The Mosque of Cordoba by Allama Iqbal (1933)

Poem composed by Allama Iqbal in 1933 after visiting Masjid-i-Qartaba (Mosque of Cordoba) "My visit to the Mosque elevated me to such a height of feeling as I had never attained to before" (Iqbal)

Translation available from:

http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/29803-Muhammed-Iqbal-Masjid-e-Qar-wbr-tabaa--With-...

Full poem narated by Muhammad Ali from http://www.allamaiqbal.com/

THE MOSQUE OF CORDOBA

The cycle of day and night [is] the engraver of events.
The cycle of day and night [is] the essence of life and death.
The cycle of day and night is a two-colored thread of silk
with which the being weaves its attire of traits.
The cycle of day and night [is] the lamentation of the musical-instrument of the origin
through which the being shows the vicissitudes of possibilities.
It tries you, it tries me;
the cycle of day and night is the examiner of the cosmos.
If you're impure, if I'm impure
[then] it leads to your funeral procession, it leads to my funeral procession.
What else is the truth of your days and nights;
a surge of the time sans day and night.
All the marvels of the skills are transient;
the existence of world is ephemeral! The existence of world is ephemeral!

[The fate of] the beginning and the end is death, [the fate of] the unseen and apparent is death.
Be it an antiquated imprint or the latest one, its last destination is death.
Yet there exists a hue of eternity in this imprint;
the one that has been completed by some man of God.
The actions of the man of God get accelerated with [the help of] love.
The essence of life is love; death is forbidden for it.
hough the gush of the time is intense and fast
love itself is a tempest that restrains [other] tempests.
In the calendar of love, besides the contemporary age,
|there're other ages too that don't have names.
Love is the mainstay of Gabriel, love is the heart of Mustafa.
Love is the Messenger of God, love is the message of God.
The flower looks dazzling because of the intoxication of love.
Love is the undiluted wine, love is the wine-cup of a munificent drinker.
Love is the jurist of the Shariat, love is the commander of the army.
Love is the traveler because of which it passes through thousands of stages.

The lifeline streams out of the plectrum of love.
The radiance of life is due to love; the fire of life is because of love.

O Mosque of Cordoba! Your existence [too] is because of love.
Love is infinite time that's beyond the cycle of transient time.
Be it painting, architecture, music poetry or calligraphy,
all these arts thrive on the intensity of love!
The intensity of love turns a stone into a heart
[and] it's love that bestows depth of feeling, exhilaration and melody to the voice.
Your environ is charming, my songs are poignant;
you make the hearts bow before God, I make the hearts capacious.
The bosom of man isn't inferior to the empyrean throne of God
though his body is made of earth and is mortal.
Though the angels [also] prostrate before God
but their prostration lacks poignancy.
[Though] I'm an infidel from India, behold my earnestness
[that] my heart prays benison for the Prophet, my lips do the same.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Mosque
• Cordoba
• Qurtuba
• Qurtaba
• Masjid
• Spain
• Moors
• photos
• slideshow
• thirties
• history

[mustafa27c]

Thanks for posting. Please do everyone another favor and let us know what each line means. Please.

Thanks.

[djamaluddin]

Please see video description to the right. It gives a more accurate translation of the recited poem. Regards.

[jazbaedil]

Silsila e roz o shab saaz e azal ki fughan...

This one is my favourite of Allama's poetry. I understand that hardly 1% of the people of our nations can even understand that whole of this...

[majidkhaliq]

This was the dream which only MALANG could see......and He was the best open minded Muslim poyet will ever be, in 100 years will only one comes.

We proud that he belonged to Pakistan.

[salmanAlhanbali]

@majidkhaliq

Brother majid, shouldn't you be proud that he was a Muslim? For your information, there was no Pakistan in the life of Iqbal (RH). Iqbal's poetry is full of compassion and sorrow about the state of the Muslims and not state of Pakistan, which didn't even exist during his life. Please come out of the gutter of nationalism.

[MiddleEasternBeauti]

@Cocteau120 Why wont you go kill yourself??

[Cocteau120]

@sufiyan47 Burn in hell muslim vermin.

[sufiyan47]

@Cocteau120 u bastard.. 

[MandyJMaddison]

@Cocteau120  Is THIS what Jesus taught? Stop and think! You make Christians look like vile murderers. If you want to murder people in the name of your faith, then you must join the Taliban, not the Christian church!

[Cocteau120]

@WWrestlingEntertain

Thank God it's been converted to a cathedral. The vile stench of Islam was wiped out in fair beautiful Spain. When I think of the Muslims defeated and crushed in Spain, driven from their Al-Andalus, my heart soars with joy! DEATH TO ISLAM! LONG REIGN CHRIST THE KING!

[Cocteau120]

Death to the Islamic vermin! God bless the Crusaders of Spain who expelled the Moorish filth!

[faiz4syed]

ter khudaai se hai mere junoon ko gila..... apne liye laa makan mere liye chaar su.....