Though there are many poets with scientific thoughts and concepts, Ghalib and Iqbal are the two whose poetry, when compared to the rest, contains accurate and scientific facts
My long research on the poetry of more than 100 Urdu poets, with reference to their scientific concepts, have given rise to a very interesting picture. According to it, Urdu poets can be classified into three categories.
In the first category are poets in whose verses there is no scientific concept at all, e.g. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mustufa Zaidi and Ada Jaffry. In the second are Dr Wazir Agha, Munir Niazi and Perveen Shakir, some of whose verses contain scientific conception at times accurate and otherwise inaccurate, when analyzed scientifically. In the third category are poets such as Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Zia Jalindhri and Shahida Hasan. Many of their verses are based on scientific concepts that are correct in principle.
Though there are many poets with scientific thoughts and concepts, Ghalib and Iqbal are the two Urdu poets whose poetry, when compared to others, contains a lot accurate and scientifically-proven facts. I have written a book on each of them, describing these concepts. The one on Ghalib has already been published while the book on Iqbal will be published soon.
The scientific concept of Iqbal is somewhat different than Ghalib’s. Overall, the scientific concept of Ghalib is of revelation while that of Iqbal is mostly acquired.
When Iqbal was in Europe for higher education, the continent had recently passed through the industrial revolution. The flood of scientific inventions and discoveries influenced every educated and well-informed person. It permeated Iqbal’s thoughts, also. After reading about these inventions and discoveries, he stored them in his mind. When he composed verses, at some appropriate moment, the scientific knowledge surfaced from his subconscious to enter his thoughts and form verse. Sometimes, this process was so smooth and fine that it all seemed perfectly revealed. During his stay in Europe and after his return to India, he had the same pattern of versification. For example, after he had read about the origin of the earth and our entire solar system, he versified the following couplet:
Haqiqat aik hai har shaiye ki khaki ho kay noori ho,
Lahoo khursheed ka tapkay jo zaray ka jigar cheerain.
Besides absorbing scientific knowledge, Iqbal’s observation was also very keen. The following verses present examples:
Jis tarha doobti hai kashtiy-i-seeminay qamar
Noor-i-khursheed kay toofan main hangaam-i-saher
Barg-i-gul per rakh gaye sanam ka motibad-i-saba
Aur chamkate hai uss moti ko suraj ki kiran
Darya ki tehh mein chashm-i-gardab sou gaye hai
Sahil se lug kay mauj-i-betaab sou gaye hay
Iqbal had the ability to adequately transform into verse the scientific observations and knowledge which permeated his thoughts. His scientific conception was rarely inappropriate and it seems that even after the versification of a couplet, he would examine and revise all its aspects. This is the reason why even his scientific verses are free from inaccuracies.
Nowadays, even some of the great Urdu poets do not pay attention to this side of their poetic composition. As an example, the following couplet of Iftikhar Arif, a well-known poet of Urdu in Pakistan, indicates this flaw:
Sham hui aur sooraj rusta bhool gaya
Kaisa hansta basta ghar khamoosh hua
It is now common knowledge that in our solar system, it is the planets that revolve round the sun. Therefore, how can the sun lose its way? Scientifically, it is unrealistic. Similarly, another well-known Urdu poet, Dr Wazir Agha, says in the following couplet:
Lurakhtay huay paththaroon ko batao
Himala jahan tha waheen par khara hai
The Theory of Continental Drift introduced by Alfred Wagener in 1912 states that the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent on which the Himalaya lies is moving laterally north and has come at its present position after drifting from the neighbourhood of the present-day South Africa. It is said the Himalaya is moving upwards, though the movement is painfully slow. Scientifically, it sounds strange that the Himalaya is standing where it was on the very first day.
A generation better acquainted with scientific facts will find it more difficult to accept such statements, originating from a lack of knowledge and shallow observation. Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi has composed the following couplet for such poets:
Agar such bolna chaho to shairoon main bhi such bolo
Keh ab iss daur ko hajat nahin jadoo nigaron ki
(If you want to speak the truth, speak it in verse, too; the present time does not need magicians)
Iqbal used to read about scientific researches and inventions which were taking place in his time. When Darwin’s Theory of Evolution appeared in the press, according to which everything in this world is in perpetual motion and experiencing internal and external refinement, and only the process of change is permanent, he composed the following couplet:
Sukoon mahal hai qudrat kay karkhanay mein
Sabat aik taghayyur ko hai zamanay mein
Advancements in astronomy in his time influenced Iqbal’s thoughts so much that he composed the following couplet:
Sitaron se aagay jahan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq kay imtehaan aur bhi hain
(There are other worlds beyond the stars, too; the mission of knowledge would continue even if man reaches the stars)
Iqbal also acquired knowledge of the scientific fact that all the elements of the galaxies, such as planets, moons, planets and stars are in a delicate balance due to mutual attraction and thus in orbit. It was with this thought in his mind that he composed the following couplet:
Hai jazb-i-bahami say qayem nizam sara
Posheeda hay yeh nukta taron ki zindagi mein
The permeation of science in the conception of Iqbal is not only visible in his verses and couplets; it is evident even in the whole stanzas and complete poems. The following stanza is an example:
Jis tarha doobti hai kashtiaan seemeen-i-qamar
Nur-i-khursheed kay tofan mein hangam sehar
Jaise ho jata hai gum noor ka le kar aanchal
Chandni raat mein mehtab ka hum rung kanwal
Jalwa-i-toor mein jaisay yud-i-bayzay-i-kaleem
Mauj-i-nikhat-i-gulzar mein ghuncheh ki shameem
Scientifically, the top stanza is based on the Relative Intensity of Light and Smell. In this stanza, the keenness of observation and the clarity of the expression of Iqbal is also visible. The poet has excellently versified the early morning scene. At the time of sunrise, the pleasant whitish light of the moon dims in comparison to the all-embracing strong light of the sun. It happens because the relatively intense light of the sun dims the weak light of the moon, as in the Theory of Relativity. The phenomenon is better understood when we see a 20-watt bulb dim in front of a 2,000-watt bulb.
The same relativity phenomenon is explained in the next couplet when he says that the lotus which has white leaves seems to disappear in the night when the surface of the earth gets covered by moonlight. Therefore, the lotus petals cannot be distinguished from the surroundings. The same phenomenon is mentioned in the first verse of the third couplet where he says that in front of the flash of light or lightening of toor, the shining hand of Hazrat Musa dimmed in comparison. The same relative phenomenon is expressed in second verse of this couplet that the mild smell of a bud is overwhelmed by the strong smell of the garden.
Iqbal, whose poetry contained only a few verses of scientific thought before going to Europe for higher studies, produced quite a number of them during his stay there. On his return, he composed many such verses but their numbers decreased gradually and about five years before his death, it had almost vanished. Albeit, it was replaced by philosophy and politics.
Though there are many poets with scientific thoughts and concepts, Ghalib and Iqbal are the two whose poetry, when compared to the rest, contains accurate and scientific facts 
