APRIL 21 was the death anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, our great national poet. The first Iqbal Day was observed in his lifetime on Jan 9, 1938. Since then Iqbal Day has been celebrated on different dates.

In 1940, the Iqbal Day was observed on March 25, one day after the All-India Muslim League adopted the Pakistan Resolution. The function was presided over by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

It is, indeed, a day of meditation, reflection and rededication to the principles, ideals and values preached by Allama Iqbal.

Iqbal Day was observed in March 1944 and the Quaid’s message was delivered on that occasion which is still relevant and holds great significance today. “To the cherished memory of our national poet, Iqbal, I pay my homage on this day and I pray to God Almighty that his soul may rest in eternal peace, Amen!”

Though he is not among us, his work, immortal as it is, is always there to guide us and to inspire us. His poetry, besides being beautiful in form and sweet in language, presents a picture of the mind and heart of this great poet. We find how deeply he was devoted to the teachings of Islam.

He was a true and faithful follower of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Muslim first and a Muslim last. He was an interpreter and a voice of Islam.

Allama Iqbal was not merely a preacher and a philosopher. He stood for courage and action, perseverance and self-reliance, and above all faith in God and devotion to Islam.

In his person was combined the idealism of the poet and the realism of the man who takes a practical view of things. Faith in God and unceasing and untiring action is the essence of his message. In this, he emerges truly Islamic.

He had an unflinching faith in Islamic principles, and success in life meant to him the realisation of one’s ‘self’ and to achieve this, the only way was to follow Islam.

With his firm conviction and faith in the ideals of Islam, he was one of the few who originally thought about the feasibility of carving out of India such an Islamic state in the north-west and north-east zones.

Iftikhar Mirza

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017