Understanding Iqbal - Day 22

If you're like me, someone interested in understanding Urdu poetry and literature, and improving my vocabulary in the language, because of it being largely ignored in private schooling, then I'd encourage you to join me on my #UrduParhiye journey where I delve deep into this language and break down complex Urdu ghazals and prose so that it can be more digestible for those of us that can communicate and read in Urdu, but not as deeply as in English. It's unfortunate, for sure, but I feel no shame in sharing my own journey of reading, learning, and understanding Urdu literature as I have never been able to do before. Don't let this be daunting and don't let this make you feel like a foreigner either. Trust me, this will be so rewarding and enable us to communicate better in, understand the history and culture of our country better, and put us in a position where we can be both globally and locally confident because that's the advantage languages give us.

So today, I've decided to explore a few verses from Allama Iqbal's بانگ درا (Bang-e-dara: "a bell rung at the time of a march of a caravan"), which was actually a book that I won as a prize for competing in a poetry competition (bait baazi) in school. Yes, I was a bit curious about Urdu poetry since I was in 8th grade, which is odd because I learned Urdu as a second language myself, and it was an uphill battle, which is its own story. Ok, so I want to get right into the good stuff: Iqbal's شکوہ (Shikwa: complaint). Let's read the first six verses of Shikwa and then get into the difficult words with their meanings below.

Now, let's get into the vocabulary list:

Now, re-read the above verses of Shikwa with the new vocabulary you've gained and try to remember them in context. If I were you I'd pull out this word in a gathering and say,

فکرفردا نہ کرو

& let's enjoy the now.