لطفا منتظر باشید ...
TO
THE
HOLY
PROPHET
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Iqbal's love for the
Prophet has become proverbial. His visitors have related almost unanimously that
whenever there was discussion about the Prophet, Iqbal was deeply touched and
tears would begin to flow from his eyes involuntarily.1
In one of his letters, Iqbal says about the Prophet: "It is my belief that the
Prophet is still alive and the people of this age can get inspiration from him
as his Companions did during his mortal life. . "2
In Asrar-i Khudi,
first published in 1915, he spoke of the love for the Prophet in relation to
the development of the individual. It is through love, he says, that the
Self is made "more lasting, more living, more burning, more glowing".3
He continues:
"He [i.e. Muhammad]
chose the nightly solitude of Mount Hira and [then] founded a state and laws and
government."4 "In the Moslem's heart is the home of
Muhammad, all our glory is from the name of Muhammad."5
"We are like a rose with many petals but with one perfume: he is the soul
of this society, and he is one. We are the secret concealed in his heart: he
spake out fearlessly, and we were revealed. The song of love for him fills my
silent reed, a hundred notes throb in my bosom."6
In Rumuz-i Bekhudi,
first published in 1918, Iqbal speaks of the role of Prophethood in the life
of the community. "God fashioned forth our form," he says, "and through
Apostleship breathed in our flesh the soul of life. . . . [It] shaped our being,
gave us Faith and Law, converted our vast myriads into one, and joined our
fractions in a mighty whole inseparable, indivisible. . . His was the breath
that gave the people life; his sun shone glory on their risen dawn. In God the
Individual, in him [i.e. Muhammad] lives the Community, in his sun's rays
resplendent ever; his Apostleship brought concord to our purpose and our goal."7
At the end of the
book. Iqbal expresses his misgivings about the present state of the Muslim
society, the ignoble role of its leaders of thought and his prayers for its
bright future which depends, as he holds, on the Muslims turning once again to
the inspiring leadership of the Prophet. It was the Prophet who lit the lamp of
life and infused the spirit of truth in the hearts and minds of the people who,
in spite of being weak, rose in revolt against the strongest and thus succeeded
in establishing the law of truth and justice. It was love for the Prophet that
"hath lit a flame within my heart . . . [and] all my spirit is consumed in me..
. . But now the Muslim is estranged anew unto the Prophet's secret; now once
more God's sanctuary is an idols' shrine. . . .As timorous of death as any
infidel, his [Muslim's] breast is hollow, empty of a living heart."8
Iqbal decides to close
the gap that has developed unfortunately between the Muslims and the Prophet,
the source of their inspiration, and break down all the barriers raised between
them. "I bore him [i e. the Muslim]," he says, "lifeless from the doctors' hands
and brought him to the Prophet's presence; dead he was; I told him of the Fount
of Life, I spoke with him upon a mystery of the Koran. . . . I brought to him
perfume sweet pressed from the roses of Arabia."9
But Iqbal complains
that his readers, the Muslims of the subcontinent, accuse him of weaving
Europe's spells with which he bound their hearts and minds. Iqbal claims, on the
other hand, that he broke this spell of the West by his poetry.
[I broke the spell of
modern knowledge,
and managed to tear off the net, after removing the grain;
God knows that like Abraham
I came out of the fire of the West unscathed.]
10
He claims that what he
teaches is the truth from the Qur'an which he received through the Prophet. He
prays that he may be granted knowledge of the Truth:
[O thou, that to
Busairi grant a cloak
and to my fingers yielded Salma's lute,
grant now to him, whose thoughts are so stray,
that he can no more recognise his own,
perception of the truth, and joy therein.]
11
In Payam-i M'ashriq
(p. 8), first published in 1923, he says about love for the Prophet:
[He who cherishes love
of Mustafa,
controls everything in the seas and lands.
It is love for him that gives life
and prosperity in the universe to Community.]
In Javid Namah,
published in 1932, he states clearly that the present miserable plight of the
Muslims is due to the fact that they have ceased to cherish love for the Prophet
as they should. Speaking about the modern Muslim, Afghani says:
[In his heart there is
no burning fire,
Mustafa is not living in his heart.]
12
The same idea is
expressed by Iqbal in Armaghan-i Hijaz (p. 54):
[I wept bitterly one
night before God and asked Him:
Why is the Muslim so miserable ?
Came the reply Don't you know,
this Community possesses the heart but has no beloved.]
In other words, it is
because the Muslims have ceased to maintain that loving contact with and
sentimental attachment to the Prophet that once characterised them, that they
have fallen on bad days. The implication is clear. If the Muslims wish to regain
their lost glory, they must start loving the Prophet in right earnest and as
Iqbal states:
[The meaning of
beholding the Last of Prophets
is to make his rule binding on oneself.]
13
In Armaghan-i
Hijaz, published posthumously in 1938, more than sixty pages are devoted to
quatrains addressed to the Prophet. I would quote only two here which give a
clear picture of Iqbal's views about the role of the Prophet in the revival of
Muslim society:
[The world is based on
Love and Love is derived from your breast,
its intoxication flows from your o]d wine.]
14
[I have lifted veil
from the face of Destiny,
don't be hopeless, follow the way of Mustafa.]
15
1.
Faqir Wahiduddin, Ruzgar-i Faqir, I, pp. 94-95.
2.
Sh. Ataullah, Ed., Iqbal Namah, I, 317.
3.
Nicholson, The Secrets of the Self, verses 325.26.
4.
Ibid., 11. 359-60.
5.
Ibid., 11. 351-52.
6.
Ibid., 11. 395-400.
7.
Arberry, Mysteries of Selflessness, pp. 19-20.
8.
Ibid., pp. 79-80.
9.
Ibid., p. 80.
10.
Armaghan-i Hijaz, p. 70.
11.
Asrar-o Rumuz, p. 195.
12.
Javid Namah, p. 87.
13.
Javid Namah:, p. 151.
14.
Armaghan-i Hijaz, p. 73.
15.
Ibid., p. 93.
