فِردوس میں رومیؔ سے یہ کہتا تھا سنائیؔ

Firdous mein Rumi se yeh kehta tha Sanai

مشرق میں ابھی تک ہے وہی کاسہ، وہی آش

Mashriq mein abhi tak hai wohi kaasa, wohi aash

In paradise, Sanai was saying this to Rumi:
In the East, there is still the same bowl, the same stew.

حلّاج کی لیکن یہ روایت ہے کہ آخر

Hallaj ki lekin yeh riwayat hai ke aakhir

اک مرد قلندر نے کِیا رازِ خودی فاش!

Ik mard-e-qalander ne kiya raaz-e-khudi faash!

But the tradition from Hallaj is that, in the end,
A Qalandar-like man revealed the secret of Self!

Context

This quatrain, characteristic of Muhammad Iqbal's philosophical poetry, presents a dialogue where Sanai expresses to Rumi a lament over the spiritual stagnation (symbolized by "the same bowl, the same gruel") in the East. However, it then offers a counter-narrative, attributed to Mansur al-Hallaj's tradition, that a radical Sufi (a 'Qalandar') ultimately revealed the profound 'secret of Khudi' (selfhood). This concept, central to Iqbal's philosophy, champions the dynamic development of individual selfhood, challenging passive spiritual traditions and emphasizing self-realization.