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.