Poet for all times

Yesterday – on November 9 – the 146th birthday of our national poet Allama Iqbal, born in the city of Sialkot, was celebrated not only in our beloved country but also in India and other parts of the world. After the partition of the Subcontinent, his birthplace Sialkot became a border city. Both India and Pakistan pay tribute to Iqbal by writing his immortal poems on their border checkposts, reflecting that his poetry is a common value among the people of the Subcontinent.

The main focus of Allama Iqbal’s eternal poetry is the concept of self-esteem, self-sustainability, fear of God and serving humanity. According to him, the self (Khudi) is precious wealth due to which any person or nation can achieve the heights of excellence and prosperity.

In a country under the control of British imperialism, Iqbal, through his revolutionary poetry, gave hope to many in rising again and again during the hard journey of life. In my view, this courage can only be shown by those great personalities who have absolute faith in God Almighty and who love to dedicate their life for serving the people without any bias.

Iqbal played a pivotal role in shaping the character of children through his poetry. Through his poem ‘Aik Pahar Aur Gulehri, he emphasized that in the eyes of God, every small and big creature has its own importance and this is not fair to malign anyone due to social status. All human beings can achieve higher status in society due to their struggle and contributions. In the same way, Allama Iqbal’s ‘Iblees Ki Majlis-e-Shoora’ exposed all the evil tactics by which the imperialist forces used to exploit vulnerable people across the globe.

Allama Iqbal, in the suffocating atmosphere of the Subcontinent, presented his superb poem ‘Shikwa’ to share grievances with God regarding the conditions of Muslims of that time. However, some circles started to criticize him, but soon Allama Iqbal responded to his critics in the form of ‘Jawab-e-Shikwa’, another amazing poem to describe the genuine reasons behind the downfall and depression of the nation. He explained that the laws of nature are the same for all human beings and societies in the world, and every person who moves in the right direction with honesty and dedication eventually achieves success at the end. On the other hand, there is nothing but failure and disaster for those who disobey God’s orders.

Iqbal, through his poetry, also promoted interfaith harmony, emphasizing that all religions urge their followers to respect each other and there is no reason to spread hatred on the basis of faith differences. In this regard, he also paid tribute to the great Hindu and non-Muslim personalities of India.

Undoubtedly, Shri Ramchandra was an honourable and fair ruler who stuck to his principles like the lofty mountains of the Himalayas. Iqbal, in his poetry, called Shri Ram the Imam-e-Hind. Similarly, he praised the teachings of Shri Krishna’s teachings. Iqbal also acknowledged Baba Guru Nanak, a great leader, who delivered the message of oneness and unity in Punjab.

Iqbal in his famous poetry book ‘Javed Nama’, mentioned his fictional meeting with the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha, to express regret that ‘the nation did not pay attention to Gautama, and now his teachings are flourished in other countries’, hinting at Buddhist-majority countries of East Asia.

Today, while celebrating the birthday of Allama Iqbal, we should feel proud that our national poet is a highly respectable personality all over the world. However, we must not limit ourselves just to celebrate his birthday. While adopting a realistic approach, we should admit that we are far away from his concept of self-esteem and self-sustainability. There is a dire need to transform our beloved country according to the ideology of Allama Iqbal so that his dream of peaceful and prosperous Pakistan can be fulfilled. In this regard, every citizen must play their due role devoted to self-reliance, service to humanity and welfare of the entire society.

A belated Happy Birthday to Allama Iqbal!

The writer is a former member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council. He tweets/posts @RVankwani