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.