Two Urdu ghazals by Iqbal: the earlier "Taranah-e Hindi" (Indian Song, 1904) on the left, and the later "Taranah-e Milli" (Song of the Religious Community, 1910) on the right; *more information*

Source: Kulliyat-e Iqbal (Lahore: Shaikh Ghulam Ali and Sons, 1973), pp. 83, 159. Scan by FWP, May 2004.

The two ghazals have the same formal features (rhyme, refrain, and meter), and some of the verses of the second use transformed parts of the verses of the first.

LITERAL translation (very clunky) by FWP:
 

1) better than the whole world, our Hindustan
we are its nightingales, it is our garden

2) if we would be abroad, our heart remains in the homeland
consider us too there, where our heart would be

3) that highest mountain, neighbor of the sky
it is our sentry, it is our door-guard

4) in her lap play thousands of rivers
thanks to which our garden is the envy of Paradise

5) oh river Ganges, you remember those days
when our caravan descended on your banks

6) religion does not teach us to keep enmity among ourselves
we are Indian ["Hindi"], our homeland is Hindustan

7) Greece and Egypt and Byzantium, all were erased from the world
but till now our name and sign remain

8) there's something, that our existence doesn't get erased
for centuries the turning of the ages has remained our enemy

9) Iqbal, I have no confidant in the world
what does anyone know of my hidden grief?

1) China and Arabia are ours, Hindustan is ours
we are Muslims, our homeland is the whole world

2) the trust/legacy of monotheism is in our breasts
it is not easy to erase our name and sign

3) among the temples of the world, that House of God is first
we are its guardians, it is our guardian

4) in the shadow of swords we have been raised and become youths
the scimitar of the crescent moon is our communal sign

5) in the valleys of the west our call to prayer echoed
our moving flood wasn't stopped by anyone

6) we are not, oh sky, ones to be oppressed by falsehood
you have already tested us a hundred times

7) oh garden of Andalusia, you remember those days
when our nest was in your branches

8) oh waves of the Tigris, you also recognize us
even now your river tells our stories

9) oh pure land, we were cut to pieces over your honor
even now our blood flows in your veins

10) our caravan-leader is the Lord of the Hijaz
through that name the peace of our soul survives

11) Iqbal's song rings out like the call of a gong
again our caravan takes to the road


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