Muhammad Iqbal (November 1877 – 21 April 1938) was a poet, philosopher, thinker idealogue, thinker, and politician from Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan), whose poetry in Urdu and Persian is considered to be among the greatest of the modern era, and whose vision of an independent state for the Muslims of British India was to inspire the creation of Pakistan. He is commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal .
After studying in England and Germany, Iqbal established a law practice but concentrated primarily on writing scholarly works on politics, economics, history, philosophy, and religion. He is best known for his poetic works, including Asrar-e-Khudi—which brought a knighthood— Rumuz-e-Bekhudi, and the Bang-e-Dara. In Iran, where he is known as Iqbāl-e Lāhorī (اقبال لاهوری Iqbal of Lahore), he is highly regarded for his Persian works.
Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation across the world, but specifically in India; a series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.
One of the most prominent leaders of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal encouraged the creation of a “state in northwestern India for Indian Muslims” in his 1930 presidential address. Iqbal encouraged and worked closely with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and he is known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan (“The Thinker of Pakistan”), Shair-e-Mashriq (“The Poet of the East”), and Hakeem-ul-Ummat (“The Sage of Ummah”). He is officially recognised as the “national poet” in Pakistan.
Following are the five most famous couplets by Iqbal:
ḳhudī ko kar buland itnā ki har taqdīr se pahle, ḳhudā bande se ḳhud pūchhe batā terī razā kyā hai
isī roz o shab meñ ulajh kar na rah jā, ki tere zamān o makāñ aur bhī haiñ
nahīñ terā nasheman qasr-e-sultānī ke gumbad par, tū shāhīñ hai baserā kar pahāḌoñ kī chaTānoñ meñ
Quwwat-e-Ishq Se Har Past Ko Bala Kar De Dehr Mein Ism-e-Muhammad (S.A.W.W) Se Ujala Kar De
Khudi ko kar buland itna kay har taqdeer say pehlay, khuda banday se khud puche bata teri raza kya hai
Various artists have covered Iqbal’s poetry over the years, some of the works are listed below:
