The Man And The Universe (Iqbal's Insaan Aur Bazm-e-Qudarat)

                        The Man And The Universe

                    (Iqbal’s Insaan Aur Bazm-e-Qudrat)

                 Once I saw the bright sun in the morning,

                 I put a question to the world of existence,

                 Due to reflection of the sunshine is thy visibility,

                 Flowing water of thy rivers is a silvery fluid,

                 The sun has adorned thee with the ornament of light,

                 It is this lamp that has brightened thy extent of existence,

                 Flowers and gardens are the portraits of thy paradise,

                 All these are the exegesis of the Quranic verse of Ash-shams,

                 The attire of the flowers is red and that of the trees is green,

                 These are the fairies of thy world, some green and some red,

                 The fringe of thy dome of heavens is golden,

                 The reddish small cloudlikes are seen on the horizon,

                 How nice the twilight of the horizon appears to eyes!

                 As if, red wine has been poured into the gobblet of evening,

                 Thy status is high, thy glory is grand,

                 Every substance of thee is hidden in the cover of light,

                 Morning is a song replete with thy grandeur,

                 Under the sun there is no trace of darkness,

                 I am also settled in this lightbased settlement but,

                 How the star of my fortune got burned!

                 Why I am away from light and captive of darkness,

                 Why my days, my fortune and my actions are all doom and gloom,

                  As I said this that a voice came from somewhere,

                  Whether it was emitted from the roof of sky or from courtyard of earth,

                  My being or unbeing depends on thy being,

                  Thy being is the gardener of the garden of existence,

                  Thou art the core whose beautiful manifestation am I,

                  Thou art the revelation of love whose aegesis am I,

                  Thou hast mended the damages done to me,

                  The liability which I could not take up thou didst it,

                  My existence is needy of the light of the sun,

                  And thy glitter is free from obligation of the sun,

                  If there be no sun, my rose-garden will be a waste-land,

                  Instead of the place of enjoyment, my name will be a prison-land,

                  Alas! O the foolish! Who does not understand the open secret,

                  Who is entangled in the trap of desires,

                  What an ignorance! Thy eye is habituated to seeing the perceptible,

                  Pride was the grace for thee, but thou art involved in disgrace,

                  If thou remaineth aware of thy own reality,

                  Thy days and actions would not be gloomy.

   

                  (Suggestions invited to make the above more exact)
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