annemarie schimmel on iqbal javed nama

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Muhammad Iqbal 1873-1938. The Ascension of the Poet

Author(s): Annemarie SchimmelSource: Die Welt des Islams, New Series, Vol. 3, Issue 3/4 (1954), pp. 145-157Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1570162 .

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MUHAMMAD IQBAL 1873-1938THE ASCENSION OF THE POETBY

ANNEMARIE SCHIMMELMarburg (Lahn)

Commemorating he I5th anniversaryof Sir MuhammadIqbi'sdeath (April 2I, I938), and, in the same year, his 8oth birthday,we may remember some lines from one of Jalaluddin Rumi's mostbeautiful poems:Quoth some: Master Sana'i is dead!The death of such a master is no little thing.He was not chaff which flew on the wind,He was not water which froze in winter...The earthly frame he flung to the earth,Soul and intellect he bore to heaven...

These lines are - mutatis mutandis - to be appliedon the greatpoet and philosopherof Pakistan too, this manysided personalitywho deeply admiredMevlanaRumi and choose him as his spiritualmaster.During the last fifteen years many books and articles aboutIqbal have been published both in Asia and in Europe. We are

indepted especially to Pakistani scholarswho have written and arestill writing many a precious work concerningthe spiritual fatherof their nation; for "the study of Iqbal is a social and politicalnecessity for the Muslims of India" 2. We may call here the atten-tion upon an excellent study of Syed Abdul Vahid, the secretaryof the Iqbal Society: Iqbal, His Art and Thought 3 - a bookwhich deals with the differentaspects of Iqbal's works, his poeticalart as well as the main currents of his philosophical and political1Selected Poems from the Divdn-i Shams-i Tabriz,ed. by R. A. Nicholson, No. XXII,p. 86/87.2 Iqbal as a Thinker, Publisher's note, p. VII.a Syed Abdul Vahid, Iqbal, His Art and Thought, Lahore, I944.

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ANNEMARIE SCHIMMELtheories, and which may be called the most comprehensive intro-duction into the study of this outstanding personality.

The Mohammad Ashraf Publishing House, Lahore, whoseactivity the admirers of Iqbal's art are glad to acknowledge, has,beside the mentioned work, published in I944 a collection of 8 arti-cles, each of them treating a special aspect of Iqbal's philosophy 1:M. R. Siddiqi, Iqbal's Conception of Time and Space (p. I-40);K. G. Sayidain, Progressive Trends in Iqbal's Thought (p. 4I-105);M. M. Sharif, Iqbal's Conception of God (p. Io6-I27); Kh. A.Hakim, Rumi, Nietzsche and Iqbal (p. 128-202); Fazl-ur-Rah-man, Iqbal and Mysticism (p. 203-226); M. A. Ahmad, Iqbal'sPolitical Theory (p. 227-264); K. Ahmad, Iqbal's Conception ofArt (p. 265-284), and F. Mahmood, Iqbal's Attitude towards God(p. 285-300).

Quite instructive is also the Journal of the Bezm-i Iqbal, entitled"Iqbal ", whose first number appeared in July I952, edited byProf. M. M. Sharif, the Principal of Islamia College, Lahore,and B. A. Dar; the former has contributed an excellent article on"The Genesis of Iqbal's Aesthetic" (p. I9-40), the latter a study on"The Idea of Satan in Iqbal and Milton" (p. 83-108), whereasJamilah Khatoon explains the problem of "Iqbal's PerfectMan" (p. 57-64) 2. "The primary aim of this Journal is to dis-semine Iqbal's message", for his countrymen "think he belongedto the galaxy of those sovereign spirits who transcended the limi-tations of age and clime, who knew no other native land thanHeaven, and whose golden hours could be counted not by the beatof time, but through the limitless flux of eternity" 3.A very important subject is "The Metaphysics of Iqbal" which

1 Iqbal as a Thinker, A collection of essays on Iqbal by eight scholars of eminence pre-senting his diverse facets, Lahore, 1944.- We may add here the titles of two other bookson different aspects of the great thinker's work: K. G. S a i y i d a i n, Iqbal's educationalphilosophy, Lahore, I945, 4. ed.; and ShujaN a m u s, A Discussion on Iqbal's Philosophyof Life, Lahore, I948.2 "Iqbal", A Journal of the Bezm-i Iqbal, Lahore, Volume I, July I952, Nr. i. - B. A.D ar had alreadypublishedin I944 A Study in Iqbal's Philosophy. In I950, at the anniver-sary of Iqbal's death, the Bezm-i Iqbal published a collection of articles under the title:Iqbal Studies, ed. by Zia ul-Islam, Karachi.3 "Iqbal", I, i, II, p. I (Editorial); cf. AmirShakibA r s 1a n, quoted by Vahid, p. XVII:Iqbal was "the greatest thinker produced by the Muslim world during the last thousandyears".

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MUHAMMADQBALI873-1938was treated by J. A. Enver in 1944 1): especially interesting be-cause the late philosopherhimself had token his Dr. 's degree atMunich n I907 with a thesis on "The Development of Metaphysicsin Persia".Small wonder that Persian scholars and poets show a vivid inte-rest in the poet of Pakistan who used the Persian language in themost perfect manner and was gifted "with the extraordinarytalentfor that most delicate and delightful of all Persian styles, theghazal" 2, and, we may add, for the methnewi-form too. MujtabaMinovi published in I327/1948 at Teheran a small book, entitledIqbdl-i Lahorf,sha'ir-i fdrszgi-yi Pakistan which, besides a learnedintroduction, contains many poems from Iqbal's different works,and expresses the hope to publish all Persian works of this greatpoet. - The Iqbdlndme, published in I330/195I at Teheran as acommemoration-volume, does not only contain some scientificarticles (e.g. the studies of Muhammad Mu'in, mi'rdj-i Iqbdland Iqbdl i Irdn-i bcstdn,p. 50-63), but also a few poems writtenby Persian poets in memory of Iqbal. 3The Embassy of Pakistan at Teheran edited in I952 a smallIqbal-Memorialwith 6 poems of his, and at the same occasion theEmbassy of Pakistan at Ankara published a book with the titleRumi ve Ikbal 4: here we read four discoursesof the Ambassadorof Pakistan concerningthe relationsbetween Iqbal and his spiritualguide,and the personalityof Rumi; a speech of OmerRiza Do grul 5,messages of foreign nations at the occasion of the anniversaryof Iqbal's death, and some articles published by the Turkishpressat this occasion. "Iqbal's relations with Mevlana and by thismeans with Turkey and Turkish culture" was also the subjecttreated in the speechesmadeby Nurettin Artam and Kemal Edipat the commemoration-festival on April 2I, I953 at Ankara6.

1 J. A. Enver, The Metaphysics of Iqbal. With a foreword of J. Z. Hasan. Lahore,1944, IX, 9I p.2 J. J. Arberry, Persian Psalms, p. VI.8 Al Khuda'i, dar jashn-' Iqbal; Dr. Qasim Rasa, be-ydd-i Muhammad Iqbdl-iLdhori; Rahi Mu'ayyiri, Iqbacl-i sukhun-pardiz; Sarmad $ adiq, qa.sde-yi Iqbdl; cf. thepoem of the malik ash-shucardBahar quoted in the book of M. Minovi.Rumi ve Ikbal. Pakistan Sefareti Baslm Ataseliki, Ankara. Istanbul, 1952.5 Principal of the Turkish delegation to the Islamic Congressat Karachi in I95I: W. I.,N. S., II, 279. (G. J.).e Ulus, 22. 4. I953 (Information given by Prof. Jaschke, Miinster).

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ANNEMARIE SCHIMMELAs to the translations of Iqbal's poetical works into Europeanlanguages one has to remember the work done by R. A. Nicholson

who made accessible some parts of the "Message of the East" 1(a German translation of this work, prepared by the late Prof.J. Hell, Erlangen, has not been printed), and the "Secrets ofthe Self" in English 2. In I948, A. J. Arberry published a skilfulverse-translation of the Zdbur-i 'Ajam 3, and in I952, AlessandroBausani rendered in Italian the famous JdvTdndme4, the "ascen-sion to heaven", perhaps Iqbal's most interesting, "most ambitiousand most complex" 5 poem which often is called to be his master-piece. The Italian prose-version is made very carefully and writtenin a beautiful style, enlarging the dense and sometimes difficultsentences, so that the European reader can enjoy the subtle ideasrepresented in this work. Many useful notes and a fine introductiondealing with life and work of the poet-philosopher facilitate thereading. It is evident, that it is almost impossible to translate thenumerous conceits and allusions of this melodious oriental poemswithout charging the notes with innumerable explanations; thiswould be the duty of a scholar who devotes himself exclusively tothe investigation of the sources of Iqbal's work - but such a scholarwould have to remember the word of the poet himself, written inI907: "... the human mind possesses an independent individuality,and, acting on its own initiative, can gradually evolve out of itselftruths which may have been anticipated by other minds ages ago.No idea can seize a people's soul unless, in some sense, it is the

people's own" 6.The ascension to heaven as a literary subject (as it is treated in theJdvidndme) is not a new one neither in Oriental nor in Western1 Islamica, I, II2 sqq.: Iqbal's Message of the East.2 The "Secrets of the Self" (Asrr-i Khudi)by Dr. Sir MuhammadIqbal.TranslatedbyReynold A. Nicholson. i. ed., I920; 4. ed., I950.3 Persian Psalms (Zadbir-iCAjam),Parts I and II. Translated into English verse fromthe Persian of the late Sir MuhammadIqbal by Arthur J. Arberry. Lahore, I948.4 MuhammadIqbal, II PoemaCeleste. Traduzione dal Testo Persianoe note del Dr. Ales-sandreB aus ani. Roma, Istituto Italianoperil Medioed Estremo Oriente, I952. - Bausanitranslates the title Jdvidndmewith "Heavenly Poem"; but in a note, he lays stress upon theambiguity of this title: it means as well the "Book of Javid" (the son of the poet who isaddressed in the closing poem, not translated by Bausani) as the "Book of Eternity".(Bausani, p. 23, note).5 Iqbal and Mysticism: Thinker, p. 226.6 Iqbal, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia, p. 96.

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MUHAMMADQBAL1873-I938tern literature1. The Arda-Viraf-Nameand the Divina Commediaare the most famous examples of this kind. In Islam, the mi'rdjof the Prophet has been, as R. Hartmann has shown, the proto-type of some interesting works of both mystics and poets 2 (theoften discussed problem of the Islamic influences on Dante'simmortal work has been recently treated in an extraordinarilyuseful work of E. Cerulli 3): the mystics sometimes realized inthemselves the mystic ascension of the soul through the differentspheres of heaven - e.g. Ibn 'Arabi and especially Abd ul-KarimJill whose influence is to be felt in Iqbal's work 4: in the Javid-name, the poet wanders through the heaven of the Moon (Jili:created fromthe nature of spirit) wherehe meets the ,,Indian sage"(who is identified by Bausani with Vishvamitra), Sarosh and thetdwdsmnf the prophets; then he visits Mercury(Jill: created fromthe nature of reflection), the dwelling-place of Jamal ad-din al-Afghani and Sa'id Halim, then the sphere of Venus (Jili: createdfrom the nature of phantasy), the home of the ancient Gods aswell as the imperialists Pharao and Lord Kitchener; afterwardshereaches (not the heaven of the Sun, as Jill did, but) the heaven ofMars (presided according to Jill by Azra'il, but in Iqbal's worktransformed in a world of ideals, inhabited by a people knowingneither capitalism nor communism); in the heaven of Jupiter(created from the light of meditation), the poem talks with thegreat ,,heretics" al-Hallaj, Tahira, and Ghilib; the last one is theheaven of Saturn,not, as in Jill's work, the lofty place createdfromthe light of the First Intelligence,but the dark home of the traitorsto their nations. Then, Iqbal leaves the pattern given by Jiliand surpasses a mysterious sphere where Nietzsche is living,until he reaches Paradise and its pious inhabitants.

1 Cf. M. Mucin, micrdj-iIqbdl (Iqbdlname,p. 47); Minovi, I.c., p. 57; cf. also the interest-ing study of J. J. L. D u y v e nd a k, A Chinese "Divina Commedia", n: T'oung Pao, XLI,1952, pp. 255-316.2 Die Himmelsreise Muhammedsund ihre Bedeutung in der Religion des Islam. Vortrageder Bibliothek WarburgVIII, Leipzig, 1930,p. 42 ff, esp. p. 6i f. Cf. Bousset, Die Himmels-reise der Seele, ARW 4; Bevan, Muhammad's Ascension to Heaven, Wellhausen-Festschrift (Beihefte zur ZAW, XXVII, 51); Schrieke, Die Himmelsreise Muhammeds,Isl., VI, i ff.); Tor Andrae, Die Person Muhammeds in Glauben und Lehre seinerGemeinde, 19I7; and the different researches of Asin Palacios.3 E. Cerulli, II ,,Libre della Scala" e la questione delle fonti arabo-spagnole dellaDivina Commedia. Studi e Testi, 150. Citta del Vaticano, I949.Cf. R. A. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic Mysticism, p. I22 f.

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ANNEMARIE SCHIMMELBesides the mystics, some poets used the symbol of a journeythrough heaven and hell in order to criticize religion and society,

and to develop their own political or cultural thoughts: in a similarmanner as Lucian did in the second century, al-Ma'arri tells hisadventures in Paradise in the ingenious risalat al-ghufrdn 1, making"Paradise a glorified salon haunted by immortal but immoralBohemians" 2 and in I932, Jamil Sidqi az-Zahawi wrote thepoignant satire "Revolution in Hell" 3.Muhammad Iqbal combines in his JdvTdndme the fiction of themystic ascension to heaven - though we find "nowhere in hispoetry the evidence of an actual mystic experience" 4- with theexposition of his central ideas, his political 5 as well as theologicalconceptions, and his criticism of both Western rationalism andRussian bolshevism. Since, according to Iqbal, poetry is a sureiapproach to reality than philosophy 6, his most important ideasare expressed by the medium of poetry; and in the Jdvidndme,almost each personality we meet with, teaches the central concep-tion of Iqbal's philosophy: the development of the Ego, the innerSelf of man. And even more: the ascension of the poet is the apotheo-sis of the Perfect Man 7, for "if man realizes the significance andpower of his self, he can transcend time and space, and can shatterthe Universe" 8. This is the leitmotif of the book. Such an ascensionis, for the perfect believer, nothing but a change in consciousness 9;time and space are states of his soul, as Rilmi teaches his pupilIqbal, and Zerwan, the genius of Time, shimmering in dual light,tells him the secret of heavenly time and human time, i.e. eternityand progression (this problem is discussed in a very instructivearticle of Prof. Siddiqi 10).

1 riSalatal-gufrin li-Abi-lCAld al- MaCarr4,Kairo, I950.2 R. A. Nicholson, JRAS, I902, p. 857.3 ad-Duhitr i, No. 6, p. 641-669 (Beirut, I93); cf. the article of G. W id m e r on Zahawi,WI, XVII, 50. 4 Thinker, p. 209.5 So, when he in Paradise treates the Kashmirproblem and sings "0 morning breeze,when you pass Geneve tell the League of Nations a word of mine!" (Jdvidndme,p. I89).6 Thinker, p. I46.7 Cf. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic Mysticism, ch. 2; Affifi, Ibn Arabi, p. 82 ff; Thinker,p. 225 (Iqbal and Mysticism); Iqbal's own statement in his thesis "The Development ofMetaphysics in Persia", I907.8 "Iqbal", I, 62: Jamilah Khatoon, Iqbal's Perfect Man.9 Jay. p. 20; cf. Thinker, p. 25.10 Iqbal's Conception of Time and Space, Thinker, I-40, esp. p. 25, 37.

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MUHAMMAD IQBAL I873-I938Some facts might suggest the idea that the Jdvtdndme s - inspite of his political aspects - a mystical poem: the solution of the

problem depends on how to define mysticism. It is well-knownthat Iqbal in the later period of his life disliked all pantheistictendencies in Islam, exhibited for him in poets like Hafiz 1; this"pseudo-mysticism"seemed to him to be the cause for the declineof Muslim civilization duringthe last centuries; self-abandonment,annihilation is, in his eyes, the greatest sin 2. But, as M.M.Sharifhas seen, the poet was in his youth, up to I908, "not only a Neopla-tonist, but also a full-fledgedpantheist" 3, and though, in a beauti-ful passage of the Jdcvdndme,he lays stress upon the acknowled-gment of the two aspects of God (the Majesty and the Beauty) 4,he always calls the Lord in this poem the Supreme Beauty,probably a neoplatonic relic 5 (or may we interpret this nameas an understanding of the mystery that man is not able to hearthe voice of God's tremendousmajesty, but only that of his fascin-ating love?).The fact, that Iqbal adopted Rilmi as his master, might alsosuggest mystical ideas. But as well in the Jdvmdndmes in thePeydm-i Mashriq6, the Bal-i Jabrfl and the Asrdr-i Khdi 7,wheresoever Rfimi appears as Iqbal's guide and ideal, the poet"ignores all those passages of his Methnewiwhich could be inter-preted pantheistically"8; he only acknowledges the personalisticelements in his mysticism, and especially the conceptionof develop-ment which has found its most famous expressionin Methnewi,III,390I sqq. Many symbols used by Mevlana are to be found in Iqbal'swork; even the beginning of the Jdvmdndme ith the symbols of

1 Cf. the Introduction of the Asrar- i Khudi; Six Lectures on the Reconstruction ofReligious Thought in Islam, Preface (cf. the reviews in WI XV, 1933, p. I22, REI, I940,87, and O M, XIV, 505); Vahid, p. I6 (interesting extract from one of Iqbal's letters), etc.2 Cf. the words of Hallaj, Jdv. p. I54: ,,O voi che cercate il vostro scopo nell'annienta-mento, sappiate che il nulla non comprende l'essere!" (Bausani, II9/20).3 The Genesisof Iqbal's Aesthetic: "Iqbal", I, I, p. 25; but he was "ready to change hisideas and judgments according to fresh advances in human knowledge" (Thinker, p. 2).4 Jdv., p. 226.s Cf. The Genesis..., p. 27 ff.6 Peydm, p. 246: the famous meeting of Mevlana and Goethe in Paradise.? Cf. the introduction given by Nicholson to his translation of the Asrar, esp. p. XI.8 The Genesis..., p. 31. The relations between Rumi and Iqbal are treated in most ofthe articles mentioned here. Cf. also Bausani, II pensiero religioso di MaulanaGialal ad-Din Rfimi, Oriente Moderno,Aprile I953, p. I80-I98; and Vahid, p. 95 ff.

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ANNEMARIE SCHIMMELmusic 1 reminds the reader the prooemiumof Rfimi's great work,the "Song of the Reed". Since the modern poet uses the samemetrum as Jalaluddin did, he easily can incorporate expressionsfrom the Methnewl n the JdvTdndme.Here, however,the monotonyof the methnewi-form s interruptedby ghazals of Iqbal's and otherpoets. Perhaps the most striking example showing the kind ofrelation between Iqbal and Riimi is the insertion of the charmfulpoem from the Dfvdn-i Shams-i Tabriz with the redif -m arzist,"is my desire"2 which the poet is murmuring(one should like tosay: as a kind of incantation) at the beginning of the Jdvidndme:the seeking, the longingfor something "which is not to be found"isprobablythe joint between the great mystic of Konya and the poetof Pakistan. "To chose the street and to leave the dwelling-place"is the wish of Iqbal 3, and we at once rememberMevlana'sfamousghazal:

If a tree might move by foot and wing,It would not suffer the pain of the saw or the blows of the axe 4.

Nothing but longing, desireand love is the creative powerin thisworld - "What the rose cannot tell, the complaining bird tells it" 5.This idea is expressedby Hallajwith whom the poet discusses in thesphere of Jupiter, when the formersings:When desire makes a night-attack on the world,It will turn the momentary ones into eternal beings 6.

And the voice of God addresses Iqbal, giving by this way thequintessence of the thinker's philosophy: "Thou art living? Belonging, be a creator!" 7Even in Paradise,the PerfectMan wishesa development, a progressivetendency: "If we shall be free fromseeking and desire, the tomb will be better than the Paradise of

1 Jav., p. i.2 Selected Poems from the Divdn-i Shams-i Tabriz,No. XVI, p. 64 ff.3 Jdv., p. 220 (at the end of Paradise).4 Selected Poems..., No. XXVII, p. io8 ff.The Genesis..., p. 33, 31: a very fine researchon the rl6e of desire and love in Iqbal'sart and philosophy.6 Jdv., p. I40. The picture of Hallaj drawn in the Jdvidndme s worth to be studied indetail. The great mystic is describedas a forerunnerof the poet himself (Jdv., I43/4), andhis "AruZl-Fhaqq... s only an emphatic assertion of Reality and the unique significanceof man's self, and does not in any way imply his identity with God" ("Iqbal",I, I, p. 59).Some central ideas of his are not mentioned, so that on suffering.7 Jdv., p. 225.

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MUHAMMAD IQBAL I873-I938colours and fragrances"1 a,"very occidental" conception, asBausani says 2 - and a quite unmystical attitude, because themystic seeks, after the life-long wandering through this world,rest and stillness in the depths of God's heart: "Thereis no rest butin the solitary place of God", sings Mevlana (Methnewg, I, 59I).The way towards God, in purifying and developing the Self, issometimes symbolizedby Iqbal by means of the shahdda:so in themost touching scene of the Jdvmdndme,he meeting with the "H1al-laj without the cross3", the intoxicated Nietzsche (to whose in-fluences the Muslimthinker is deeply indepted, though he does notaccept the whole of his philosophy4). Here, Rumi tells his disciplethat the Germanphilosopher"remainedin the 'no' and did not gofarther until the 'without'". The same expression occurs in themessage delivered by Jamrl ad-din al-Afghani (in the sphere ofVenus) to the Russian people who also is still living in the negationand has to progress with the aid of the Muslim peoples to theaffirmation of God'sexistence 5. And in the Zdbur-i'Ajamwe read:

Break down the old, and thenRebuild the world again;Who in "No God" remain'dHas ne'er "Except" attained 8.Man underlies the law of seeking and creative evolution fromweakness to strength, from the dull negation of God's existence tothe affirmation of God as the greatest Ego and prototype of everyhuman Ego 7.Even Satan8 is, according to Iqbal, a necessary element in

1Jdv., p. 30 in the sphere of the Moon.2 Bausani, p. 47, note 35; and ibd., p. 143, note I8I concerning the transformationof the Indian conception of karma into a eulogy on "action". We may compare with thisidea of the Muslimpoet the expositions of Tor Andraein "Die letzten Dinge", p. 98 ff., or theverses of R. A. Schrbder:Ich mochte dir nimmer so nah sein,Dass ich mich nicht nach dir sehnte.3 Jdv., p. I76 f.4 Cf. Thinker, ch. IV, p. 128-202: "Rumi, Nietzsche and Iqbal" by Dr. Khalifa Abdul

Hakim; almost every article on Iqbal contains a more or less detailed paragraphconcer-ning this problem. A statement of Iqbal against the conception of the "Ewige Wiederkehrdes Gleichen" may be seen in Jdv., p. 226. Cf. Bausani, p. 129, note I62.6 Jdv., p. 88. The message of Afghani in this chapter is highly important for the under-standing of Iqbal's political theories.* Persiam Psalms, II, No. 26, p. 82; cf. Thinker, p. I o.7 M. M. Sharif, Iqbal's Conception of God; Thinker, p. 166 ff.8 Cf. Minovi, p. 6o.

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man's development; he may be called the "active dynamism oflife itself" 1. Without having been a disciple of Satan, man cannotlearn how to strife and to develop his self-consciousness 2. In aninteresting part of the Jdv7dndme, Satan himself demands God tosend him a better adversary, man in our time being too ready to listento his seductive words 3. It is a fine idea to introduce Satan afterthe song of Hallaj whose system contains a justification of Ibliswho is called the only true monotheist 4, a conception which isalso to be found in 'Attar's work and in the system of Ibn'Arabi 5.

If we, with Iqbal and the mystics, consider death as an evolutio-nary process 6 we may proudly confess with the Indian sage in thesphere of the Moon:Though we are birds without feather and wing,We surpass God with regard to the knowledge of death 7

But God is, as well as man, seeking and longing:We are gone astray from God,He is searching upon the road,For like us, He is need entireAnd the prisoner of desire...

"This subtlety has not yet been solved: am I the prey or is itHe?" asks the poet at the end of the Jdvidname 9. Likewise saidMevlana: "When the thirsty seek the water in the world, thewater also seeks the thirsty" (Methnewz, I, I74I). The mystics ofall times have taught that God seeks man and that His seeking andHis love precedes the seeking of man; that God teaches man howto pray and then answers his prayers. In the same manner Iqbalproves the fact that God is an Ego by the experience of prayer, for"the real test of a self is whether it responds to the call of another

Cf. Dar, The conception of Satan...; "Iqbal", I, i, p. 83 ff.2 Cf. the poem tashkr-i fitrat which is analyzed carefully by Vahid, p. I55 ff.3 Jav., p. 157 ff, esp. p. I6I.4 "Rend the garment of taqlid in order to learn from him the tauhid" addresses Hallajthe poet in showing him Satan; Jav., p. 155. Cf. kitdb at-Tdwdsin, p. 50.5 Affifi, Ibn Arabi, p. I6I.e Cf. the song of the martyr-king, Jdv., p. 217 ff., and the words of Hallaj, p. I35.7 Verse of Vishvamitra, Jdv., p. 39.8 Persian Psalms, II, No. 29, p. 84.huiir: Jdv., p. 223.

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MUHAMMAD IQBAL I873-I938 I55self"1, and inprayer,"thecomplete ndividual canseeGodfaceto facewithout loosing his own self"2, though "thereis no roomfor Gabrielin his solitude" 3. But, according to Iqbal, the goal of prayer isnot annihilation, not self-abandonment,on the contrary, "man canelevate himself even to that lofty height where God will consult hiswill before assigninghim his destiny" 4. At last, man acknowledgesthe creative will of his Lord, His desire of creating, and, as Bausaniexpresses it very well, "la dedizione totale alla volonta di Dio everamente creatrice ..." 5. Since Islam means the completesurrender under the ("creative")will of God, every believer, everyMuslim is called to partake in the work of creation, to be a co-worker with God.

Therefore, the soundest basis of the world to-come is, as Iqbaloften explains, the religion of the Koran, this "storehouseof dyna-mic ideas" 6 a religion which propagates monotheism and therestoration of the essential brotherhood of mankind7. For, thecomplete development of the Ego does not lead to a cult of the"Ubermensch"or to exaggerated individualism and egotizm, butit is "merelythe initial stage; the final aim of life is the building upof something impersonal"8, i.e. the community of men, each ofthem loving, understanding,and tolerating the other- tolerance is

1 McTaggart's Philosophy, Journ. of the East Indian Soc., July 1937,quoted in Thinker,p. II5. A true mystic would say (as in the sentehce quoted by Sarr5j in the chapter ontau4id of the kitdbal- lumac):"None saith CI'except God, since the real personality belongsto God alone".2 "Iqbal", I, i, p. 60. "Hence man's perfection can be determinedin proposition to thedegree of his self-possession in the presence of God" (Lectures, p. 28). Cf. the interestingcriticism of Iqbal's Reconstruction of Religion "en terme de psychologie de laboratoire"by Victor Courtois S. J. (who lays stress upon Iqbal's pilgrimageto the country of Schleier-macher and his contacts with modem protestant theologians) in consequence of which heaccentuates in his philosophical system the religious experience too much, and, thoughhe is '"foncierementreligieux, il n'a pas compris le vrai r6le de la matiere religieuse ...,mais on ne peut s'emp6cher d'admirer sa sinc6rite, son honnetete intellectuelle et soncourage" (Sir MuhammadIqbal, poete, philosophe et apologiste indien; En Terre d'Islam,4. Trim. 1938, 3. s6rie, p. 327-56).3 Cf. the similar expression in Mevlana's Fihi md fihf, p. I5.4 Bal-i Jabril, p. 8i (cf. "Iqbal", I, i, p. 63).Bausani, p. 112, note I75.6 The expression is taken from an interesting (so far as I am aware, yet unpublished)article "Iqbal: PhilosophicalBridgefor East andWest", the manuscriptof which the author,Dr. G. J. Candreva, New York, was kind enough to send me. - Concerningthe funda-mentals of the "CoranicWorld" cf. Jdv., p. 73 if., Bausani, p. 74, note 82.7 Vahid, p. 67 ff.8 Thinker, p. 224.



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respect for the Ego of the fellow-citizen1,and it is better to go theway of God with the carvan 2From this religious point of view we must understandthe rigo-rous and sometimesexaggeratedcritizismof the secularizedWesternworld (especially in the discussion in the sphere of Mars)3: theWest, he thinks, has lost the force of creative love and glorifiesthebare science which is something diabolic without the light of love,not creative, but destroyingthe very sourcesof life 4. Europe has,as Judas Ischarioth points out in his dialogue with the Europeanmaid, commited a greathersin as he did, for he only betrayed God'shuman nature, but she betrays his divine nature 5, neglecting anddenying the creative principle of love.Iqbal did not doubt that this creative power was hidden in theMuslimpeoples, and through his poetry he tried to encouragethesleeping nations; for "the poet is the heart in the breast of the na-tion" 6, and it is his duty "to quicken the dormant energies andpotentialities of a people" 7. The highest art is "that which awakensour dormant willforce and nerves us to face the trials of life man-fully" 8.Sir Muhammad Iqbal himself has succeeded in realizing thisaim; he "can be called an architect of the destiny of a people"9.

1 Vahid, p. 53 f.2 Words of Zoroaster in the tdsin of the Prophets; Jdv., p. 54.3 Cf. Bausani, Introduzione, p. 18, and p. 146, note I85; Iqbdlndme,p. 75; PersianPsalms, II, I9, last verse: "Against Europe I protest..."; Nicholson, Islamica, I, II2.- The Jdv. contains a criticism of the laicistic movement in Turkey (cf. p. 72, 209) though,in other works Iqbal praised Turkey who had shaken off her slumber and attained to self-consciousness; he also was interested in the ideas of Ziya G6kalp (IslamicCulture, I949);cf. Bausani, notes 8I and I89.4) Cf. the bitter attack on Europeanfeminism (Jdv., p. 126) in the sphere of Mars wherethe prophetess without love is preachingthe new doctrine of emancipation. Bausani is rightsaying: "Mami sembra che abia compresoi lati positivi del femminismoeuropeo, che egliinterpreta, alla luce di alcune sue esagerazioni forse, come negazione dell'amore" (p. I04,note I37). Concerninghis conception of maternity, as the highest creative act, cf. Vahid,p. 74f.; Singh, pp. 8, 46.5 Jdv., p. 578 Jdv., p. 457 Vahid, ch. V: ,,His Poetic Art.",8 "Iqbal": "Our Prophet's criticism of contemporaryArabian poetry", The New EraI916, p. 25I; cf. Secrets of Self, p. XV.9 "Iqbal", I, i (Editorial), p. I.

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The manuscript of this article was written in summer, I953.Thereforewe may add here some books and articles on Sir Muham-mad Iqbal whose existence we have learnedduringthe last months:J. Singh, The Ardent Pilgrim, London, I95I, 247 pp., tries togive a picture of Iqbal without the ,,legendaryhalo"; he shows hisdevelopment and the contradictions of preaching and practizingin his life; but sometimes his statements are not very reliable.On the other hand, the small "Introduction to Iqbal", whichS. A. Vahid published at Karachi, in 1954, may be called a veryuseful work; we also call attention upon his article "Iqbal and hisPoetry" in "The Islamic Review", April I954.The best informations concerning the translations of Iqbal'sworks into both European and Asiatic languages gives the "Bulle-tin" of the Embassy of Pakistan, Bad Godesberg, Nr 31 (I5.4.I954):there exists a translation of Iqbal's verse by Victor G. Kiernan"Poems of Iqbal" (Bombay); A. J. Arberry has published, inI947, "The Tulip of Sinai" (Ashraf, Lahore); also some Pakistanipoets were busy with translating some poems of their great com-patriote.In the Arabic speaking world, we must notice the anthology"Gems of Iqbal", selected by Amira Nureddin (Bagdad), theprose-anthology "Iqbal's Philosophy", preparedby Hasan Azamiand Saidi Ali Shalan. The Embassador of Egypt in Pakistan,Dr Abdulwahhad Azzam, has translated some of MuhammadIqbal's poetical works and is still preparingnew translations. InTurkey, there exists a translation of the Peyam-i Ma?riq byDr Ali Genceli. Even in Indonesia, the works of Sir MuhammadIqbal are well-known, thanks to the translations made by BahramRangbuti.

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annemarie schimmel on iqbal javed nama

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