Discovering Iqbal

To taste death is nobler than

Bread that clogs the upward flight 

                                                   -Allama Iqbal

TV programs this Iqbal day have been a wakeup call for me.
I know nothing about Iqbal!
His ideals, his philosophy, his political leaning, the in-depth meaning of his poetry, the concept of self and it’s huge application in today’s world and today’s Pakistan. Nothing.

Iqbal was a genius; the concepts that he laid out in his poetry and the feelings that he tried to motivate through them will perpetually remain pertinent. His words are powerful, strong and extremely motivating. Not just for Muslims as a whole, or us as a nation, but for each of us on an individual level. Decisions that we make in our everyday life, if carried out with his concept of self, would be radically different. And wouldn’t that make one a radically changed person in turning producing a completely changed nation and an utterly changed Ummah. And for the better. All changed for the better.

Personally I’m a faithful when it comes to believing that individuals by their own resilience can make a difference. That if in a room of a hundred, if a person dares to stand up, the fate of those hundred can be changed. That following the crowd isn’t always the way to do something. I’ve come to learn (especially in med school)that comparing your abilities with others is just a way of offending yourself. That when you’ve got you’re heart and mind set on a thing, impossible becomes I.am.possible.! (okay the last one was corny :P) And going from being an almost-mute to applauded as an orator, it goes to show that yes, it’s just the strength of your cerebral neurones and cardiac fibres that you really need. I believe that reading Iqbal can revitalise this faith of mine.

So I’ve made a vow to study Iqbal, in whatever possible way I can. Granted Urdu is a serious weak point for me. But it’s like someone explained the other day on Express 24/7 that Iqbal urges us to be ‘creative’, with creative meaning bringing two antagonist things together to produce something that hasn’t been envisioned before. So taking ‘understanding Urdu poetry’ and ‘myself’ as two completely opposite things and putting them together as a hitherto undone thing, I‘ll be doing what Iqbal meant. Well in a weird way I guess. Cool,no :D