the spirit of al‑Mustafa.
I have left the company of the church‑Boers,
To see to it that the veil is raised from thy face.
O my comrade, thou art bewitched by the charm of others
And singing odes to praise golden locks and rosy cheeks.
Here, by the epithet hamnawa (comrade) Iqbal means to refer to
his contemporaries and those who were of late introduced to the
Western culture and were intoxicated with the Western
value‑system, He compares their attitude with that of his own:
He rubs his forehead at the foot of the Saqi,
He is lost in the story of the Magi's children,
While I bleed, struck by the crescent of thine eyebrows,
Happy that my blood is soaked in the dust of thy street.
My art has been over and above eulogizing worldly lords;
My head never bowed before imperial courts.
He reminds the Muslim Ummah that it has never been his custom to
sing praises, but he eulogized her so passionately because of
his deep love for Islam:
Poetry bestowed upon me ability to make a mirror out of words,
And it has freed me from asking Alexander's favor.
I hate to be burdened by the favors of others
My lips are pursed and hands shut like a bud in the garden.
After giving free vent to his feeling of disdain and
indifference to the worldly attainments, Iqbal, who never
humbled himself by prostrating before anybody, kneels down on
his knees in front of the Muslim Ummah, and begs them to realize
their own worth and pay heed to the words of the Quran:
At thy door my soul is bleeding to beg a small favour of thee,
In return it offers thee all her ardour and pathos.
A river comes down trickling from the blue sky,
Its water is distilled through my burning heart,
And I direct its course through channels thinner than rivulets,
To make it steadily flow and water thine orchard.
This was just a brief account and a short glimpse of our dear
Iqbal's personality, who was undoubtedly a bright star on the
horizon of the East. We hope that we‑ shall acknowledge our
indebtedness to him and would be able to recompense for the
delay made by our people in recognizing Iqbal's worth during the
span of last forty, fifty years. I request the researchers,
poets, orators, writers, publishers, the government
organizations, the Ministry of Culture and Advanced Learning,
the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of
Islamic Guidance, each of them, to do their best to reintroduce
and revive the spirit of Iqbal in the manner befitting his
memory. I propose that his poetry and his writings be reproduced
and compiled in the form of books, and his poetical works like
Asrar‑e khudi (The Secrets of the Self), Rumuz‑e bikhudi (The
Mysteries of Selflessness), Gulshan‑e raz (Garden of Mystery),
Jawid nameh (Pilgrimage to Eternity), etc. be reprinted and each
of them published separately. This work has been done in
Pakistan to some extent, but the people of Pakistan cannot be
fully benefited from those ideas as today the Persian language
is not in currency there as in the past. I wish this gap also to
be filled. It is further hoped that our Pakistani brothers
present in this meeting as well as the writers of the Indian
subcontinent realize their responsibility and rise to the
occasion to resist the vicious policies of the past governments
regarding the Persian language, which possesses great treasures
of Islamic culture and in which the major part of Islamic
culture is preserved. They should give currency to this language
in the Subcontinent where there are great numbers of Muslims;
especially in Pakistan this work needs to be done with a sense
of urgency.
In our own country also the publication of Iqbal's books should
be carried out on a large scale and the artists should
illustrate Iqbal's works with suitable paintings, the musicians
should sing his poems set in popular tunes in order to render
them effectively and bring to the tongues of the young and the
old. I hope that God Almighty will enable us to repay the debt
that the Muslim Ummah owes to him.
Wa al‑salam `alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.
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