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| Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753-1811), the leader of the Mexican War of Independence, executed by the Spaniards on July 30, 1811 |
"A disinterested foreign rule is an impossibility. Yet the tutelage of nations is a necessity. The fee paid for this tuition is sometimes a nation’s daily bread. The Mexicans had to undergo a severe training under the Spaniards before they could undertake to manage their own affairs."
Iqbal, Stray Reflections (1910)
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| The last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar being captured by the British |
"To my mind, government, whatever its form, is one of the determining forces of a people’s character. Loss of political power is equally ruinous to nations’ character. Ever since their political fall the Musalmans of India have undergone a rapid ethical deterioration. Of all the Muslim communities of the world they are probably the meanest in point of character. I do not mean to deplore our former greatness in this country, for, I confess, I am almost a fatalist in regard to the various forces that ultimately decide the destinies of nations. As a political force we are perhaps no longer required; but we are, I believe, still indispensable to the world as the only testimony to the absolute Unity of God – Our value among nations, then, is purely evidential."
Iqbal, Stray Reflections (1910)
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| Iqbal in Spain, 1933 |
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| Beethoven in 1814 painted by Blasius Hofel |
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| Cover of a new English translation of Shabistri's book |
Q. First of all I am intrigued about my thought – what is it which we call thinking? What kind of thought is needed on the path, why is it sometimes a virtue and sometimes a sin?
Q. What is this ocean whose shore is knowledge? What is that pearl which is found in its depth?
Q. What is the union of the contingent and the necessary? What are near and far, more and less?
Q. How did the temporal and eternal separate so that one became the world, and the other God? If the knower and the known are one pure essence, what are the aspirations of this handful of earth?
Q. What am I? Tell me what ‘I’ means. What is the meaning of ‘travel into yourself’?
Q. What is that part which is greater than its whole? What is the way to find that part?
Q. Of what sort is this traveler who is the wayfarer? Of whom shall I say that this person has attained completion?
Q. What point does the claim, ‘I am the Creative Truth’ imply? Do you think that this mystery was mere nonsense?
Q. Who was it that at last became familiar with the secret of Oneness? Who is the wise one that has true awareness?
Further reading: see my book The Republic of Rumi: A Novel of Reality (2007) for a demonstration of how the "Nine Questions" contribute to the internal coherence in the poetical works of Iqbal. An updated online version is also available for free.
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| Part of a sketch for Symphony No.6 in Beethoven's hand |
Stage 1: Inquiry
Nasir (which means protector, helper or supporter and hence a literal equivalent of the Greek name Alexandros, or Alexander) is in search of an unseen ideal, and is taking into account all the factors and people in his surroundings (including the working class). He is certain that Time itself will carry him forward in his journey as long as the desire is there.
Stage 2: Discovery
The ideal has manifested itself in Najma (literally meaning a celestial body, or a little star), but the protagonist is yet to know if the longing is mutual (note the wording of the first stanza).
Stage 3: Transcendence
The ideal reciprocates, and now the protagonist has found answer to the question asked in the previous stage (compare the opening lines of this song with the first stanza of the previous).
Stage 4: Freedom
The lover and the beloved are now bonded in a relationship that has a life of its own
Stage 5: Action
Deceived into believing that his ideal has turned out to be less than what he thought, the protagonist carries on the journey nevertheless: returning to the night club of the first song, he isn't "looking" any more. Thus we see his grief but also his maturity, and we may notice that self-development has taken place. This is "action" because now he is interacting with his original environment in a very different manner from how he was at the beginning. The video begins with his turning his face away from the artificial lamps of the night club and ends with him walking out of darkness into a source of light that is larger than life.
Stage 6: Expansion
Misunderstood by the one who claimed to love her, Najma asks some questions about the rules of destiny and the travails of love.
Stage 7: Creation
Since accepting a false accusation against his ideal, the protagonist has ended up with a household where unwanted guests are partying behind his back (note the invitees listed in the two stanzas of the song).
End of Stage 7: the Climax
The protagonist is now presuming that the ideal he pursued is no more (a false news about Najma's death has reached Nasir). He is at the end of his journey, contemplating suicide by falling off a cliff. His ideal saves him by returning, as if it were, from beyond this life. Note that last stanza establishes a union between the lover, the beloved and God (and the proverbial line used here, "God is the friend of those who have no friend" is actually a translation from the Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi). The video itself is full of allusions: note how the sequence from 0:40 to 0:47 alludes to the iconic tree in the movie Gone With the Wind, where the tree is the symbol of an entire society coming back to life after the devastation of a civil war. Such touches bring a meaning to this story beyond an ordinary tale about lovers, and at least some of the audience (like myself) are compelled to interpret it as an allegory about societies and nations.
Further Reading:
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| Emperor Alamgir is attacked by a tiger: in Secrets and Mysteries, Iqbal used this parable for illustrating the point that belief in the Unity of God puts an end to fear. Read in the original Persian or translation) |
The central proposition which regulates the structure of Islam then is that there is fear in nature, and the object of Islam is to free man from fear. This view of the universe indicates also the Islamic view of the metaphysical nature of man. If fear is the force which dominates man and counteracts his ethical progress, man must be regarded as a unit of force, an energy, a will, a germ of infinite power, the gradual unfoldment of which must be the object of all human activity. The essential nature of man, then, consists in will, not intellect or understanding.
To my mind, governement, whatever its form, is one of the determining forces of a people's character. Loss to political power is equally ruinous to nations' character. Ever since their political fall the Musalmans of India have undergone a rapid ethical deterioration. Of all the Muslim communities of the world they are probably the meanest in point of character.Harsh as this criticism of his own community may sound, it is interesting to notice that here again the decisive psychological factor was fear - or to be precise, how the loss of political power creates insecurity, and that in turns leads to meanness in character. Consistent with the proposition he made in 'The Mysteries of Selflessness' (i.e. fear breeds dissension), Iqbal may have later arrived at the conclusion that political insecurity diminished the collective instinct in his community. In 1930, he stated in his famous Allahabad Address:
The second evil from which the Muslims of India are suffering is that the community is fast losing what is called the herd-instinct. This makes it possible for individuals and groups to start independent careers without contributing to the general thought and activity of the community.4. Fear of majority in Europe
The reaction against Democracy in England and France is a very significant phenomenon. But in order to grasp the meaning of this phenomenon the student of political sciences should not content himself merely with the investigation and discovery of the purely historical causes which have brought it about; he must go deeper and search the psychological causes of this reaction. (See also 'Reaction against democracy in the West').5. Fear of Islam in the mind of Europe
I am afraid the old European idea of a blood-thirsty Islam is still lingering in the mind of Mr. Dickinson. All men and not Muslims alone are meant for the Kingdom of God on earth, provided they say good-bye to their idols of race and nationality, and treat one another as personalities.6. Postscript: "Dare and Live"
Iqbal... rises above the average philosopher, as the essence of his teachings is a beautiful blend of thought and action. He combines in himself the idealism of a poet and the realism of a man who took practical view of things. In Iqbal this compromise is essentially Islamic. In fact it is nothing but Islam. His ideal therefore is life according to the teachings of Islam with a motto, "Dare and Live."
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| Iqbal (center) with King Nadir (2nd from left) during official visit to Afghanistan in 1933 |
Javid Nama (1932)The verdict of history is that buffer states have never been able to form themselves into great political units. So was the case with Syria – a buffer state between the Empire of Rome and that of the Persians. It seems difficult to forecast the future of Afghanistan.
Translated by A. J. Arberry
Asia is a form cast of water and clay;
in that form the Afghan nation is the heart;
if it is corrupt, all Asia is corrupt,
if it is dilated, all Asia is dilated.
So long as the heart is free, the body is free,
else, the body is a straw in the path of the wind.
Like the body, the heart too is bound by laws—
the heart dies of hatred, lives of faith.
The power of faith derives from unity;
when unity becomes visible, it is a nation.
Imitation of the West seduces the East from itself;
these peoples have need to criticize the West.
The power of the West comes not from lute and rebeck,
not from the dancing of unveiled girls,
not from the magic of tulip cheeked enchantresses,
not from naked legs and bobbed hair;
its solidity springs not from irreligion,
its glory derives not from the Latin script.
The power of the West comes from science and technology,
and with that selfsame flame its lamp is bright.
Wisdom derives not from the cut and trim of clothes;
the turban is no impediment to science and technology.
America seems to be a healthy element in Western civilization, the reason for which perhaps is that it is free from the trammels of old traditions and that its collective intuition is receptive to new ideas and influences.
Iqbal, The Message of the East (1923);Translated by Hadi Husain
