God Answers
(Iqbal’s Jaweb-e-Shikwa penned in 1913.)
Part - 9


If there be no Muhammed, there would be no sense of love,
Worldly activities would have no meaning,
It is he who gave a life of piety and ecstasy,
If  concept of tawheed vanishes, your existence has no meaning,
The tent-like structure of the skies stands on this name,
The pulse of the world of existence draws life from this name.


In the desert, in the valley and in the plains,
In the ocean, in the lap of waves and in the hurricane,
In the city of China, in the wilderness of Morocco,
And hidden in the eemaan of a Mussalman,
Nations of the world will observe this scene until the last day,
The glory of “Rafa’ana laka dhikrak” will remain exalted until the last day.


The pupil of the earth, that is that black world,
Your early converts were reared by that world,
The land reared in the heat of the sun called the Crescent world,
Men of faith call it Bilal’s world,
By this name Islam is expanding, as heat expands mercury,
Like the pupil of the eye it remains dipped in the light of divinity.


Intellect is thy shield, devotion is thy sword,
My dervish! World wide is thy field of action,
Thy takbeer is like purifying fire,
If thou art Muslim, My will will appear in thy action,
If thou art faithful to Muhammed, We are thine,
What to talk of this world, the tablet and the pen are thine".

END

God Answer
(Iqbal’s Jawab-e-Shikwa penned in 1913)
Part - 8


Thou wilt not be wiped out, if Iran is wiped out,
It is the wine which intoxicates, not the cup or decanter,
It is evident from the Tartaric invasion of the Arab land,
The barbaric invaders turned kaabah’s protectors,
Thou art the sailor of Allah’s arch in the hard times,
Thou art like the dim star in the dark nights of ignorance.


There is an uproar on the Balkan attack of Turkey,
This is a message of awakening for the Islamic side,
Thou thinketh it to be a reason for the heart-break,
This is a test of thy sense of sacrifice, selflessness and pride,
Why art thou terror-stricken at sight of enemy’s strategic acts,
Light of Allah will not be extinguished by any of enemy’s tacts.


Thy reality is hidden from the eyes of the nations,
The existence of the world still needs thy presence,
Thy ideology keeps the world engaged,
The star of the world of possibilities foretells thy governance,
There is no leisure, as a lot of work is still outstanding,
The completion of spreading the light of tawheed is still pending.


Thou art confined like fragrance in the bud, spread thyself,
Spread the message of Islam, be the breeze of the garden,
Thou art weak like a speck of dust, be a desert,
Thou art like song of waves, be the roar of the hurricane,
By the force of love, raise every low to exaltation,
In the love of Muhammed in the world cause illumination.

God Answer
(Iqbal’s Jawab-e-Shikwa penned in 1913)
Part - 7

This materialistic era is a fire and threat to all faiths,
Neither a desert nor an oasis is safe from it,
Ancient faiths are the fuel of this fire,
It is ruining the ummah of Muhammed the prophet,
If even today the eeman of Ibrahim be revived,
The flames of fire too can turn into a flower-bed.


Seeing the plight of the ummah, the mentor should not lose heart,
Soon the little star will emit bright beams of light,
Soon the clouds of calamity will disperse,
The martyrs’ blood will enlighten the gloomy night,
See the colour of the sky – it is crimson,
It is predicting the rise of a mighty nation.


In the ocean of existence there are successful nations too,
And there are even failed nations as well as unfortunate ones too,
There are even hundreds of nations immature as well as mature ones too,
There are even hundreds of nations yet to take birth too,
The tree of Islam is the manifestation of hundreds of years of toleration,
It is the result of hundreds of centuries’ evolution.

Thou art free from the contamination of nationhood,
Thou art that Yousuf for whom every Egypt is thy Canaan,
Thy caravan will never face desolation,
Thy only mission is to keep the caravan in motion,
Thou art the light emitting tree and in the flame burns thy soul,
Thy apprehensions are baseless, as thou art destined to be successful.

God Answers
(Iqbal’s Jawab-e-Shikwa penned in 1913.)
Part - 6

You are indignant in mutuality, they were compassionate,
You are miscreants and fault-finders, they were conniving and kind,
All of you want to be placed at very exalted status,
Before that you must create the right state of mind,
The thrones of the Chinese and the Iranian emperors were at their feet,
You too are aspirants of their status, but do you have their sense of pride?


You follow path of self- ruin, they were self-respecting and patient,
You avoid fraternity, they strove for it,
You are all speech, they were all action,
You long for wealth while wealth was at their feet,
Nations still keep their stories in memory,
Human civilization bears the testimony of their sincerity.


Like the star some became even prominent,
In the love of nation some became even infidel and defied faith,
In the name of freedom of thought, some became even atheist,
The youth were already unconcerned, they even became suspicious of faith,
Modern civilization made them free of all bonds,
It deviated them from the Qibla and placed them before gods.


The Arab youths no more like the hardship and solitude of desert,
They have tasted modern civilization, they no more like desert life,
Men have become fanatics, no matter where they do live,
When it is so, why women should wear hijab and not create strife?
No complaints of excesses, no grievance of oppression!
When men have chosen freedom, why women observe restriction?

God Answers 
(Iqbal’s Jawab-e-Shikwa penned in 1913)
Part - 5


There is tumult that Muslims have become extinct from the world,
We say that Muslims were nowhere present;
You resemble the Christians in fashion and the Hindus in culture,
These Muslims---- seeing whom the Jews feel repentant;
Casually speaking, you are also Syyids, also Mirzas and also Afghans,
Supposing you are everything, but whether you are also Musalmans.


Power of speech of a Muslim originated from fearless truth,
His justice was strong, free from contamination of consideration;
By nature a Muslim was supposed to be modest,
In bravery his existence was beyond perception;
Muslims dissolved their ego for My sake,
They sacrificed all their belongings for My sake.


Every Muslim was an enemy of evil,
Every act of his existence was meaningful,
Whatever faith he had, he had in his strength,
You fear death, he feared Allah the most powerful,
If the son does not retain father’s legacy of knowledge,
He cannot ably keep father’s legacy of pledge.


Everyone is lost in the taste of indolence,
You are Muslims! It is the Islamic way of life!
Neither you have Ali’s piety nor wealth of Othman,
You have no spiritual relation with your ancestor’s life,
Being Muslims in their times, they were honourable,
And you forsook Quraan and became miserable.

God Answers
(Iqbal’s Jawab-e-Shikwa penned in 1913)

Part - 4

The gain and the loss of this Ummah is all one,
Prophet of all is one, faith too and Eeman too is one,
Sacred Ka’abah too, Allah too and Quraan too is one,
Was it anything big, had the Muslims too been one?
Somewhere you are divided into sects and at other into tribes,
Is it the way to flourish in the present times?

Who has forsaken the Shariah of prophet Muhammed?
Whose basis of action is opportunism?
Who has adopted the traditions of the infidels?
Who became disgusted with the way of Ibrahim?
There is no passion in the heart, no awareness in spirit,
You have no regard for the teachings of Muhammed the prophet.

It is the poor who line up for prayers in the mosques,
It is the poor who bear the hardship of fasting during Ramadhan,
It is the poor who devote themselves for Me,
It is the poor who conceal your disregard of religion,
Wealth has made the rich unmindful of the Lord of sustenance,
It is the poor who in the way of Islam show persistence.

Preachers of the Ummah have no more maturity of thought,
No more sagacity of a Muslim, no more life infusing preaching,
Tradition of Azaan remains, the spirit of Bilal is no more,
Philosophy prevails but the persuasion of Ghazali is missing,
Mosques lament that they are empty of the devotees,
That is, they don’t see men of attributes, the Hijazis.

God Answers
(Iqbal’s Jawab-e-Shikwa penned in 1913)

Part - 3

How unbearable it is to rise in the morning!
You don’t love Me, you love to sleep!
How cumbersome is the restraint of Rmadhan!
Say! It is the way of following the belief;
Ummah is based on faith, if faith vanishes you too vanish,
If the mutual attraction vanishes, the order of the stars will vanish.

The men who do not know any skill, it is you!
The men who do not care for their well-being, it is you!
The men who do not do any creation, it is you!
The men who sell their ancestors’ relics, it is you!
If you earn reputation by idolizing graves of your dead,
Will you not sell idols of gods, if you get them instead?

Who wiped out infidelity from the world?
Who banished slavery from the earth?
Who restored the sanctity of My Ka’abah?
Who embraced My Quraan to their heart?
They were surely your forefathers but what you are!
Sitting idle, you are waiting for your glorious future!

What you said! “For Muslims only empty promise of reward?”
If someone makes an unjust plaint, then too courtesy is required,
Justice is the rule of the Creator of the universe since ever,
If an infidel professes rule, he is destined to the dreamt reward,
None amongst you is the seeker of My blessed reward,
I am ready to favour, but you are not worthy of My reward.