بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
The poem below is “عرضِ حالِ مصنف بحضورِ رحمة للعالمین” from Iqbal’s Rumūz-e-Bekhudī. The International Iqbal Society lists it under Rumūz-e-Bekhudī.
1
ای ظهور تو شبابِ زندگی
جلوهات تعبیرِ خوابِ زندگی
O you whose appearance is the youth and freshness of life;
your radiance is the interpretation of life’s dream.
2
ای زمین از بارگاهت ارجمند
آسمان از بوسهٔ بامت بلند
O earth, honored by your court;
the sky itself is raised by kissing your roof.
3
شش جهت روشن ز تابِ روی تو
ترک و تاجیک و عرب، هندوی تو
All six directions shine from the light of your face;
Turk, Tajik, Arab, and Hindu all belong to you.
4
از تو بالا پایهٔ این کائنات
فقرِ تو سرمایهٔ این کائنات
Through you, the universe gains its rank;
your holy poverty is the treasure of creation.
5
در جهان شمعِ حیات افروختی
بندگان را خواجگی آموختی
You lit the candle of life in the world;
you taught servants how to become masters.
6
بی تو از نابودمندیها خجل
پیکرانِ این سرای آب و گل
Without you, the bodies of this house of water and clay
would be ashamed of their own nothingness.
7
تا دمِ تو آتشی از گل گشود
تودههای خاک را آدم نمود
Your breath drew fire out of clay;
it turned heaps of dust into Adam.
8
ذره دامنگیرِ مهر و ماه شد
یعنی از نیروی خویش آگاه شد
The tiny particle reached for the sun and moon;
in other words, it became aware of its own power.
9
تا مرا افتاد بر رویت نظر
از اَب و اُم گشتهای محبوبتر
Ever since my gaze fell upon your face,
you became dearer to me than father and mother.
10
عشق در من آتشی افروخت است
فرصتش بادا که جانم سوخت است
Love has lit a fire within me;
blessed be the moment that burned my soul.
11
نالهای مانندِ نی سامانِ من
آن چراغِ خانهٔ ویرانِ من
A reed-like cry is all my provision;
it is the lamp of my ruined house.
12
از غمِ پنهان نگفتن مشکل است
باده در مینا نهفتن مشکل است
It is hard not to speak of hidden grief;
it is hard to hide wine inside the flask.
13
مسلم از سرِّ نبی بیگانه شد
باز این بیتالحرم بتخانه شد
The Muslim has become estranged from the Prophet’s secret;
this sacred sanctuary has once again become an idol-house.
14
از منات و لات و عزی و هبل
هر یکی دارد بتی اندر بغل
Of Manāt, Lāt, ʿUzzā, and Hubal,
each one now carries an idol in his arms.
15
شیخِ ما از برهمن کافرتر است
زانکه او را سومنات اندر سر است
Our shaykh is more idolatrous than the Brahmin,
for Somnath itself is lodged within his mind.
16
رختِ هستی از عرب برچیدهای
در خمستانِ عجم خوابیدهای
You have packed away your inheritance from Arabia;
you sleep in the wine-cellar of alien customs.
17
شل ز برفابِ عجم اعضای او
سردتر از اشکِ او صهبای او
His limbs are weakened by the icy water of foreign ways;
his wine is colder than his tears.
18
همچو کافر از اجل ترسندهای
سینهاش فارغ ز قلبِ زندهای
Like an unbeliever, he fears death;
his breast is empty of a living heart.
19
نعشش از پیشِ طبیبان بردهام
در حضورِ مصطفی آوردهام
I have carried his corpse away from the doctors;
I have brought it into the presence of Mustafa ﷺ.
20
مرده بود، از آبِ حیوان گفتمش
سرّی از اسرارِ قرآن گفتمش
He was dead, so I spoke to him of the water of life;
I told him a secret from the secrets of the Qur’an.
21
داستانی گفتم از یارانِ نجد
نکهتی آوردم از بستانِ نجد
I told him a story of the companions of Najd;
I brought him a fragrance from the garden of Najd.
22
محفل از شمعِ نوا افروختم
قوم را رمزِ حیات آموختم
I lit the gathering with the candle of song;
I taught the nation the secret of life.
23
گفت بر ما بندد افسونِ فرنگ
هست غوغایش ز قانونِ فرنگ
He said, “Europe casts its spell over us;
all this uproar comes from Europe’s law.”
24
ای بصیری را ردا بخشندهای
بربطِ سلما مرا بخشندهای
O you who granted Busiri the mantle;
O you who granted me the lute of Salmā.
25
ذوقِ حق ده این خطااندیش را
اینکه نشناسد متاعِ خویش را
Give the taste of truth to this mistaken thinker,
to one who does not recognize his own treasure.
26
گر دلم آئینهٔ بیجوهر است
ور بحرفم غیرِ قرآن مضمر است
If my heart is a mirror without brightness,
or if anything other than the Qur’an is hidden in my words,
27
ای فروغت صبحِ اعصار و دهور
چشمِ تو بینندهٔ ما فیالصدور
O you whose light is the dawn of ages and eras;
your eye sees what is hidden within the breasts.
28
پردهٔ ناموسِ فکرم چاک کن
این خیابان را ز خارم پاک کن
Tear open the veil that guards my thought;
clear this path of the thorns I have planted.
29
تنگ کن رختِ حیات اندر برم
اهلِ ملت را نگهدار از شرم
Make the garment of life tighten upon me;
protect the people of the community from my disgrace.
30
سبز کشتِ نابسامانم مکن
بهرهگیر از ابرِ نیسانم مکن
Do not let my disordered field grow green;
do not let it benefit from the April rain-cloud.
31
خشک گردان باده در انگورِ من
زهر ریز اندر میِ کافورِ من
Dry up the wine within my grapes;
pour poison into my camphor-like wine.
32
روزِ محشر خوار و رسوا کن مرا
بینصیب از بوسهٔ پا کن مرا
On the Day of Gathering, make me humiliated and exposed;
deprive me of the honor of kissing your feet.
33
گر در اسرارِ قرآن سفتهام
با مسلمانان اگر حق گفتهام
But if I have strung pearls from the secrets of the Qur’an,
if I have spoken truth to the Muslims,
34
ای که از احسانِ تو ناکس، کس است
یک دعایت مزدِ گفتارم بس است
O you by whose kindness a nobody becomes somebody,
one prayer from you is enough reward for my words.
35
عرض کن پیشِ خدای عزوجل
عشقِ من گردد همآغوشِ عمل
Present this request before God Almighty:
may my love become joined with action.
36
دولتِ جانِ حزین بخشیدهای
بهرهای از علمِ دین بخشیدهای
You have given wealth to my sorrowful soul;
you have given me a share of religious knowledge.
37
در عمل پایندهتر گردان مرا
آبِ نیسانم گهر گردان مرا
Make me firmer in action;
turn my April raindrop into a pearl.
38
رختِ جان تا در جهان آوردهام
آرزوی دیگری پروردهام
From the moment I brought my soul’s baggage into this world,
I have nurtured another longing.
39
همچو دل در سینهام آسوده است
محرم از صبحِ حیاتم بوده است
It rests in my breast like the heart itself;
it has been my confidant since the dawn of life.
40
از پدر تا نامِ تو آموختم
آتشِ این آرزو افروختم
From the moment I learned your name from my father,
I lit the fire of this longing.
41
تا فلک دیرینهتر سازد مرا
در قمارِ زندگی بازد مرا
As the sky makes me older,
as it gambles me away in the game of life,
42
آرزوی من جوانتر میشود
این کهن صهبا گرانتر میشود
my longing grows younger,
and this old wine grows more precious.
43
این تمنا زیرِ خاکم گوهر است
در شبم تابِ همین یک اختر است
This desire is a pearl beneath my dust;
in my night, the light of this one star is enough.
44
مدتی با لالهرویان ساختم
عشق با مرغولهمویان باختم
For a while I kept company with tulip-faced beauties;
I played at love with those of curling hair.
45
بادهها با ماهسیمایان زدم
بر چراغِ عافیت دامان زدم
I drank wine with moon-faced beauties;
I set fire to the lamp of safety and ease.
46
برقها رقصید گردِ حاصلم
رهزنان بردند کالای دلم
Lightning danced around my harvest;
robbers carried away the goods of my heart.
47
این شراب از شیشهٔ جانم نریخت
این زرِ سارا ز دامانم نریخت
Yet this wine did not spill from the bottle of my soul;
this pure gold did not fall from my robe.
48
عقلِ آزرپیشهام زنار بست
نقشِ او در کشورِ جانم نشست
My idol-making intellect tied the sacred thread around me;
its image settled in the kingdom of my soul.
49
سالها بودم گرفتارِ شکی
از دماغِ خشکِ من لاینفکی
For years I was trapped in a doubt
that would not leave my dry intellect.
50
حرفی از علمالیقین ناخواندهای
در گمانآبادِ حکمت ماندهای
I had not learned even one letter of the knowledge of certainty;
I remained stuck in the town of philosophical conjecture.
51
ظلمتم از تابِ حق بیگانه بود
شامم از نورِ شفق بیگانه بود
My darkness was estranged from the light of truth;
my evening was estranged from the glow of dawn.
52
این تمنا در دلم خوابیده ماند
در صدف مثلِ گهر پوشیده ماند
This longing remained asleep in my heart;
like a pearl in its shell, it stayed hidden.
53
آخر از پیمانهٔ چشمم چکید
در ضمیرِ من نواها آفرید
At last it dripped from the cup of my eyes;
it created songs within my inner being.
54
ای ز یادِ غیرِ تو جانم تهی
بر لبش آرم اگر فرمان دهی
O you whose remembrance empties my soul of all others,
I will bring this longing to my lips if you command.
55
زندگی را از عمل سامان نبود
پس مرا این آرزو شایان نبود
My life had not been ordered by action;
therefore this wish did not seem worthy of me.
56
شرم از اظهارِ او آید مرا
شفقتِ تو جرأت افزاید مرا
I feel ashamed to express it,
but your compassion gives me courage.
57
هست شأنِ رحمتت گیتینواز
آرزو دارم که میرم در حجاز
It is the nature of your mercy to nurture the world;
I long to die in the Hijaz.
58
مسلمی از ماسوا بیگانهای
تا کجا زناریِ بتخانهای
A Muslim is one who is free from everything besides God;
how long will you remain a thread-wearer in the idol-house?
59
حیف چون او را سرآید روزگار
پیکرش را دیر گیرد در کنار
Alas, when his time comes to an end,
the temple takes his body into its embrace.
60
از درت خیزد اگر اجزای من
وای امروزم، خوشا فردای من
If the particles of my body rise from your threshold,
woe to my today, but blessed is my tomorrow.
61
فرخا شهری که تو بودی در آن
ای خنک خاکی که آسودی در آن
Blessed is the city where you once lived;
blessed is the soil where you rest.
62
مسکنِ یار است و شهرِ شاهِ من
پیشِ عاشق این بود حبالوطن
It is the dwelling of the Beloved and the city of my King;
for the lover, this is what love of homeland means.
63
کوکبم را دیدهٔ بیدار بخش
مرقدی در سایهٔ دیوار بخش
Give the star of my destiny an awakened eye;
grant me a grave in the shade of your wall.
64
تا بیاساید دلِ بیتابِ من
بستگی پیدا کند سیمابِ من
Then my restless heart may find rest;
then my quicksilver soul may become still.
65
با فلک گویم که آرامم نگر
دیدهای آغازم، انجامم نگر
I will say to the sky: “Look at my repose;
you saw my beginning — now behold my end.”
This poem is Iqbal’s intimate petition before the Prophet ﷺ, whom he addresses as رحمة للعالمین — the Mercy to all worlds. It begins with praise: the Prophet ﷺ is presented as the one through whom life receives youth, meaning, light, and direction. Iqbal is not writing ordinary admiration; he is showing the Prophet ﷺ as the living center of civilization, faith, human dignity, and moral awakening.
The middle section becomes a sharp diagnosis of Muslim decline. Iqbal says the Muslim has become estranged from سرِّ نبی — the secret of the Prophet ﷺ. That “secret” is not hidden information; it is the living Prophetic spirit: tawḥīd, courage, mercy, discipline, freedom from idols, and action rooted in faith. His criticism of idols is not only about stone idols. He is also attacking the idols of ego, empty ritual, borrowed thinking, fear, laziness, and lifeless scholarship.
The key couplet is:
عرض کن پیشِ خدای عزوجل
عشقِ من گردد همآغوشِ عمل
Present this request before God Almighty:
may my love become joined with action.
This is the heart of the poem. For Iqbal, love for the Prophet ﷺ must not remain only emotion, poetry, or devotion of the tongue. It must become عمل: character, service, truthfulness, courage, justice, and rebuilding of the self and the community.
The final section becomes personal and tender. Iqbal confesses his own intellectual wandering, doubts, distractions, and worldly attractions. Yet one longing remained pure from childhood: love for the Prophet ﷺ and the desire for nearness to the Hijaz. The poem ends with the image of rest near the Prophet’s city — a spiritual homecoming after a restless life.
