POEM · PERMANENT EDITION

Muhammad Iqbal خدائی اہتمامِ خشک و تر ہے Khudāī ehtimām-e khushk-o-tar hai ●sher 1 of 2

خدائی اہتمامِ خشک و تر ہے

Khudāī ehtimām-e khushk-o-tar hai

خداوندا! خدائی دردِ سر ہے

Khudāvandā! Khudāī dard-e sar hai

God's provision encompasses all, dry and wet.
O Lord! This divinity is a headache.

ولیکن بندگی، استغفراللہ!

Valekin bandagi, astaghfirullāh!

یہ دردِ سر نہیں، دردِ جگر ہے

Yeh dard-e sar nahīñ, dard-e jigar hai

But devotion, God forbid!
This is not a headache, it's a pain of the heart.

Context

This Urdu quatrain uses a striking contrast to reflect on divine order and human devotion. It portrays the divine 'management of all things' as a 'headache' (dard-e-sar), a bold, almost irreverent statement. However, it then elevates human servitude or devotion (bándagī) to a far deeper, more profound 'pain of the liver' (dard-e-jigar). This distinction is a classic poetic device in Urdu literature, where 'dard-e-jigar' signifies deep emotional suffering, passionate love, or spiritual anguish, often seen as a nobler and more intense experience than mere intellectual burden or irritation, reflecting themes found in Sufi poetry and philosophical ghazals.