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Iqbal's Urdu poem on the 'unlettered prophet'

I can't find the title to this or the original Urdu version.

'...An exhilarating poem by Iqbal, the poet of the East, as he is known in the Muslim world, in which he enchantingly depicts the great favours conferred on humanity by the Prophethood of Muhammad favours which are unique and unparalleled:
Touched by the breath of the unlettered one,
The sands of Arabia began to sprout tulips.
Freedom under his care was reared
The ‘today’ of nations comes from his ‘yesterday’.
He put heart in the body of man,
And from his face the veil he lifted.
Every god of old he destroyed.
Every withered branch by his moisture b-l-o-o-m-e-d.
The heat of the battle of Badr and Hunain,
Haider and Siddiq, Farooq and Hussain.
In the thick of battle the majesty of Adhaan,
The recitation of As-Saffat: 28 at the point of sword.
The scimitar of Ayub, the glance of Bayazid,
Key to the treasures of this world and the next.
Ecstasy of heart and mind from the same goblet,
Fusion of Rumi’s rapture and Razi’s thought.
Knowledge and wisdom, faith and law, polity and rule.
Yearnings hidden within the restless hearts.
Al-Hamara and Taj of beauty breath-taking.
To which even angels pay tribute.
These, too, a fragment of his priceless bequest,
Of his glimpses just one glimpse!
His exterior these enthralling sights,
Of his interior even the knowledge unaware.
Boundless praise be to the Apostle blessed,
Who imparted faith to elevate a handful of dust.
From Mankind’s Debt to the Prophet
By Sayid Abul’Hasan Ali Nadvi

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2 comments:

  1. This translated piece itself was so good/inspiring, I got goosebumps. Shudder to think how powerful these lines might have been in the original Urdu.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish I could read the original=)

    ReplyDelete

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