POEM · PERMANENT EDITION

Muhammad Iqbal کھُلے جاتے ہیں اسرارِ نہانی Khule jaate hain asraar-e-nahaani ●sher 1 of 2

کھُلے جاتے ہیں اسرارِ نہانی

Khule jaate hain asraar-e-nahaani

گیا دَورِ حدیثِ ’لن ترانی‘

Gaya daur-e-hadees-e-'lan taraani'

The hidden mysteries are unfolding,
The era of 'You shall not see Me' has passed.

ہوئی جس کی خودی پہلے نمودار

Hui jis ki khudi pehle namoodaar

وہی مہدی، وہی آخر زمانی!

Wohi Mehdi, wohi aakhir zamaani!

He whose selfhood first became manifest,
He is the Mahdi, he is of the end times!

Context

This Urdu quatrain suggests a profound shift in spiritual understanding, where divine secrets are now accessible. It posits that the era denying direct mystical vision has ended, replaced by a time when individual selfhood (khudi), particularly as conceptualized in Sufi and Iqbalian thought concerning self-realization and spiritual awakening, becomes the key to recognizing the prophesied Mahdi. The poem thus links the emergence of a perfected 'khudi' with the advent of the end-times redeemer, suggesting an internal, transformative spiritual journey rather than solely an external event.