POEM · PERMANENT EDITION

Muhammad Iqbal کہا اقبالؔ نے شیخِ حرم سے Kaha Iqbal ne shaikh-e-haram se ●sher 1 of 2

کہا اقبالؔ نے شیخِ حرم سے

Kaha Iqbal ne shaikh-e-haram se

تہِ محرابِ مسجد سو گیا کون

Teh-e-mehraab-e-masjid so gaya kaun

Iqbal said to the Keeper of the Sanctuary:
Who has fallen asleep beneath the mosque's mihrab?

نِدا مسجد کی دیواروں سے آئی

Nida masjid ki deewaron se aayi

فرنگی بُت کدے میں کھو گیا کون؟

Farangi but-kade mein kho gaya kaun?

A voice came from the walls of the mosque:
Who has lost themselves in the Western idol-temple?

Context

This Urdu quatrain by Allama Muhammad Iqbal presents a poignant dialogue reflecting on the spiritual and cultural state of the Muslim world. Iqbal, through his persona, questions the religious leadership ("Sheikh-e-Haram") about the spiritual lethargy within the mosque, asking who has fallen asleep in the sacred space. The mosque's walls, personified, respond with a deeper concern, lamenting those who have lost their identity and direction, assimilated into the "Farangi but-kada" (Western idol-house), a metaphorical representation of Western cultural and materialistic influence. The verse underscores Iqbal's recurring themes of introspection, critique of spiritual complacency, and the preservation of Islamic identity against foreign cultural dominance.