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Sir Muhammad Iqbal (November 9, 1877 – April 21, 1938), widely known as Allama Iqbal was a poet, philosopher, and politician, as well as an academic, barrister and scholar in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is called the 'Spiritual father of Pakistan'. He is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature, with literary work in both the Urdu and Persian languages.
Iqbal is admired as a prominent poet by Pakistanis, Indians, Iranians, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans and other international scholars of literature. Though Iqbal is best known as an eminent poet, he is also a highly acclaimed 'Muslim philosophical thinker of modern times'.His first poetry book, Asrar-e-Khudi, appeared in the Persian language in 1915, and other books of poetry include Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, Payam-i-Mashriq and Zabur-i-Ajam. Amongst these, his best known Urdu works are Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim and a part of Armughan-e-Hijaz. Along with his Urdu and Persian poetry, his Urdu and English lectures and letters have been very influential in cultural, social, religious and political disputes.
In 1922, he was knighted by King George V, granting him the title 'Sir'.While studying law and philosophy in England, Iqbal became a member of the London branch of the All-India Muslim League. Later, during the League's December 1930 session, he delivered his most famous presidential speech known as the Allahabad Address in which he pushed for the creation of a Muslim state in Northwest India.
In much of South Asia and the Urdu speaking world, Iqbal is regarded as the Shair-e-Mashriq 'Poet of the East'). He is also called Mufakkir-e-Pakistan 'The Thinker of Pakistan'), Musawar-e-Pakistan 'Artist of Pakistan') and Hakeem-ul-Ummat: 'The Sage of the Ummah'). The Pakistan government officially named him a 'national poet'.His birthday Yōm-e Welādat-e Muḥammad Iqbāl, or Iqbal Day, is a public holiday in Pakistan. In India he is also remembered as the author of the popular song Saare Jahaan Se Achcha.
The remarkable strength and courage of the eagle have inspired mankind throughout the ages. In ancient times the battles between the sun and the clouds were considered as battles between an eagle and a serpent and the eagle was held in awe and worshiped for its majestic figure and superb qualities. Because of their strength, eagles have been a mark of war and imperial power since Babylonian times. In Assyrian myths the eagle was the symbol of storms and lightning and the god who carried souls to Hades.
In India and Babylon the eagle was the symbol of fire, wind and storms, and regarded as the messenger of immortality. In the Golden Age of Greece, it was the emblem of victory and supreme spiritual energy. The eagle was the sacred bird of Zeus, the ruler of all gods. The Greeks represented eagles with wings outstretched, holding a serpent in their claws, which signified the triumph of good over evil. In Rome, an eagle was the symbol of Jupiter, the supreme god. For the Romans the eagle was the sign of victory. As Roman legions conquered the world, they marched under the standard of the eagle, with outstretched wings.
It was the only bird believed to be capable of staring at the sun, which mythology held to be the light of God. Eagle was the personal emblem of the Caesars who represented supreme authority. Afterwords, in the Middle Ages, it became the symbol of Germany. Hunting with an eagle was an outstanding sport in Europe but it was permissible only for the kings and monarchs. The rise of Christianity brought still more honor and dignity for the eagles. To the early Christians, the eagle was the symbol of the Ascension. In the early nineteenth century, French troops under Napoleon conquered Europe under the symbol of the eagle.
There is no denying the fact that the eagle upholds its grandeur and stateliness even in the modern times. With its acute eyesight, the eagle has come to embody an all-seeing EYE. The eagle is often a solar symbol, and is generally linked to all sky gods. It signifies inspiration, release from bondage, victory, longevity, speed, pride, agility and royalty; it is often an emblem for powerful nations. Since it lives in full light of the sun, it is considered luminous and shares characteristics with air and fire The Roman, French, Austrian, German, and American peoples have all adopted this image as their symbol. Through its detachment from earth it represents spirit and soul. Dante calls the eagle as ‘bird of God’. Being a symbol of power and authority, it retains a prominent place in America as was in ancient Rome. In American culture, the eagle is a symbol of great courage, strength and freedom. The emblems of the President, Vice President, several members of the Cabinet, and most branches of the armed forces center on the eagle. The Apollo 11 crew chose “Eagle” as the name for the first lunar landing module. Man was on the moon with the words of Eagle Scout Neil Armstrong: “Houston, Tranquility Base here — The Eagle has landed”.
In 1911, following a tradition as old as man himself, the Boy Scouts of America chose the eagle to symbolize the highest achievement. In short, since the beginning of time, man has been using the eagle as a symbol of power, victory, authority, royalty and valor. And throughout the history, the eagle is profoundly associated with man’s triumph, valor and victory.
The qualities that are attributed to a symbol may or may not be realistic or accurate. But in any case, a symbol is chosen to represent qualities or characteristics that in some sense are expressions of the ideals of that culture. Because of its large size, nomadic lifestyle, striking visage, and graceful flight, the eagle has symbolized great power, strength, freedom, elegance, and independence to many cultures throughout history. So an Eagle stands for a nation or a person who soars to the highest realms of truth and knows no fear and no bounds of time and space.
Symbols are important because they facilitate communication and identification of ideas and other concepts based on what those symbols represent, though they can have literal as well as figurative meanings. Symbols can be used to signify individuals, groups of people, organizations or more ambiguous concepts.
According to Mustansir Mir, “The most significant and certainly the best known, image in Iqbal’s poetry is that of the eagle. “Live in the world like an eagle, and like an eagle die,” says Iqbal (Javâd N«mah, in Kulliy«t-i Iqbal: Persian[Iqbal Academy Pakistan, 1994], 654/182). An understanding of the eagle motif in Iqbal’s poetry thus becomes essential to understand Iqbal’s thought and message”.
According to Cedric Aimal Edwin Pakistan is a young country and the much-talked-about “change” can only be brought about if the youth of Pakistan has the will and intention to overshoot their aims. Change requires new perspectives. New perspectives, in Pakistan, needs to channel from a paradigm shift of skill/talent over experience. However, the question to ask is what can the youth do? To answer this, we first need to know, who are we? How are we any special? What qualities do we possess as a nation and what merits can we acquire? The answer lies in Iqbal’s Shaheen.
Allama Iqbal frequently used the attributes of Shaheen to draw analogies for the youth of his nation. Shaheen is a large and strongly built bird of prey and Iqbal employs it as an emblem of the youth of Pakistan. He highlights five basic traits of Shaheen and ascribes them all to the youth of his nation.
Asif Iqbal Khan has good view about Iqbal’s eagle. Muslims have acquired the ways of the vulture, the kargas, with which Iqbal often contrasts the shahin, signifies, in Iqbal's poetry, not so much greed or rapacity, as it would in English, but baseness of stock, lowness of ambition, and parasitic attitudes. Iqbal tells them to go back to their roots and become eagles again in Bal-i-Jibril, where Iqbal, alluding to Muslims, remarks that they have been corrupted by their association with ravens, and Zabar-i-Ajam which is similar. 'You are the eagle of Muhammad,' says Iqbal, addressing the Muslim, 'and angels and houris are your prey'.
According to Muhammad Suheyl Umar, ”Iqbal believes that the youth of Pakistan are destined to reach the soaring levels of excellence. Shaheen flies high and so is the potential in a young Pakistani. According to Iqbal, this is our innate quality; it’s in the blood of our nation. In the midst of corruption, unemployment and energy crisis, this country has produced world achievers like, Ali Moeen Nawazish and Arfa Karim. It goes without saying that the journeys of these high achievers could not have been a bed of roses. However, with hard work, intellect and perseverance, they became sky-aspiring world leaders in their fields. Iqbal considers the youth of Pakistan as mavericks who can lead the world as free thinkers. Shaheen is Bohemian in the sense that it likes to live in isolation, especially before it goes out for hunting. As individuals, we also need to spend time in meditation and seclusion to ascend to high levels of success which we are destined for. Whether we are students or professionals, in order to achieve our set targets and goals, we need to be clear cut, friendly and bohemian, yet redefine our tastes and ideals.”
Pakistan is a young country and the much-talked-about “change” can only be brought about if the youth of Pakistan has the will and intention to overshoot their aims. Change requires new perspectives. New perspectives, in Pakistan, needs to channel from a paradigm shift of skill/talent over experience. However, the question to ask is what can the youth do? To answer this, we first need to know, who are we? How are we any special? What qualities do we possess as a nation and what merits can we acquire? The answer lies in Iqbal’s Shaheen.
Allama Iqbal frequently used the attributes of Shaheen to draw analogies for the youth of his nation. Shaheen is a large and strongly built bird of prey and Iqbal employs it as an emblem of the youth of Pakistan. He highlights five basic traits of Shaheen and ascribes them all to the youth of his nation.
The first trait that Iqbal points out is sky-aspiring. Iqbal believes that the youth of Pakistan are destined to reach the soaring levels of excellence. Shaheen flies high and so is the potential in a young Pakistani. According to Iqbal, this is our innate quality; it’s in the blood of our nation. In the midst of corruption, unemployment and energy crisis, this country has produced world achievers like, Ali Moeen Nawazish and Arfa Karim. It goes without saying that the journeys of these high achievers could not have been a bed of roses. However, with hard work, intellect and perseverance, they became sky-aspiring world leaders in their fields.
Tundi-e-Baad-e-Mukhalif say nah ghabra aye Uqaab
Yeh tu chalti hai tujhay uncha uranay kay liye
[You don’t get frightened by these furious, violent winds, O Eagle! These blow only to make you fly higher]
Next comes vigilance. Just like a Shaheen is sharp-sighted, in the same way, Iqbal wants the youth of Pakistan to have an observant eye. In order to stand out, the youth of Pakistan needs to have a broad horizon. To develop new ideas and manage creativity (of an individual or of a team), it is essential to have a vigilant eye on what is happening around in your field. If there is one country in the world which generates interest in the remotest parts of the world, it’s Pakistan. Be it cricket, be it education, be it politics or be it culture, people all over the world get fascinated by our land and our people. Therefore, our vigilance, in acquiring new knowledge and information, can be our tactical tool in forming broad and sound perspectives.
Nigah buland, sukhaan dilnawaz, jan pur souz
Yehi hai rakht-e-safar meer-e-karwan kay liye
[High ambition, winsome speech, a passionate soul This is the entire luggage for a leader of the Caravan]
Iqbal considers the youth of Pakistan as mavericks who can lead the world as free thinkers. Shaheen is Bohemian in the sense that it likes to live in isolation, especially before it goes out for hunting. As individuals, we also need to spend time in meditation and seclusion to ascend to high levels of success which we are destined for. Whether we are students or professionals, in order to achieve our set targets and goals, we need to be clear cut, friendly and bohemian, yet redefine our tastes and ideals.
Bayaban ki Khalwat khush ati hai mujh ko
Azal Se hai Fitrat Meri Rahbana
[The solitude of wilderness pleases me By nature I was always a maverick]
Iqbal understood the youth of Pakistan as global citizens. Not on the basis of our passports (we all know our issues there!) but on the basis of our skills, talents and intellect which often takes us beyond boundaries. Shaheen does not make a nest for itself but is a vagabond, living a nomadic life. It suggests its existence for a higher cause. As the youth of Pakistan, our vigilance in forming a unique vision should surpass our personal/individualist goals. A common dilemma which we face, and will face in the coming days, is whether to vote for our local candidate who has promised to build, let’s say, a tube-well or to vote for a political party whose manifesto will benefit the entire nation. The youth of Pakistan needs to look further than personal benefits and enter the realms of national and global interests.
Parindoon ki duniya ka darwish hoon mein
Kay Shaheen banata nahi Ashiyana
[I am the dervish of the kingdom of birds The falcon does not make nests]
Nahin tera Nasheman Kasr-e-Saltani ke Gumbad par
Tu Shaheen hai Basera Kar, Paharon ki Chitanon mai
Your abode is not the dome of emperor
For you are Hawk, you live on the rocks of great mountains.
Shaheen eats what it’s preys itself. Unlike vultures, which are the largest birds, they don’t eat left overs of other animals. It’s a symbol of Khudari, the ability to toil hard for your Rizq as well as avoid haraam (corpses of other animal as eaten by vultures).
Jiphatna, Palatna, Palat Kar Jhapatna
Lahoo Garam Rakhney Ka Hai Ik Bahaana
Finally, Iqbal gives the most essential trait namely, perseverance. Iqbal holds that the youth of Pakistan should choose and make their own destiny. When Shaheen is gliding, it, carefully, chooses the best hunt. Once, it has chosen it’s prey; it, monomaniacally, focuses on it and no other game can divert its attention. Even if it requires more effort and hard work to chase and catch that chosen prey, it will do it with full perseverance. In our daily lives, we frequently come across situations in which we have to make a choice between two roads: an easier one, which may mean snatching someone else’s right; and a difficult one, which may mean slow and gradual incremental progress. We often find ourselves in positions where we had earlier opted for a difficult path but in the middle of the journey we are lost and start reconsidering our initial choices. As famously quoted by Thomas Edison, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up”.
Mera tareeq ameeri nahi faqeeri hai
Khudi nah beech, ghareebi mein naam paida kar
[My way of life is poverty, not the pursuit of wealth Barter not thy Selfhood, win a name in adversity]
Indeed, we can draw many conjectures from Iqbal’s concept of Shaheen. As a young patriotic myself, I often find myself in a tight spot when I read Iqbal’s poetry and hear the current affairs of Pakistan. We cannot deny the contradiction. However, if we examine the lives of high achievers in Pakistan, we can see reflections of Shaheen in them. The five attributes of Shaheen can be found in them in one way or the other. Therefore, I believe that if we, the youth of Pakistan, practice and preach these five attributes of Shaheen, we will be fortunate enough to see our nation excel in front of our eyes.
Na tu zameen kay liye hai na asmaan kay liye
Jahan hai tere liye, tu nahi jahan kay liye
[Neither are you for the earth nor the skies This world is for you, you were not made for it.]
In his poetry Iqbal has used many symbols among which “Eagle” is a potent and powerful symbol applied in an aptly unique style and prolific fashion. Iqbal is an advocate of the cultivation of strength and deprecates weakness. He is, therefore, keen to select eagle because of its courage, great strength, self-reliance, superb aerial skills and singularity. The eagle does not attempt to live off the efforts of others. It flies high and high and seems to have no concern to build its nest in wild and mountainous country. It is Guardian of liberty, courageous protector of its young ones and fearlessly combats any threat to their safety. It lives an austere life and subsists on live prey. Eagles are too ponderous for effective aerial pursuit but try to surprise and overwhelm their prey on the ground due to their immense sharp-sightedness.
Let us see Iqbal’s symbolism of eagle from another angle. The central theme of his poetry is “khudi”. Khudi as conceived by him is the name of several attributes, found in an ideal character. These are self-assertion, self-realization, the spirit of independence, sense of honor, noble idealism and action. Its object is not material aggrandizement but spiritual adornment and elevation. In the eagle we observe almost all these salient characteristics. That is why Iqbal conveys his message to the youth and advises them to foster an “eagle-like” spirit. Thus Shaheen becomes his choicest bird, just as the Skylark of Shelley or that of Wordsworth.
He was a man ahead of his time; he not only saw the present but foresaw the future and stirred a revolution in the apathetic masses through his words. A very dynamic and potent symbol in his poetry is that of “Shaheen” (Eagle in English) and Allama has several times referred to Muslim youth as “Eagle”. Why did Iqbal choose Eagle? And what has the basic traits of an eagle got to do with our present circumstances?
Iqbal could have used the symbol of a Tiger or Leopard or Lion or some other ‘fast and furious’ animal when he addressed the Muslim youth., but he keenly selects eagle because of its courage, great strength, self-reliance, superb aerial skills and spectacle In his poetry Shaheen stands for courage and self-respect, purity of soul and character, devotion and dedication, struggle and endurance, prestige and perseverance, self-control and self-reliance.
The need for change in eagle’s life and its outstanding ability to transform according to the needs of time and its age is really interesting. The eagle has one of longest life-spans amongst the birds. It can live up to 70 years, but to make it to the 70’s, it needs to make a hard decision. During its 40’s, its long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey which serve as food to it. Its long and sharp beak becomes bent. Its old thick feathers stuck to its chest and become a hurdle to fly freely and catch its prey on ground. The mighty eagle, which once hunted its prey with its sharp sight and aerodynamic dive, now is left with only one option. i.e. to adapt a change.
The period of transformation required by the old eagle to regain its hunting capability is painful for it. It usually makes its nest on top of a mountain and realizes the need to change; THE NEED TO TRANSFORM, THE NEED FOR ITS SURVIVAL. Once it has realized the need, it starts the painful process which includes knocking its beak on solid rocks, plucking its talons and waiting for the new talons to grow, and plucking its thick aged feathers stuck to its chest.
Only after the transformation process is complete, it can fly again and hunt its prey with the same vigor it used to.
His Shaheen stands for courage and self-respect, purity of soul and character, devotion and dedication, struggle and endurance, prestige and perseverance, self-control and self-reliance. In Shaheen he envisages the desired attributes of a devoted Muslim or Momin. Therefore when he asks the youth to become a Shaheen, he means the inculcation of these lofty ideals. He is invariably an advocate of the cultivation of strength and deprecates weakness. The following free translation of a few of his Persian verses demonstrate his views in this connection:
He expected the youth to look forward and high. Whenever he wanted to convey the message of action, he presented the examples of heroes of Islam like Tariq and Sultan Tipu as they were courageous and brave like Shaheen. Once some influential Muslims approached him with a request that he should consent to their proposal of a military college to be named after him. Iqbal declined and wrote in response: “It is no use naming a military college after an ordinary poet like me. I suggest that it should be named after Tipu Sultan. It would be a fitting memorial to the great son of Islam and a source of inspiration to the Muslim youth”
Only after knowing this capability of the eagle, I realized why Iqbal had preferred it over other animals with similar traits. The apathetic Muslims of sub-continent in particular, and the Muslim nation in general needed a change. They needed to adapt to the requirements of the new age, they had to realize the NEED for change, only after such realization had they been able to transform and live the change necessary for their survival. Yes, change could not be brought overnight; it took Iqbal and other great leaders of the Pakistan movement years to make the lazy nation realize how important it is for them to change. Like an eagle in its 40’s has to go through a painful process and sacrifice, the Muslims needed to realize their own impotence and rise above their differences, to unite for a common cause; the need of the hour.
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