Relationship with the Qur'an

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Iqbal, in one of the poems in his Rumuz-e-Bekhudi ( Secrets of Selflessness), states that the foundation of any community is only possible through established principles of what may be called Constitution, or Law, and that the foundation of Muslim community is the Qur'an. However, he laments:

 

ملتي را رفت چون آئين ز دست
مثل خاک اجزاي او از هم شکست

When a community forsakes its Constitution
It disintegrates into dust, defeated.

هستي مسلم ز آئين است و بس
باطن دين نبي اين است و بس

The very existence of a Muslim rests on this Constitution

And nothing else,

Which is the very core of the faith brought by the Apostle (salallahu alayhi wasallam)

And nothing else.

برگ گل شد چون ز آئين بسته شد
گل ز آئين بسته شد گلدسته شد

A rose is shaped by conjoining of its component petals, according to a system

And the roses, likewise shape a bouquet.

نغمه از ضبط صدا پيداستي

ضبط چون رفت از صدا غوغاستي

A melody is created by organized utterances of sounds,
Which otherwise is chaotic cacophony.

در گلوي ما نفس موج هواست
چون هوا پابند ني گردد ، نواست

The breath we draw within our throats, is but a wave of air which, 

In the reed flute, is shaped into a soulful note.

تو همي داني که آئين تو چيست؟
زير گردون سر تمکين تو چيست؟

Do you know what this Constitution is? 

Wherein lie the secrets of your immense power?

آن کتاب زنده قرآن حکيم
حکمت او لايزال است و قديم

It is the living Book, that wise Qur'an
Whose wisdom is eternal

نسخه ي اسرار تکوين حيات
بي ثبات از قوتش گيرد ثبات

The secrets of the design of life itself
Are recorded therein

Any wavering is granted stability by its potency.

حرف او را ريب ني تبديل ني
آيه اش شرمنده ي تأويل ني

Its words are certain, and unchangeable
Its signs not subjugate to loose interpretations

پخته تر سوداي خام از زور او
در فتد با سنگ ، جام از زور او

It emboldens the cup, that it acquires fearlessness
Even to dash head-on against a rock.

مي برد پابند و آزاد آورد
صيد بندان را بفرياد آورد

It casts away the shackling chains, and leads the free man forth
And bring disgrace to the transgressors

نوع انسان را پيام آخرين
حامل او رحمة للعالمين

The final message to all humankind
Was borne by him elect of God, the Mercy to All Mankind (salallahu alayhi wasallam)

ارج مي گيرد ازو ناارجمند
بنده را از سجده سازد سر بلند

By this (Qur'an) one devoid of worth, attains value of highest level
The prostrate slave lifts up his head on high.

رهزنان از حفظ او رهبر شدند
از کتابي صاحب دفتر شدند

It transforms even highwaymen into protectors and guides
Who due to this book, and by this book, became qualified high masters of the rolls;

دشت پيمايان ز تاب يک چراغ
صد تجلي از علوم اندر دماغ

Rustic desert‐farers through this lamp’s glow
Attained a hundred revelations to their brains
And succeeded in every science

آنکه دوش کوه بارش بر نتافت
سطوت او زهره ي گردون شکافت

So that, whose load the mountain’s massive shoulders could not bear,
Clove by its might, the power of the spheres.

بنگر آن سرمايه ي آمال ما
گنجد اندر سينه ي اطفال ما

See how this investment of all our hopes
Is lodged securely in our children’s breasts!

آن جگر تاب بيابان کم آب
چشم او احمر ز سوز آفتاب

The weary wanderer in the wilderness
Thirsty, eyes aflame in the hot sun,

خوشتر از آهو رم جمازه اش
گرم چون آتش دم جمازه اش

Riding a camel nimbler than the agile deer,
With its fiery breath

رخت خواب افکنده در زير نخيل
صبحدم بيدار از بانگ رحيل

When he would look to sleep casting him down beneath some shady palm,
Then with the dawn awake, as the caravan
clanged for departure

دشت سير از بام و در ناآشنا
هرزه گردد از حضر ناآشنا

Ever traveling through the unfamiliar wilderness
A stranger to roof and door or a fixed abodes

تا دلش از گرمي قرآن تپيد
موج بيتابش چو گوهر آرميد

When his wild heart responded vibrantly

To the Qur'an's warm glow, its restless waves calmed like a sequestered pearl.

خواند ز آيات مبين او سبق
بنده آمد ‘ خواجه رفت از پيش حق

Reading the clear lesson of its Signs
He who had come a slave,
Went forth a leader with Truth

از جهانباني نوازد ساز او
مسند جم گشت پا انداز او

Now from his instrument, gushed forth new melodies
Even the high throne of Jamshid, was humbled by his gait

شهر ها از گرد پايش ريختند
صد چمن از يک گلش انگيختند

Cities sprang forth from his trodden dust
A hundred bowers blossomed from this single rose.

اي گرفتار رسوم ايمان تو
شيوه هاي کافري زندان تو

O you who have enslaved his faith to local rites and customs
Imprisoned by the charms of heathendom,

قطع کردي امر خود را در زبر
جاده پيماي الي «شئي نکر»

You who hast torn your heritage to shreds
Treading the long road to a detestable end,

گر تو ميخواهي مسلمان زيستن
نيست ممکن جز بقرآن زيستن

If you wish to live the Muslim life anew
This cannot be, except that you live by the Qur'an

صوفي پشمينه پوش حال مست
از شراب نغمه ي قوال مست

The Sufis in their Pashmina garbs are intoxicated
By the melodious chorus of the ecstatic Qawwals

آتش از شعر عراقي در دلش
در نمي سازد بقرآن محفلش

Hearts aflame due to the fierce fervour of Iraqi’s verse!
His state has little to do with the austere Qur'an

از کلاه و بوريا تاج و سرير
فقر او از خانقاهان باج گير

The crown and the throne is replaced by a dervish cap and mat of reeds
His boastful poverty prospers due to
Rich tributes endowed on his hermitage

واعظ دستان زن افسانه بند
معني او پست و حرف او بلند

The preacher, with his wealth of anecdotes
And wordy legends,
Has little truth to tell for all his fine grandiloquence

از خطيب و ديلمي گفتار او
با ضعيف و شاذ و مرسل کار او

Khatib and Dailami are on his lips all the time
His job is to delight in arguments on authenticity of Tradition

از تلاوت بر تو حق دارد کتاب
تو ازو کامي که ميخواهي بياب

It is your duty to recite the Book and seek its Truth
And therein find your true purpose