His ornamentation of Urdu poetry with Persian and Arabic terms and proverbs has set an attraction of its own to his poetry which has added a certain new flavor to conventional Urdu poetry. Especially Urdu poetry was exposed to certain new wonderful and powerful dimensions of self realization and universal Muslim brotherhood, all courtesy to Allama Iqbal's literary brilliance.
No wonder both Persian and Urdu poetry, are indebted heavily to Iqbal's poetic endeavors. He teaches and tries to inculcate the essence of Khudi into Muslims by exposing them to their brilliant past, giving them the strength and motivation for a Renaissance, for the betterment in their present, setting a foundation for yet another buoyant future, all by the means of self actualization/realization, cultivation and assertion of their long lost Khudi. The main theme of Allama Iqbal's Urdu and Persian poetry remains Khudi or Selfhood. One sees Allama Iqbal's top poetic self in Urdu poetry in Bal-i-Jibril. His first Urdu poetic compilation was named Bang-i-Dara (1924) followed by Bal-i-Jibril (1935) and Zarb-i-Kalim (1936).
All of these were in Persian but a small part of the last one contained Urdu poetry as well. He got back to subcontinent after his educational achievements to continue his careers in education and law.Īll the while he continued with his poetry, Persian being the language of his prime interest rather than Urdu, as he believed Persian gave him more room of expression for his philosophical thoughts.Īsrar-i-Khudi (1915) was his first poetic compilation in Persian, followed closely by Rumuz-i-Bekhudi (1917), Payam-i-Mashriq, Zabur-i-Ajam, Javiadnama and Armaghan-i-Hijaz (1938). It was in England that he got involved practically in politics in 1908, elected as a member of executive committee for All India Muslim League of its British Chapter. The Knowledge of Economics or Ilm ul Iqtisad (Urdu translation).īut his untamed quests for knowledge soon lead him to Europe where his educational career culminated even further in various renowned institutions, also becoming a barrister from Lincoln's Inn at London, England. It was where he got his first Urdu publication in 1903, i.e. He accomplished his Bachelor and Master degrees with various distinctions and was appointed to Arabic readership in Oriental College Lahore. Iqbal was educated and groomed initially at home by a renowned scholar of his times, Syed Mir Hassan who furnished Allama Iqbal with the basic knowledge of Urdu, Persian, Arabic, History, Philosophy and Islamic Studies, also discovering and nourishing the talent of his poetry in its initial stages, which lead Allama Iqbal to produce the greatest of Urdu and Persian poetry of all times. Sheikh Nur Muhammd, Allama Iqbal's father, being a pious and religious person himself, arranged best of religious and contemporary education that he could. Sialkot, a small city in the province of Punjab holds the honor of being Allama Iqbal's birth place in 1877. By Asad Asrar Dr Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal's life, thoughts, beliefs, ideologies, accomplishments, achievements and their impact on individuals or even on nations is literally impossible to summarize in such a limited time and space.