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.