THE MAJOR WORK’S OF THE NATIONAL POET OF PAKISTAN ALLAMA MUHAMMAD IQBAL
Allama Muhammad Iqbal was an heir to a very rich literary, mystic, philosophical and religious tradition. He imbibed and assimilated all that was best in the Islamic and Oriental thought and culture both of the past and the present. His range of interests covered Religion, Philosophy, Art, Politics, Economics, Nationalism, the revival of Muslim life and the universal brotherhood of man. He was capable of writing powerful prose not only in his own national language but also in English. The language of his two books in English is that of a skilled English-writer. But he continued to use poetry as his medium of expression because he was a born poet and everything that he thought and felt, almost involuntarily shaped itself into verse.
His first book of poetry in Urdu language Bang-e Dara was published in 1924. Bal-e Jibil in 1935 followed by Zarb-e Kalim in 1936.
Bang-e Dara consists of selected Urdu poems belonging to three preliminary phases of Iqbal's poetic career. Bal-e Jibril is the peak of Iqbal's Urdu poetry. It consists of ghazals, poems, quatrains, epigrams etc. In this book Iqbal conveys all those realities, foresights and teachings which help to foster sincerity and firm belief in the heart of the nation and thus turn its members into tru believers. Zarb-e Kalim was described by Iqbal himself as "a declaration of war against the present era". The main topics of the book are Islam and the Muslims, education and upbringing, woman, literature and fine arts, politics of the East and the West etc. In Asrar-e Khudi, Iqbal has explained his philosophy of self. He proves by various means that whole universe obeys the will of the self. Iqbal condemned self destruction. For him the aim of life is self realization and self-knowledge. Here he acquaints us with the stages through which the self has to pass before finally arriving at its point of perfection, enabling the knower of the self to become Vicegerent of Allah on earth (خلیفہ اللہ فی اللارض). In Rumuz-e Bekhudi, Iqbal proves that Islamic way of life is the best code of conduct for a nation's viability. A person must keep his individual characteristics intact but once this is achieved he should sacrifice his personal ambitions according to the needs of the nation. Man cannot realize his self out of society. Therefore society has lot of claims upon him. Payam-e Mashriq is an answer to West....Istlicher Divan by Goethe, the famous German poet. Goethe bemoaned that the West had become too materialistic in outlook and expected that the East would come up with a message of hope that would resuscitate spiritual values. A hundred years went by and then Iqbal gave a lesson to the Western countries reminding them of the importance of morality, religion and civilization and by underlining the need for cultivating feeling, ardour and dynamism. He explained that life could never aspire for higher stages unless it learnt what spirituality was.
Zabur-e Ajam includes Masnavi Gulshan-e Raz-e Jadid and Bandagi Nama. In Gulshan-e Raz-e Jadid, he follows the famous Masnavi Gulshan-e Raz-e Jadid by Sayyed Mahmood Shabistri. Here like Shabistri, Iqbal first propounds questions and then answers them with the help of ancient as well as modern insight and shows how it affects and concerns the world of action. Bandagi-Nama is in fact a vigorous campaign against slavery and subjugation. He explains the spirit behind the fine arts of the enslaved societies. In Zabur-e Ajam, Iqbal's Persian Ghazal is at it's highest as his Urdu Ghazal is in Bal-e Jibril. Here, as in other books, Iqbal insists on remembering the past, doing well in the present and preparing for the future. His lesson is that one should be dynamic, full of zest for action and full of love and life. Here he proves implicitly that there is no form of poetry which can equal the ghazal in vigour and liveliness. In Javid Nama, Iqbal follows Ibn-Arabi, Ma'aari and Dante. Here Iqbal depicts himself as 'Zinda Rud' (a stream full of life) guided by Rumi the master, through various heavens and spheres and has the honour of approaching Divinity and coming in contact with the divine illuminations. Several problems of life are discussed and answers are provided to them. I is an exceedingly enlivening study. His hand falls heavily on the traitors to their nation like Mir Jafar from Bengal and Mir Sadiq from Deccan, who caused the defeat and death of Nawab Siraj-ud Daula of Bengal and Sultan Tipu of Mysore respectively at the hands of the British and thus delivered their country to the shacshackles of slavery. At the end, by addressing his son Javid, he speaks to the young people at large and provides guidance to the 'new generation' which harmonizes with its inclinations and demands.
Pas Cheh Bayed Kard-ai-Aqwam-e Sharq includes Masnavi Musafir. Here Iqbal makes Rumi, the master, utter this glad tidings "East awakes from its slumbers (خواب غفلت)". The reader finds the most inspiring detail of commentary on voluntary poverty and free man, followed by an exposition of the mysteries of Islamic laws and Sufi perceptions. He laments the dissension among the Indian as well as the Muslim nations. Masnavi Musafir, is a moment of a journey to Afghanistan. In this Masnavi the people of the Frontier (Pathans) have been counselled to learn the "secret of Islam" and to "build up the self" within themselves.
Armaghan-e Hijaz consists of two parts. The first contains quatrains in Persian, the second contains some poems and epigrams in Urdu. The Persian quatrains convey the impression as though the poet is travelling through Hijaz in his imagination. Profundity of ideas and intensity of passion are the salient features of these short poems. The Urdu portion of the book contains some categorical criticism of the intellectual movements and social and political revolutions of the modern age.
Iqbal wrote two books in English language, the first being 'The Development of Metaphysics in Persia' in which continuity of Persian thought has been discussed. Sufism has been dealt with in detail. In Iqbal's view true Islamic Sufism awakens the slumbering soul to a higher ideal of life.
The second book is titled 'The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam'. It is a collection of Iqbal's lectures which he delivered at Madras, Hyderabad and Aligarh. These were first published from Lahore in 1930 and then by Oxford University Press in 1934. Some of the main subjects are: Knowledge and Religious Experience, the Philosophical Test of Religious Experience, the Conception of God and the Meaning of Prayer, the Human Ego, and Predestination and Free Will, the Spirit of Muslim Culture, the Principle of Movement in Islam (Ijtihad). He has discussed these issues pithily but in a thought provoking manner in the light of Islam and modern age. These lectures were translated into Urdu by Sayyed Nazir Niazi.
In addition to these books he wrote hundreds of letters in Urdu as well as in English. Urdu letters have been in several different books. He issued statements pertaining to burning topics relating to various departments of social, religious, cultural and political problems of India, Europe and the World of Islam. He served for a few years as a Professor of Philosophy and Oriental Learning at the Government College Lahore and the Punjab University Oriental College. He delivered dozens of speeches in his life. A number of speeches and statements have been compiled and published in book form. He practised at the Lahore High Court Bar except for about four last years of his life. He met visitors freely. Anybody could come to him to listen to what he said and he listened to what visitors said. In spite of all this he could spare time for poetry so rich in meaning and so artistic in its exposition. In fact his poetry made philosophy sing.