Allama Iqbal Poetry and Writings

There are many facets to Allama Iqbal's personality. He is a great thinker, philosopher, and great poet of Persian and Urdu and in this sense, he is a benefactor of the nation and politically the founder of Pakistan.

Allama Iqbal is a prime figure of Urdu and Persian literature. Unlike conventional Urdu poetry, the theme of Allama Iqbal Poetry is based on Islamic values and Holy Quran, which is used as a source to convey his message to modern-day Muslims. Allama Iqbal's poetry has a keen eye on the Quran, Hadith, the circumstances of East and West, and history which gives an idea of his extensive study. For this reason, the terms and allusions of these factors in his speech have attracted the attention of the reader. Through his poetry, he took a strong stand against the modern democratic and secularism of the British Empire, which was totally against the interest of Muslims at that time. Iqbal became the voice of Muslims, as he continuously recalled the golden days of Islam in his verses and poems like 'Tolu e Islam'.

In the words of Allama Iqbal, there are many prophecies of words and meanings. To access these relationships and the spiritual and aesthetic twists that arise from them, it is necessary to first understand the word on its simple and primitive symbolic head so that it captures the intellect and imagination as well as that creative unit of thought and emotion.

As far as Allama Iqbal poetry is concerned, in terms of breadth and intensity, its effects are greater than sermons. A wise look at human possibilities and effective means of fulfilling them in a completely unfavorable situation and the creative power to discover new depths of life and make it more psychologically, historically, and spiritually meaningful. Unlike the other poets of his time, Allama Iqbal Poetry was not limited to a specific mentality or topic, Iqbal covered a wide range of topics in his poetry, ranging from the history of Muslims to the modern-day democracy, capitalism, and rhymes for children. Even in his book Baang e Dara, there is a portion of funny poetry at the end.

Allama Iqbal Poetry is well known in Urdu and Persian but he never considered himself a poet. In a letter to Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Iqbal wrote

I have never considered myself as a poet. Therefore, I am rival to none nor I compete someone. I have no interest in poetry but yes in order to express my ideology and views, I use the medium of poetry as a platform, considering the conditions and customs of my nation and country

This fact can also be seen in his poetry, as in his book, Bal e Jibreel he says

Khush agai hai Jahan ko Qalandari meri
Warna Sher mera kia hai Shairi kia hai

Iqbal's characteristic is that it is expressed more effectively in his poetry than in philosophy. Iqbal has discovered molds of mutual intention and style of feeling which subjugate all the humane manifestations of time and space to this supreme principle of existence which is perfectly expressed in the human self. Allama Iqbal poetry is a document of man's moral and historical grain on the universe.

This fact can't be ignored that the message of Iqbal was the message of Islam which came in a form, today known as Allama Iqbal Poetry. Of approximately 12000 verses of Allama Iqbal, 7000 are in Persian and the sole reason for this was that back in the 20th century Persian and Arabic were like internationally spoken languages of Muslims. Thus, using the medium of poetry Allama Iqbal tried to give a message of unity and reawakening to the entire Muslims in the world. The other most important aspect of Allama Iqbal Poetry is the message of 'Khudi' (The self reawakening) in which Iqbal explained that nations who lack their ego and self reawakening are humiliated in the world by Allah.

During this journey, Allama Iqbal also wrote some controversial poems like Shikwa Jawab e Shikwa, after which he became the target of some religious scholars who even issued a fatwa, calling Iqbal an infidel.

Read the Books Of Allama Iqbal Poetry here

1. Baang e Dara