Today happens to be the 135th birthday of Allama Iqbal; the “Poet of the East” & the cultural titan of the subcontinent (Indians still hymn to his poem Sara Jahan Se Acha). The one below was sent to me by my friend Dr. FR and it is:
One of the masterpieces by Allama Iqbal includes the nazm which goes – “Lab pe aati hai dua …” It is a kind of dua (prayer) which asks God to bless us with some beautiful things like love for the entire world, love for one’s country, love for knowledge that becomes a blessing for the entire mankind and lastly, compassion for all human beings.
This soulful nasheed has been sung by melodious but a little unheard singer — Siza
While the homeland is hosting a national exhibition (and his grandson going slightly off-message) of his life it would be nice to reflect on his still-pertinent thoughts:
“To have a succession of identical thoughts and feelings is to have no thoughts and feelings at all. Such is the lot of most Muslim countries today. They are mechanically repeating old values.” Iqbal.
Finally of course it also happens to be my mother’s birthday (in my immediate family Aug & Oct-Dec are a particularly heavy time for birthdays). Fortune has it so that my father is called Iqbal (as many readers will know) so I like to call today a very “Happy Iqbal & Nasrin Day” for my parents, Iqbal & Nasrin.
