This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.

Professor Carlo Coppola, Oakland University

 Iqbāl / Iqbal

Whose is the fiery voice singing in this darkness

Making a glow appear in the East? 

Death shadows recede 

And the sheets of darkness move away; 

A spark flew and reached the skies, 

Reached the bright-bodied, heavenly youth;

There were consultations in the netherworld,

Then talk about the earth in the heavens; 

Then in darkness the same fiery voice 

Sang at the turn in road of Life; 

That herald of Life kept singing morning and evening,

At every lane, in every quarter, at every door; 

God’s creatures came to listen to this song; 

And moving forward, said:

“This is Gabriel’s melody; it is not the song of man! 

It is the trumpet of Israfil unrecognized by the world; 

It is the torch of the highest heaven; it is a heavenly melody; 

No, it is not a melody; it is, from end to end, the fire of Love.”

.

From: Bisāt̤-i raqṣ (Dance Carpet). Ḥaidarābād, Inḍiyā: Istiqbāliyah kameṭī jashn-i Mak̲h̲dūm, 1966. pp. 56 – 57

             

Whose is the fiery voice singing in this darkness

Making a glow appear in the East? 

Death shadows recede 

And the sheets of darkness move away; 

A spark flew and reached the skies, 

Reached the bright-bodied, heavenly youth;

There were consultations in the netherworld,

Then talk about the earth in the heavens; 

Then in darkness the same fiery voice 

Sang at the turn in road of Life; 

That herald of Life kept singing morning and evening,

At every lane, in every quarter, at every door; 

God’s creatures came to listen to this song; 

And moving forward, said:

“This is Gabriel’s melody; it is not the song of man! 

It is the trumpet of Israfil unrecognized by the world; 

It is the torch of the highest heaven; it is a heavenly melody; 

No, it is not a melody; it is, from end to end, the fire of Love.”

.

From: Bisāt̤-i raqṣ (Dance Carpet). Ḥaidarābād, Inḍiyā: Istiqbāliyah kameṭī jashn-i Mak̲h̲dūm, 1966. pp. 56 – 57