The HyperTexts
Allama Iqbal: Modern English Translations of Persian Poetry and Urdu Poetry
These are my modern English translations of poems by Sir Muhammad Iqbal (علامہمحمداقبال), also known as
Allāma Iqbāl (علامہاقبال, with Allāma meaning "The Learned One"). He was a Lahori Muslim poet, philosopher, politician,
barrister and scholar who is considered by many to be the founder and spiritual father of the modern state of Pakistan.
If you like my translations you are welcome to share them for noncommercial purposes, but please be sure to credit the original poet and the translator.
Withered Roses
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
What shall I call you,
but the nightingale's desire?
The morning breeze was your nativity,
an afternoon garden, your sepulchre.
My tears welled up like dew,
till in my abandoned heart your rune grew:
this memento of love,
this spray of withered roses.
Ehad-e-Tifli (“The Age of Infancy”)
by Allama Iqbal aka Muhammad Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
The earth and the heavens remained unknown to me,
My mother's bosom was my only world.
Her embraces communicated life's joys
While I babbled meaningless sounds.
During my infancy if someone alarmed me
The clank of the door chain consoled me.
At night I observed the moon,
Following its flight through distant clouds.
By day I pondered earth’s terrain
Only to be surprised by convenient explanations.
My eyes ingested light, my lips sought speech,
I was curiosity incarnate.
Excerpt from Rumuz-e bikhudi (“The Mysteries of Selflessness”)
by Allama Iqbal aka Muhammad Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Like a candle fending off the night,
I consumed myself, melting into tears.
I spent myself, to create more light,
More beauty and joy for my peers.
Longing
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Lord, I’ve grown tired of human assemblies!
I long to avoid conflict! My heart craves peace!
I desperately desire the silence of a small mountainside hut!
Life Advice
by Allama Iqbāl
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
This passive nature will not allow you to survive;
If you want to live, raise a storm!
Destiny
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Isn't it futile to complain about God's will,
When indeed you are your own destiny?
O, Colorful Rose!
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
You are not troubled with solving enigmas,
O, beautiful Rose! Nor do you express sublime feelings.
You ornament the assembly, and yet still flower apart.
(Alas, I’m not permitted such distance.)
Here in my garden, I conduct the symphony of longing
While your life is devoid of passionate warmth.
Why should I pluck you from your lonely perch?
(I am not deluded by mere appearances.)
O, colorful Rose! This hand is not your abuser!
(I am no callous flower picker.)
I am no intern to analyze you with dissecting eyes.
Like a lover, I see you with nightingale's eyes.
Despite your eloquent tongues, you prefer silence.
What secrets, O Rose, lie concealed within your bosom?
Like me you're a bloom from the garden of Ñër.
We’re both far from our original Edens!
You are complete, content, but I’m a scattered fragrance,
Pierced by love’s sword in my errant quest.
This turmoil within might be a means of fulfillment,
This torment, a source of illumination.
My frailty might be the beginning of strength,
My envy mirror Jamshid’s cup of divination.
My constant vigil might light a world-illuminating candle
And teach this steed, the human intellect, to gallop.
Bright Rose
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
You cannot loosen the heart's knot;
perhaps you have no heart,
no share in the chaos
of this garden, where I yearn (for what?)
yet harvest no roses.
Of what use to me is wisdom?
Having abandoned Eden,
you are at peace, while I remain anxious,
disconsolate in my terror.
Perhaps Jamshid's empty cup
foretold the future, but may wine
never satisfy my desire
till I find you in the mirror.
Jamshid's empty cup: Jamshid saw the reflection of future events in a wine cup.
Coal to Diamond
by Allama Iqbal, after Nietzsche
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I am corrupt, less than dust
while your brilliance out-blazes the brightest mirror.
My darkness defiles the chafing-dish
before my cremation; a miner's boot
crushes my cranium; I end up soot.
Do you acknowledge my life's bleak essence?
Condensations of smoke, black clouds stillborn from a single spark,
while you with your starlike nature triumphantly adorn monarchs—
gleam of the king's crown, the scepter's centerpiece.
"Please, kin-friend, be wise," the diamond replied,
"Assume a gemlike dignity! Carbon must harden
before it can fill a bosom with radiance. Burn
because you yield warmth. Brighten the darkness.
Be adamant as stone, be diamond."
Iqbal’s poem was written after a passage in Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols in
which a kitchen coal and diamond discuss hardness versus softness.
Keywords/Tags: Urdu, Hindi, translation, English, rose, roses, withered roses,
nightingale, desire, breeze, garden, nativity, cradle, infancy, heart, tears,
dew, rain, rainfall, longing, conflict, tumult, peace, life,
life advice, live, nature, survive, survival, storm, destiny, God, God's will,
silence
The following are links to other translations by Michael R. Burch:
Jaun Elia
Mirza Ghalib
Gulzar
Ahmad Faraz
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Allama Iqbal
Rahat Indori
Nasir Kazmi
Rabindranath Tagore
The Love Song of Shu-Sin: The Earth's Oldest Love Poem?
Ancient Greek Epigrams and Epitaphs
Meleager
Sappho
Basho
Oriental Masters/Haiku
Ono no Komachi
The Seafarer
Wulf and Eadwacer
Sweet Rose of Virtue
How Long the Night
Caedmon's Hymn
Anglo-Saxon Riddles and Kennings
Bede's Death Song
The Wife's Lament
Deor's Lament
Lament for the Makaris
Tegner's Drapa
Alexander Pushkin's tender, touching poem "I Love You" has been translated into English by Michael R. Burch.
Whoso List to Hunt
Miklós Radnóti
Rainer Maria Rilke
Marina Tsvetaeva
Renée Vivien
Bertolt Brecht
Ber Horvitz
Paul Celan
Primo Levi
Sandor Marai
Wladyslaw Szlengel
Saul Tchernichovsky
Robert Burns: Original Poems and Translations
The Seventh Romantic: Robert Burns
Free Love Poems by Michael R. Burch
Related pages:
Mirza Ghalib,
Ahmad Faraz,
Allama Iqbāl,
Faiz Ahmed Faiz,
Whoso List to Hunt,
The Most Beautiful Sonnets in the English Language,
The Most Beautiful Lines in the English Language,
The Best Anglo-Saxon Riddles and Kennings,
Ancient Greek Epigrams and Epitaphs,
The Best Poems Ever Written,
The Best Love Poems,
The Best Erotic Poems,
The Best Love Songs Ever,
The Best Urdu Love Poetry,
The Best Poetry Translations,
The Best Poems for Kids,
The Best Nonsense Verse,
The Best Rondels and Roundels,
The Best American Poetry,
Caedmon's Hymn Modern English Translation,
The Seafarer,
Free Love Poems by Michael R. Burch
The HyperTexts