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The poet of Islam
Mohammad Iqbal was born on November 9, 1877 (Zul-Qada 3, 1294AH), in Sialkot. At the time of Iqbal’s birth, his father owned a small but profitable business. He specialized in making caps.
Iqbal’s father, Shaikh Noor Mohammad (1837-1930), was a God-fearing man. Iqbal’s mother had only read the Holy Quran, and she was a deeply religious person. Thus Iqbal inherited a religious bent of mind from his family.
Iqbal’s childhood was, however, uneventful, like that of other children belonging to middle class families. But from the beginning it was clear to all who knew him that he was gifted, intelligent, and indeed extraordinary.
Like other Muslim children of his age, young Iqbal began his education in a maktab. After his early education in the maktab, He was sent to the Scotch Mission School in Sialkot. He passed his matriculation in 1893 and joined the Scotch Mission College for his intermediate examination. Three year later, he came to Lahore for higher studies. There he joined the Government College and took his degree in 1897, with honours in Arabic and English literature, after that he took a Master’s degree in philosophy. Iqbal sailed for England in August 1905.
On his way to Europe, he visited the tomb of the great saint, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya (1240-1326), in Delhi, where he composed the ode, Iltaja-i-Musafir (request of the traveller). In this, he expressed his devotion to the saint, and prayed for the fulfilment of his aspiration. During his stay in Europe, Iqbal won many honours. At Cambridge University, he continued his study of philosophy and obtained a degree. From Cambridge, he went on to Germany, where he studied at the University of Munich. Here he received his doctorate for a thesis that he wrote on Persian mysticism. Its title was The Development of Metaphysics in Persia. More important in Iqbal’s European trip than the number of degrees he earned was his close study of the European society. Europe was then the most powerful region in the world. It was also the leader of the world in ideas and wealth.
What Iqbal saw in Europe left a deep impression on him. Iqbal saw that in spite of leading a life of comfort and fruitful activity, the people of Europe competed with each other, and the competition was becoming more and more fierce. He saw the tragic consequences of this, and wrote:
O, dweller of cities of the West,
This world of God is not a shop,
And that which you regard as true coin,
Will prove to be only counterfeit
Your civilization will collapse under its own contradictions,
For, remember a rest built on a fragile branch can never endure.
Soon enough, Iqbal began to find the answers to the problems of the world of Islam, and its teachings about society and politics. Further study and thought showed him that true Islam encouraged man to think and find out for himself how to solve the problems of the world and then to apply these ideas in a life of action.
He returned from Europe in 1908, his love for India had not changed, but his life was now to be spent in the service of Islam.
The first remarkable poem written by Iqbal was on an Islamic subject and was composed in 1908. On his way back to India, he passed by Sicily, and the sight of the Island reminded him of its past history under the Arabs. In a poem Iqbal laments the desolations of Sicily, once a proud centre of Islamic civilization in the West. Indeed, every word of his poem on Sicily breathes pride in the past achievements of the Muslims and sorrow at their downfall.
The poet’s cry reflected deep anguish in the following lines.
Tell your grief then to me, who am grief,
Who am dust of that caravan whose magnet you were:
Stir my veins, let the picture glow bright
With fresh colour the ancient days’ record declare!
I go with your gift to the Indies,
And I who weep here will make other weeps there.
(Translation by V.G. Kiernan)
At that time, the Muslim world suffered two major setbacks. Italy raided Tripoli, the capital of Libya, in 1911. And Turkey was attacked near home, on the mainland of Europe, by three Balken states in October 1912. The Muslims in India were very disturbed by these events, and there was a strange feeling against the British Government.
Iqbal’s poems reflected the agitated mood of his people, their complaints against their oppressors, against their fate, and even against God Himself. And, so, Iqbal wrote his famous poem Shikwah — ‘the complaint to and against God Himself. It was the fall of Tripoli in October 1911 that moved him to make the ‘complaint’. Iqbal voiced the grievances of his people against God. A few verses from the Shikwah will illustrate the poet’s mood:
For there are those of other faiths
Among whom many sinners be,
Some humble, others puffed with pride,
Drunken in their effrontery;
If some have vision, thousands are
Of little worth, neglectful, worse;
And millions upon millions live
From Thy dear, glorious name averse.
Yet see how still
Thy bounties rain
On roofs of unbelieving clans,
While strike.
Thy thunder-bolt the homes
Of all-forbearing Mussalman!
(Translation by V.G Kiernan)
When Iqbal recited the Shikwah at the Anjuman’s annual gathering in 1911, the audience was irresistibly moved to tears.
Iqbal’s Shikwah created the erroneous impression among some people that he had accused God of injustice. When he wrote the Jawab-i-Shikwah, a few months later, his stance was clarified. Jawab-i-Shikwah dealt with the cause underlying the fall, and the remedial course out of the mess. According to Iqbal, their belief in fate was responsible for their unenviable position. During these years, Iqbal also wrote his famous Tarana-i-Milli (Islamic Anthem). It immediately became popular with the Muslims, and helped to confirm Iqbal’s reputation as “the poet of Islam.”
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