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NOTES
31
'The Verse of Subjection': Koran XXXI 19: Have you not seen how that God has subjected to
you whatsoever is in the heavens and earth?
33. See Koran II:29, telling of
the creation of Adam. And He taught Adam the names, all of' them.
38. Koran XL 6 2 : Your Lord has
said, 'Call upon Me and I will answer you.'
77. "Tile Samiri' : tile one
who persuaded the Israelites to worship the Golden Calf, see Koran XX 87.
90. Koran II 182:
And when My servants question
thee concerning Me -- I am near to answer the call of the caller, when he calls to Me.
141. Alvand is a high mountain
near Hamadan in Persia.
181. This precious subject: Man,
as the darling object of' God's thought. This phrase is interpreted variously by the
different translators.
199. Iqbal introduces verses from
a famous ode by the Persian mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi, inserting into it lines of his own
(verses 205-6). I-or the whole poem see R. A. Nicholson, Selected Poems from the Divani
Shams Tabriz (Cambridge, 1898), no. XVI.
208 Oman was the name given to
the southernmost stretch of the Persian Gulf.
214. The Lion of God' was a title
given to the Prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law Ali, fourth caliph of Islam.
Rustam-i Dastan, Rustam son of Zal (nicknamed Dastan after his cunning), was a famous hero
of pre-Islamic Persia, familiar to Western readers from Matthew Arnold's poem. Sohrab
and Rustum.
220. Like a witness': the
original can also mean (and perhaps this alternative is preferable) 'like a beautiful
one'.
237. The day primordial':
literally, 'the Day of Alast ("Am I not?")' as described in Koran VII 171: And
when thy Lord took from 'the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them
testify touching themselves, 'Am I not your Lord?' They said, 'Yes, we testify'.
271. 'The Authority': see next
note.
277. Iqbal refers to Koran LV 33:
O tribe of jinn and of men, if you are able to pass through the confines of heaven and
earth, pass through them! You shall not pass through except with an authority.
285. The contrast is between
predestination and freewill.
296. Iqbal refers to the Moslem
practice of whispering the Call to Prayer into the ear of the new-born baby at the naming
ceremony.
331. Khaibar was a Jewish
settlement and stronghold, a hundred miles from Medina, which was conquered with
miraculous ease in AD 628.
332. The reference is to the
famous miracle of 'the splitting of the moon' recounted in explanation of Koran LIV 1: The
Hour has drawn nigh: the moon is split.
333. Refers to Abraham's victory
over Nimrod as described in Koran XXI 68-9. Moslem legend tells of how a mosquito entered
Nimrod's nostril and penetrated his brain, thus killing him.
334. The destruction of Pharaoh
and his hosts in the Red Sea is described in Koran XXVI 60-65.
359. Here and at lines 363-6
Iqbal quotes from the Masnavi of Rumi.
393. Zarvan: for a full
discussion of the role of this figure in Zoroastrianism, see R. C. Zaehner, Zurvan, a
Zoroastrian dilemma.
425. Iqbal refers to a well-known
saying of Mohammed: 'I have a time with God, in which none of the cherubim nor any prophet
rivals me'; see R. A. Nicholson, The Kashf al-Majub, p. 368,
460. The Samiri': see note on
verse 77.
465. The breaking of Alexander's
legendary rampart will portend the end of the world; see Koran XVIII 91 ff., XXI 96.
505. Imaginary names for
mountains of the moon.
529. Jahan-Dost (Friend of the
World) is to be identified with Vishvamitra, the teacher of Rama in Hindu legend.
591. Another imaginary mountain
of the moon.
598. Iqbal has in mind the story
of Harut and Marut (see Koran II 96), two fallen angels condemned (their sin was falling
in love with the daughters of men) to inhabit a well at Babylon.
605. Azar, the father of Abraham,
was an idolator; see Koran VI 74.
637. Iqbal has in mind the saying
of Mohammed, 'We have returned from the lesser Holy War to the greater Holy War'; the
latter is commonly explained as ‘the struggle with the carnal soul'.
679. Sarosh in the Mazdean
religion was an angel - personification of obedience.
689. Razi: Fakhr al-Din al Razi
(d. AD 1210), celebrated theologian and philosopher, composed many books including a great
commentary on the Koran, which Iqbal rejects because of its alleged Peripatetic
tendencies.
696. Iqbal has in mind a popular
mystical poem which includes the line: 'He is in me, and 1 am in Him, like scent in
rose-water.'
701. Yarghamid is yet another
imaginary lunar place-name. Tawasin is the plural of Tasin, a mysterious symbol prefixed
to Koran XXVII. The celebrated mystic-martyr Hallaj, executed on a charge of blasphemy in
AD 922, wrote a book entitled 'The Book of Tawasin.'
702. Salsabil is a fountain in
Paradise. 'He is God': Koran CXII reversed, chanted by ecstatic mystics.
710. 'The Trusty Spirit':
Gabriel.
713. Iqbal criticizes the
effeminate style of the later Persian poets of India.
716. Abraham was called 'the
friend of God'; all good Moslems may be called the like.
731. 'His signs': evidentiary
proof of the genuineness of the prophet's mission. 738. Iqbal names the titles of Suras
LIII, XXIV and LXXIX of the Koran.
793. Iqbal refers to the famous
story of Farhad, who (dug his way through a mountain to reach his beloved Shirin.
800. The 'White Hand' first
manifested in Moses (see Koran XX 23) is a symbol of the miraculous power of prophets.
804. All prophets and saints are
'tried' by God. The saw symbolizes Zachariah, the worm job, the cross Jesus.
872. Ifrangin is coined as the
spirit of the corrupted Christian civilization of Europe.
907. Abu Jahl, a stubborn enemy
of Mohammed, was killed at the Battle of Badr in AD 623.
915. Lat and Manat were ancient
idols of Arabia.
926. Koraish was a noble tribe to
which Mohammed belonged.
934. Salman 'the Persian' was an
ardent companion of Mohammed. The Mazdakites were adherents of the Persian heresiarch
Mazdak.
935. Mohammed's father was named
Abdullah.
937. Hashim was an ancestor of
Mohammed, founder of the clan to which he belonged.
939. Adnan was the eponymous
founder of a large Arab group of tribes, hence legendary ancestor of the Arab people.
940. Shaban was a famous Arab
orator.
941. Zuhair was a celebrated
pre-Islamic Arab poet.
945. The Black Stone is housed in
the Kaaba at Mecca.
946. Hubal was an idol worshipped
by the pagan Arabs.
952. This line is a quotation
from Koran LXIX 7.
953. See note on verse 925.
956. Iqbal quotes from a verse of
the great pre-Islamic Arab poet Imra' al-Qais.
957 Jamal al-Din Afghani (c.
1838-1897) was one of the leading figures in the nineteenth-century revivalist movement, a
pioneer of Moslem unity. Sa'id Halim Pasha (1838-1914), prominent Ottoman statesman, also
preached Pan-Islam.
987. Fudail (d. AD 803) was a
famous ascetic. Bu Sa'id (d. A D 1049) was a pioneer of Persian mystical poetry.
988. Junaid (d. AD 910) was a
central figure in the Baghdad school of 'sober' mystics. Bu Yazid (d. c. 877) was a leader
of the Khorasanian 'intoxicated' school.
992. Iqbal refers to Sa'id Halim
Pasha and Jamal al-Din Afghani respectively.
997. Maulana is a title of
respect equivalent to 'the Master'. Sayyids are those who claim descent from Mohammed.
1004. The Chapter of the Star' is
Koran LIII.
1012. The Heavenly Archetype' is
the original of the Koran laid up in Heaven.
1020. Zinda-Rud, 'Living Stream',
is the name of the river on which Isfahan stands, and of any great river. From this point
Iqbal refers to himself as Zinda Rud.
1036. Iqbal attacks the post-1918
settlement of the Arab world, a settlement imposed by the 'Western Lord' statesmen. In
verse 1064 he extends his condemnation of the 'fragmentation' of Moslem Unity to include
Iran, Egypt and Yemen.
1070. 'That prophet': Karl Marx.
1117. Mustafa Kemal, calling
himself Atatrk, founder of the modern Turkish nation, died AD 1938, admired elsewhere in
Iqbal's poetry as a champion of the revival of the East, is here criticized for adopting
Western ideas of nationhood.
1150. Omar, second caliph of
Islam, was converted suddenly from being a stubborn opponent into being a leading champion
of Mohammed.
1163. The quotation is from Koran
II 2 8: And when thy Lord said to the angels, 'I am setting in the earth a viceroy'.
1205 Mount Hira is a hill near
Mecca to which Mohammed used to withdraw to meditate.
1223. God's answer to Moses when
he prayed for the Beatific Vision, see Koran VII 138.
1283. In a number of passages in
the Koran, earthly possessions are termed an ‘enjoyment' (or 'usufruct') for man, see
for example Koran VII 23.
1291. Based upon such texts as
Koran XLV 2 6: To God belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth.
1309. Based upon Koran II 272: He
gives the Wisdom to whomsoever He will, and whose is given the Wisdom, has been given much
good.
1346. Abu Lahab was one of
Mohammed's most bitter enemies, and is named in malediction in Koran CXI i. Haidar is a
nickname of Ali, for whom see note on line 214.
1360 See note on line 710.
1378. Like Moses in Koran XX 23.
The 'white' people in verse 1385 are those who have. shared in the miracle of the White
Hand.
1381. 'Tile Chosen One': Mustafa,
a nickname of Mohammed
1386. Here and in verse 1394
Iqbal is thinking of Koran LV 29: Every day He is upon some labour. For Iqbal's views on
the philosophical implications of this text, see his Reconstruction of Religious
Thought in Islam, p. 48.
1394. A famous saying of
Mohammed. In Urdu, the word gharib (stranger) also means 'poor'.
1432. The 'days' of the Arabs
were their famous victories, and, by extension, the triumphant spread of Islam.
1438. Refers to the Moslem credo,
'There is no god but God'.
1444. See note on line 1012.
1445. See note on line 1378.
1466. Iqbal quotes Koran III 86.
1468. See Koran II 246: Who is he
that will lend God a good loan, and He will multiply it for him manifold?
1474. See Koran XXVIII 88: All
things perish, except His Fade.
1476. Iqbal has in mind Koran
XXVII 34: Kings, when they enter a city, disorder it.
1478. Koran XXXI 27: Your
creation and your upraising are as but a single soul.
1489. See Koran IX 112.
1490. See Koran 11 2 16-17.
1522. The leader of a caravan
urges on the camels by singing.
1526. As ordered by Nimrod, see
Koran XXXVII 95. 'Without sweetmeats and boon-companion': the regular accompanment to the
wine as symbol of spiritual fervour.
1556. Abraham's son, whom God
commanded Abraham to sacrifice and then spared, see Koran XXXVII 100-109. 1577 See note on
line 3 3 1. 1558. See note on line 1346. 156 3. See Koran LIII 17.
1570. Zain al-Abidin was the
grandson of Ali, son of Husain, almost sole survivor of his family at the Battle of
Kerbela in AD 680.
1620. Khizr, a mysterious figure
in Moslem legend, acted as guide to Alexander in his quest for the Water of Immortality.
1629. 'The Beautiful Name':
Allah.
1630. Abraham, stated in the
Koran to have been the builder of the Kaaba at Mecca, is represented as the first great
champion of monotheism against idolatry.
1651. Alast: see note on verse
237. 1657. The charge is that the Moslem has turned dualist.
1704. Kitchener's death in 1916
aboard H.M.S. Hampshire is seen as retribution for his repression of the Mahdists
in the Sudan, culminating in the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.
1717. 'The Sura of Taha': Koran
XX, in which the story of Moses and Pharaoh is recounted at length.
1738. Iqbal has in mind the
saying divide et impera.
1741. 'God's interlocutor': the
title by which Moses is known.
1758. Referring to the charge
that Lord Kitchener ordered the disinterment of the Sudanese Mahdi and the scattering of
his bones.
1773. The then kings of Egypt,
Iraq and Saoudi Arabia.
1777. Batha is the name of the
valley of Mecca. Khalid (d. 641-2) was a famous general of the Moslem conquests.
1780. This verse is a co-ipliment
to the then Prince Farouk of Egypt. Farouk was a title given to the second caliph Omar.
1789. Yathrib: the ancient name
of Medina.
1825. See note on verse 1620.
1866. Merv: a city once lying
within Persian Khorasan, now part of USSR.
1870. Tusi, Persian polymath,
died in 1274. His most famous book, the Akhlaq-i Nasiri, was composed in Persian.
1903. Barkhiya is incidentally
the name given to the father of Asaf, King Solomon's minister.
2000. Iqbal quotes Koran II 10,
VII 54.
2099. For Hallaj, see note on
verse 701. Ghalib (1797-1869) was the greatest Persian poet of India in his times. Qurrat
al-Ain, Persian poetess and martyr of the Babi movement, was executed in 1852.
2145. Naziri (d. 1612) was a
famous Persian poet born in Nishapur who passed most of his active life in India. Jamshid
was one of the greatest kings of ancient Persia.
2150. Sulaima is a symbol of the
beloved.
2331. See note on verse 1777.
2237. Iqbal quotes from Rumi's Masnavi,
V 3356 ff. For Ba Yazid, see note on verse 998.
2254. Iqbal refers to Koran VIII
17) the context of which is the Battle of Badr: You did not slay them, but God slew them;
and when thou threwest, it was not thyself that threw, but God threw.
2263. 'God's bidding' : a
reference to Koran XVII 87: They will question thee concerning the Spirit. Say: 'The
Spirit is of the bidding of my Lord.'
2272. It was on Sinai (Koran VII
139) that Moses witnessed the effects of the Divine epiphany.
2303. Mani, the founder of
Manichaeism, was a miraculous painter.
2314 Iqbal quotes Koran XXI 107.
2321. Iqbal has in mind Koran
LXXXVIII 23
2339. Iqbal here develops the
mystical doctrine of' the Idea of' Mohammed Is an archetypal Spirit and 'the medium
through which God becomes conscious of Himself in creation' (R. A. Nicholson, Studies
in Islamic Mysticism, p. 110).
2362. Koran VIII 17.
2367. The Last of Time': Mohammed
as the Seal of the Prophets.
2372. The Sunna is the model way
of life as exemplified by the acts of Mohammed.
2407. Iblis as reported in Koran
VII ii. For the role of Satan in Islamic mysticism, especially the doctrine of Hallaj, see
R. A. Nicholson, The Idea of Personality in Sufism, p. 31
2496. Iqbal quotes a well-known
Tradition of Mohammed, primarily meant as a disincentive to divorce.
2561. Two Indian generals who
accepted service in the East India Company during the expansion of British dominion.
2618. Iqbal quotes from Koran
XXXVI 25. -
2624. 'The templars': the
Brahmins.
2626. Antar, heroic warrior and
poet of ancient Arabia, is here contrasted as a pagan with the true type of hero, Ali.
2629. For Iqbal's attitude to
Nietzsche, see his Reconstruction of Religious Thought, p. 184.
2738. See note on line 1438.
2746. As in Koran VII 139.
2747. Ahmad: Ahmad Sirhindi
(1564-1624), eminent Indian theologian known as 'the Renovator of the Second Millennium'.
2805. Kauthar is a river in
Paradise.
2809. Sharaf al-Nisa Begum was
the granddaughter of Abd al-Samad Khan, governor of Panjab in the early years of the
eighteenth century.
2855. 'The Khalsa': the Sikhs.
2857. Sayyid Ali Hamadani (d.
1385) was a famous Persian mystic who lived his later years in Kashmir. Mulla Tahir Ghani
(d. 1669) was an eminent poet of Kashmir.
2863. Iqbal quotes a couplet from
Tahir Ghani.
2873. Ghazali (d. 1111), most
eminent theologian and mystic of Persia.
2877. 'That vale': Kashmir.
2929. Nishat is a famous garden
in Srinagar.
2930. Iqbal quotes the opening
words of Rumi's Masnavi.
2934. Nauruz is the new year's
day festival in Persia.
2938. Shihab al-Din, the greatest
of the Ghorid kings of India, died in 1206.
2951. Iqbal refers to the sale of
Kashmir under the 1846 Treaty of Amritsar, a settlement which still embitters relations
between Pakistan and India.
2986. The best-known book written
by Ali Hamadani is entitled 'The Treasury of Kings', a treatise on statecraft.
2993. Koran IV 62: O believers,
obey God, and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.
3001. King Jamshid of ancient
Persia is said to have possessed a magic cup in which the entire world was mirrored, thus
becoming a symbol for royal power.
3020. Wular is a lake in Kashmir.
3070. Rustam-i Dastan: see note
on line 214. 'Magian boys' were the winebearers in Magian taverns, here types of
effeminacy.
3078. Badakhshan was famous as a
source of rubies.
3079. Bartari-Hari or
Bhartrihari, a Hindu poet of the seventh century, is renowned for his Sanskrit epigrams.
3090. Azar is the sixth of the
Syrian months, corresponding with March, the season of spring rains.
3117. Iqbal states that this
sequence of verses were a translation from Bhartrihari.
3135. Nadir Shah (d. 1747), great
conqueror and founder of the short-lived Afsharid dynasty of Persia, for a time ruled from
Caucasus to the Indus.
3137. Abdali: Ahmad Shah Durrani
(d. 1773) founded the modern nation of Afghanistan.
3139. The Martyr-King' was Tippoo
Sultan of Mysore (d. 1799).
3145. The battles of Badr and
Hunain were two of Mohammed's famous victories.
3146. Husain, son of the fourth
caliph Ali, was killed at the Battle of Kerbela in AD 680.
3172. Bahram, 'that great
Hunter', a hero of Sassanid Persia.
3188. Shapur was the name of
three Persian kings. 3
3195. Yazdajird III (d. 651 or
652) was the last of the Sassanid kings of Persia, defeated by the conquering armies of
Islam.
3212. Nasir-i Khusrau (d. 1060 or
1061) was one of the greatest of the early Persian poets.
3223. 'That youth' : the Afghan
people.
3237. Khushhal Khan Khatak (d.
1691), warrior and poet, is the most famous figure in Pashto literature.
3277. 'The antidote of Iraq': a
drug famous as a specific against poisons.
3308. Iqbal compliments the
rulers of Iran and Afghanistan.
3309. Qubad was an ancient king
of Persia.
3311. The Durranis are the ruling
house of Afghanistan.
3345. The Cauvery is the
principal river of Mysore, running through Tippoo Sultan's old capital city of
Seringapatam (see line 3371)
3370. 'The Water of Life': the
legendary river sought by Alexander.
3436. Allahu Akbar: 'God is Most
Great', the Moslem battlecry.
3438. Murtada's son: Husain, for
whom see note on verse 3146. Murtada is one of the titles or Ali.
3444. Iqbal refers to a famous
saying of Mohammed. 3577. Koran II 182. 3581. For Ba Yazid, see note on line 988. Shibli
(d. 945) was a noted mystic of Baghdad. Bu Dharr was a Companion of Mohammed famous for
his piety.
3582. Tughril (d. 1063) was the
first of the Seljuk rulers of medieval Islam. Sanjar (d. 1157) was the last of the great
Seljuks.
3587. For Salman, see the note on
line 934.
