Recitation: Ram, Nazm by Muhammad Iqbal Urdu Poetry and Poetics

Episode 09.
Recitation: Ram, a nazm by Muhammad Iqbal
Poet: Muhammad Iqbal
Recitation by Faraz Ali

Labrez hai sharāb-e-haqīqat se jām-e-hind
sab falsafī haiñ ḳhitta-e-maġhrib ke rām-e-hind

ye hindiyoñ kī fikr-e-falak-ras kā hai asar
rif’at meñ āsmāñ se bhī ūñchā hai bām-e-hind

is des meiñ hue haiñ hazāroñ malak-sarisht
mashhūr jinke dam se hai duniyā meiñ nām-e-hind

hai rām ke vajūd pe hindostāñ ko nāz
ahle-nazar samajhte haiñ is ko imām-e-hind

ejaaz is charāġh-e-hidāyat kā hai yahī
raushan-tar-az-sahar hai zamāne meiñ shām-e-hind

talvār kā dhanī thā shujāat meiñ fard thā
pākīzgī meiñ josh-e-mohabbat meiñ fard thā


#urdu



TRANSLATION:
The attempt below is for assistance only and does not intend to capture the poetic excellence.

The cup of Hind overflows with the wine of truth.
Philosophers of the Western world are its devotees.

The mysticism of her philosophers
makes Hind’s star soar above all constellations.

Thousands of angels have descended
to proclaim Hind’s name before the world.

And proud of his existence
the discerning eye sees in Ram, a prophet.

The glow from this lamp of wisdom
makes Hind’s evening more radiant
than the world’s daybreak.

Valorous, brave, a master swordsman!
In purity, in love, Ram, was unmatched


#urdu

Rām, the poem's subject, refers to the Lord Ramā, a Hindu deity and the protagonist of the Ramayana epic. He is a symbol of the triumph of truth over falsehood.

Please read up about him yourself and save us the struggle of misrepresentation. 

For Iqbal, Hindustan is a land of sages, seers, scholars and intellectuals; he appreciates the Hindustani mind's search for eternality, knowledge and wisdom.

but

Rām is also a Persian word which means subdued, tamed, submissive — one who is submissive or obedient. And is often used in idiomatic constructions. 
i.e here are a few examples:

1. rām-karnā: to win over, tame, make loyal
2. rām-honā or ho-jānā: To be subdued
3. Nafs ko rām kernā - 

Lord Ramā and his story are often referenced in idiomatic expressions like:
* rām rām kerna: salute, greet, recite a holy name, seeking protection, to repent
* rām-kahānī sunana: telling a really long story 


Celebrating the syncretic tradition, Iqbāl not only uses Lord Rām as the subject of the poem, he also employs the Persian usage in the second line of the first shi'r.  

‘sab falsafī haiñ ḳhitta-e-maġhrib ke rām-e-hind’

What do you think the expression 'Rām-i Hind' implies here? 

-

Now look at the expression in the fourth shi'r praising Rām as Imām-i Hind. 

hai rām ke vajūd pe hindostāñ ko nāz
 ahle-nazar samajhte haiñ is ko imām-e-hind

Urdu poetry is replete with references to Lord Ram and the episodes from The Ramayana. There are over 300 Ramayanas written in Urdu, many in Urdu verse known as manzum Ramayanas.