Islamabad, 21 April 2022 (TDI): Today marks the 84th death anniversary of Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, a philosopher and the national poet of Pakistan. He is also known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan and Hakeemul Ummat.

Due to a ban on gatherings, various social and literary organizations staged online seminars and conferences to pay respect to Iqbal — also known as Iqbal Lahori in the outside world.

A number of small gatherings and events have been planned to honor the renowned thinker in Pakistan as well as around the world by Pakistani missions.

Allama Iqbal: The Shair e Mashriq

For granting the Muslims of the subcontinent the vision of a separate state where they might live according to their faith and culture, Allama Iqbal is hailed as a national hero.

Iqbal, known as the Shair e Mashriq, also suggested the Two-Nation Theory, which proposed a distinct region on the Indian Subcontinent for Muslims to live in according to their religious and cultural practices.

Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal was born on November 9, 1877, in Sialkot, Pakistan. He went on to become a renowned poet and scholar who fostered a progressive spirit in the Muslim youth of the Subcontinent through his poetry.

In 1906, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College in Cambridge through a scholarship. In 1908, Iqbal received his Ph.D. from Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany.

His dissertation focused on the evolution of metaphysics in Persia. In Heidelberg, Germany, a road is named after Allama Muhammad Iqbal who had spent six months in Heidelberg learning the German language. The road is known as Iqbal Ufer.

Because of his learning and knowledge, people called him ‘Allama’ Iqbal. In 1923, King George V of Britain gave him the title of Allama ‘Sir’ Muhammad Iqbal. Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal died on April 21, 1938.

Iqbal’s house is known as Iqbal Manzil and is located in Sialkot, Pakistan. The house where he lived and died is in Lahore and is known as Javed Manzil.

Iqbal’s Work

The Secrets of the Self was his first collection of poems, published in Persian in 1915. He also wrote the Secrets of Selflessness, Message from the East, and Persian Psalms.

His most notable works include Asrar-e-Khudi, Payam-i-Mashriq, Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i-Kalim, and Armughan-e-Hijaz. In addition to these masterpieces, Allama Iqbal’s poetry has been translated into a variety of languages.

These include Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and English. Iqbal is regarded as a prolific poet, writer, and intellectual theorist in the contemporary era by people from all over the world.

Some Excerpts from Iqbal’s Poetry

کھول آنکھ ، زمیں دیکھ،فلک دیکھ، فِضا دیکھ

مشرق سے نِکلتے ہوئے سورج کو ذرا دیکھ

khol ankh, zameen dekh, falak dekh fiza dekh

mashriq say nikalty huwy suraj ko zara dekh

دِل میں خُدا کا ہونا لازم ہے اقبال

سجدوں میں پڑے رہنے سے جنّت نہیں مِلتی

dil main khuda ka hona lazim ha iqbal

sajdon main pare rehne se jannat nahi milti

اُس قوم کو شمشیر کی حاجت نہی رہتی

ہو جس کے جوانوں کی خودی صورتِ فولاد

us kom ko shamsheer ki hajat nahi rehti

ho jis k jwano ki khudi surat e faulad