{"id":2698,"date":"2025-12-14T19:10:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T19:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bittertruth.uk\/en\/?p=2698"},"modified":"2025-12-14T19:10:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T19:10:04","slug":"iqbals-thought-in-the-west-its-necessity-and-significance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bittertruth.uk\/en\/iqbals-thought-in-the-west-its-necessity-and-significance\/","title":{"rendered":"Iqbal\u2019s Thought in the West \u2014 Its Necessity and Significance<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/strong>
\nThis gathering of ours is not merely an intellectual symposium; it is, in its deeper essence, a spiritual sojourn. The flame of thought we hold aloft today belongs to a man whose voice cast its radiance across centuries of darkness\u2014a voice whose verse breathed warmth into the hearts of subjugated nations, and whose ideas sent tremors through the grand halls of Western scholarship, compelling new shoots of inquiry to emerge. He is the sage whom the world reveres as Dr Muhammad Iqbal\u2014poet, philosopher, and voyager of the realm of Truth.<\/p>\n

In convening today, we contemplate a mind so luminous, a spirit so incandescent, and a philosopher-poet so profound that speaking of him is not merely to recall a chapter of history, but to invoke a charter for the intellectual epochs yet unborn. Iqbal\u2014the poet who lit lamps of hope amid the decline of nations, who shook the hollow foundations of decaying civilisations, and who awakened within the human conscience a reverberation whose echo has not faded to this day.<\/p>\n

Iqbal\u2019s greatness does not rest in the simple truth that he stands among the titans of Urdu and Persian letters; rather, it lies in his unifying vision\u2014a rare capacity to weave philosophy, history, religion, politics, civilisation, and spirituality into a single, compelling tapestry. His writings are no mere literary utterances but a summons\u2014a call that rouses the latent potentialities slumbering within the human soul.<\/p>\n

He once proclaimed:
\n\u060e \u06c1\u0632\u0627\u0631 \u062e\u0648\u0641 \u06c1\u0648 \u0644\u06cc\u06a9\u0646 \u0632\u0628\u0627\u06ba \u06c1\u0648 \u062f\u0644 \u06a9\u06cc \u0631\u0641\u06cc\u0642
\n\u06cc\u06c1\u06cc \u0631\u06c1\u0627 \u06c1\u06d2 \u0627\u0632\u0644 \u0633\u06d2 \u0642\u0644\u0646\u062f\u0631\u0648\u06ba \u06a9\u0627 \u0637\u0631\u06cc\u0642
\nA thousand terrors may assail you yet let your tongue remain faithful to your heart;
\nFor such has ever been the way of the free-spirited and the brave.<\/strong>
\nThis is not merely the bold cry of a poet; it is a manifesto for the renaissance of a civilisation.<\/p>\n

Why does the West need Iqbal today?
\nAt first glance, the question seems deceptively simple; yet beneath it lies the rumbling of an entire civilisational upheaval. Its answer is not confined to the realms of literature or philosophy alone; it is embedded in the long, troubled arc of human history.<\/p>\n

The West\u2014despite its mastery of science, technology, and political dominance\u2014finds itself wrestling with a profound intellectual void, a spiritual disquiet, and a civilisational lightness of being. In such a moment of existential fragility, Iqbal\u2019s voice does not echo like some distant desert wail; it rises rather as a beacon\u2014an illuminated minaret calling humanity back to its primordial essence.<\/p>\n

Indeed, to inquire why the West needs Iqbal is to listen to the murmurs of history itself.
\nThere was a time when Europe bore upon its shoulders the weight of Greek thought; then came the long shadow of the Christian Church; and subsequently, science, with imperial confidence, lulled religion into a deep slumber. British imperial might reigned supreme, Germany soared in the realm of philosophy, while France became the laboratory of political doctrines.<\/p>\n

Iqbal surveyed this entire intellectual odyssey\u2014not merely observing it, but discerning its very soul. He understood well that the seeds of both Western ascent and Western ruin lay buried <\/p>\n

within the soil of its materialism.
\nHe stood, thus, at the confluence of East and West\u2014
\na sage who could gaze simultaneously upon both horizons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iqbal\u2019s Encounter with Europe
\nWhen Iqbal arrived in Europe, the continent was intoxicated by the triumphs of the Industrial Revolution. Man had been reduced to a cog, and the soul relegated to a discarded metaphor. Human worth was measured not by dignity but by profit and power. Freedom was proclaimed from podiums, yet the spirit remained enchained.<\/p>\n

Into this atmosphere, Iqbal did not merely step as a traveller; he descended as an interpreter of civilisations. As he observed:
\n\u201cI did not find the true soul of Europe in its libraries, but in its marketplaces\u2014where man was valued less than the merchandise he sold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, and again Iqbal lamented that Western civilisation had lost the very idea of Man\u2014that being whom the Qur\u2019\u0101n describes as God\u2019s vicegerent upon earth:
\n\ufd3f \u0648\u064e\u0625\u0650\u0630\u0652 \u0642\u064e\u0627\u0644\u064e \u0631\u064e\u0628\u064f\u0651\u0643\u064e \u0644\u0650\u0644\u0652\u0645\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0627\u0626\u0650\u0643\u064e\u0629\u0650 \u0625\u0650\u0646\u0650\u0651\u064a \u062c\u064e\u0627\u0639\u0650\u0644\u064c \u0641\u0650\u064a \u0671\u0644\u0652\u0623\u064e\u0631\u0652\u0636\u0650 \u062e\u064e\u0644\u0650\u064a\u0641\u064e\u0629\u064b \ufd3e
\n\u201cAnd when your Lord said to the angels: Indeed, I am placing upon the earth a vicegerent.\u201d (2:30)<\/p>\n

It was this loss that Iqbal diagnosed with prophetic clarity:
\n\u060e \u0679\u06be\u06cc\u06a9 \u06c1\u06d2 \u062a\u062c\u06be \u06a9\u0648 \u067e\u0631\u0633\u062a\u0627\u0631\u0650 \u0645\u06a9\u0627\u06ba \u06a9\u0686\u06be \u0628\u06be\u06cc \u0646\u06c1\u06cc\u06ba
\n\u0641\u06a9\u0631\u0650 \u0627\u0646\u0633\u0627\u06ba \u06c1\u06d2 \u0645\u06af\u0631 \u062a\u06cc\u0631\u06cc \u0646\u06af\u06c1\u0628\u0627\u0646\u06cc \u0633\u06d2 \u0645\u062d\u0631\u0648\u0645
\nYou may claim mastery over space, yet you remain estranged from guarding the destiny of Man.<\/strong>
\nHere Iqbal does not merely critique the West; he offers it a path\u2014a return to selfhood, love, spiritual ascent, and the centrality of the human being.<\/p>\n

The West Today: A Civilisation in Disquiet
\nTo understand why Iqbal\u2019s thought is essential to the modern West, three points are indispensable:
\nSpiritual Vacuum
\nCivilisational Disorientation
\nThe Solitary Individual and the Existential Crisis
\nTechnology has strengthened the hands of man but weakened his heart.
\nScience has unlocked the universe but sealed the spirit.
\nDemocracy has granted freedom but withheld purpose.
\nCapitalism has multiplied wealth but diminished human connection.
\nIqbal captured this malaise with surgical precision:
\n\u060e \u0646\u0638\u0631 \u06a9\u0648 \u062e\u06cc\u0631\u06c1 \u06a9\u0631\u062a\u06cc \u06c1\u06d2 \u0686\u0645\u06a9 \u062a\u06c1\u0630\u06cc\u0628\u0650 \u062d\u0627\u0636\u0631 \u06a9\u06cc
\n\u06cc\u06c1 \u0635\u0646\u0627\u0639\u06cc \u0645\u06af\u0631 \u062c\u06be\u0648\u0679\u06d2 \u0646\u06af\u0648\u06ba \u06a9\u06cc \u0631\u06cc\u0632\u06c1 \u06a9\u0627\u0631\u06cc \u06c1\u06d2
\nThe glitter of modern civilisation dazzles the eye;
\nYet its craftsmanship is but the delicate inlay of counterfeit jewels.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is no mere Eastern poet\u2019s rebuke; it is a critique of that very inner crisis which Western scholars today themselves concede\u2014
\nthat the West has progress but no peace,
\nwealth but no affection,
\npower but no purpose,
\nfreedom but no spirit.
\nIqbal restores the human being to the centre of the cosmos;
\nhe rekindles the soul;
\nhe moralises civilisation;
\nhe reconciles reason with love.
\nFor Iqbal, this crisis is ultimately the crisis of the forgotten human being\u2014and it is from here that the West\u2019s need for Iqbal begins.
\nHe warned:
\n\u060e \u062a\u0645\u06c1\u0627\u0631\u06cc \u062a\u06c1\u0630\u06cc\u0628 \u0627\u067e\u0646\u06d2 \u062e\u0646\u062c\u0631 \u0633\u06d2 \u0622\u067e \u06c1\u06cc \u062e\u0648\u062f\u06a9\u0634\u06cc \u06a9\u0631\u06d2 \u06af\u06cc
\n\u062c\u0648 \u0634\u0627\u062e\u0650 \u0646\u0627\u0632\u06a9 \u067e\u06c1 \u0622\u0634\u06cc\u0627\u0646\u06c1 \u0628\u0646\u06d2 \u06af\u0627\u060c \u0646\u0627\u067e\u0627\u0626\u062f\u0627\u0631 \u06c1\u0648\u06af\u0627
\nYour civilisation shall one day perish by its own dagger;
\nFor the nest built on a fragile branch can never endure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Iqbal penned these lines, Europe was still dressing the wounds of the First World War. Yet today, as the West stands amidst storms of political convulsion, cultural collisions, social disorientation, and the silent desolation of youth\u2019s inner loneliness, his words bear an almost prophetic lustre.
\n1 \u2014 The Cure for Spiritual Thirst
\n(a) The West\u2019s Spiritual Drought and Iqbal\u2019s Doctrine of the Self)
\nHaving strayed far from religion, the West now finds itself wandering in a desert where reason remains intact, but the heart lies lost. Its estrangement from faith has left the human being solitary and inwardly famished. The decline of the Church weakened the spiritual citadel; philosophy could not replace it; psychology reduced the human being to a laboratory specimen; and art, in its modernist impulse, sought refuge in abstraction rather than reality.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, Iqbal\u2019s concept of khud\u012b\u2014the Self\u2014enters the Western mind like a fresh, vitalising breeze.
\nIqbal laments:
\n\u060e \u06cc\u06c1\u06cc \u06c1\u06d2 \u0631\u064f\u062e\u0650 \u062e\u0632\u0627\u06ba\u060c \u0627\u0648\u0631 \u06cc\u06c1\u06cc \u06c1\u06d2 \u0631\u064f\u062e\u0650 \u0628\u06c1\u0627\u0631
\n\u0646\u06c1 \u062e\u062f\u0627 \u06a9\u06cc \u062c\u0633\u062a\u062c\u0648\u060c \u0646\u06c1 \u0645\u062c\u06be\u06d2 \u0627\u067e\u0646\u06cc \u062e\u0628\u0631
\nWhether autumn\u2019s face or spring\u2019s\u2014
\nNeither the search for God remains, nor knowledge of one\u2019s own self.<\/strong>
\nAnd then he offers the antidote:
\n\u060e \u062e\u0648\u062f\u06cc \u06a9\u0648 \u06a9\u0631 \u0628\u0644\u0646\u062f \u0627\u062a\u0646\u0627 \u06a9\u06c1 \u06c1\u0631 \u062a\u0642\u062f\u06cc\u0631 \u0633\u06d2 \u067e\u06c1\u0644\u06d2
\n\u062e\u062f\u0627 \u0628\u0646\u062f\u06d2 \u0633\u06d2 \u062e\u0648\u062f \u067e\u0648\u0686\u06be\u06d2\u060c \u0628\u062a\u0627 \u062a\u06cc\u0631\u06cc \u0631\u0636\u0627 \u06a9\u06cc\u0627 \u06c1\u06d2
\nCultivate thy Self to such heights
\nThat before every decree,<\/strong>
\nGod Himself shall ask thee: What is thy desire?
\nThis is no mere verse; it is a response that gathers the scattered anxieties of existentialism into a single, throbbing answer.<\/p>\n

Iqbal holds the key to this thirst.
\nHis philosophy of khud\u012b re-establishes the human being at the centre of existence\u2014alive, conscious, and tethered to his Creator.<\/p>\n

Thus, Western youth, professors, and thinkers hear Iqbal today with new attentiveness; for when man loses his origin, the first question that rises like smoke from a burning soul is: Who am I?
\nFor such hearts, Iqbal\u2019s words open a new cosmos.<\/p>\n

2 \u2014 The West\u2019s Social Crisis and Iqbal\u2019s Moral Order
\nThe family has fractured; generations have become strangers to one another; and man, now seeks companionship in machines. Capitalism has drawn the household into the ruthless logic of the marketplace.
\nWitnessing this, Iqbal warns:
\n\u060e \u062c\u0644\u0627\u0644\u0650 \u067e\u0627\u062f\u0634\u0627\u06c1\u06cc \u06c1\u0648 \u06a9\u06c1 \u062c\u0645\u06c1\u0648\u0631\u06cc \u062a\u0645\u0627\u0634\u0627 \u06c1\u0648
\n\u062c\u062f\u0627 \u06c1\u0648 \u062f\u06cc\u06ba \u0633\u06cc\u0627\u0633\u062a \u0633\u06d2 \u062a\u0648 \u0631\u06c1 \u062c\u0627\u062a\u06cc \u06c1\u06d2 \u0686\u0646\u06af\u06cc\u0632\u06cc
\nBe it imperial majesty or democratic spectacle\u2014
\nIf politics divorces itself from faith, tyranny is all that remains.<\/strong>
\nFor Iqbal, a society is built only when the individual is self-aware, rooted in moral foundations, animated by purpose, and spiritually alive. These, indeed, are the four pillars the West desperately lacks today.<\/p>\n

The collapse of the family unit in the West is among the great tragedies of modern history. Secularism and materialism have torn the moral fabric; capitalism has turned human beings into mere instruments of utility. In such times, Iqbal offers not nostalgia, but reconstruction\u2014rebuilding society on human, moral, and spiritual lines.
\nHe reminds:
\n\u060e \u0646\u06af\u0627\u06c1\u0650 \u0628\u0644\u0646\u062f\u060c \u0633\u062e\u0646 \u062f\u0644\u0646\u0648\u0627\u0632\u060c \u062c\u0627\u06ba \u067e\u0631 \u0633\u0648\u0632
\n\u06cc\u06c1\u06cc \u06c1\u06d2 \u0631\u062e\u062a\u0650 \u0633\u0641\u0631 \u0645\u06cc\u0631\u0650 \u06a9\u0627\u0631\u0648\u0627\u06ba \u06a9\u06d2 \u0644\u06cc\u06d2
\nLofty vision, eloquent speech, and a soul ablaze\u2014
\nThis is the rightful provision of the leader of any caravan.<\/strong>
\nThis triad is not simply poetic flourish; it is an architecture upon which any civilisation\u2014including the Western one\u2014may be renewed.<\/p>\n

3 \u2014 Intellectual Resistance Against Imperialism
\nOne of Iqbal\u2019s extraordinary achievements is that he stood before the intellectual citadels of the West and, with remarkable dignity, exposed the fissures within Western thought. He challenged Western intellectual imperialism without rancour, without hostility, without bitterness\u2014speaking instead with serenity, truth, and civilisational poise.
\nHe declares:
\n\u060e \u0646\u06c1 \u0633\u062a\u0627\u0631\u0648\u06ba \u0645\u06cc\u06ba \u06c1\u06d2 \u067e\u0646\u06c1\u0627\u06ba\u060c \u0646\u06c1 \u062a\u0642\u062f\u06cc\u0631 \u0645\u06cc\u06ba \u06c1\u06d2
\n\u062c\u0648 \u06c1\u0645\u0627\u0631\u06d2 \u06c1\u0627\u062a\u06be \u0645\u06cc\u06ba \u06c1\u06d2\u060c \u0648\u06c1 \u06c1\u0645\u0627\u0631\u06cc \u06c1\u0645\u062a \u06c1\u06d2
\nNeither in the stars nor in destiny lies the secret of our fate;
\nWhat lies within our grasp is our own resolve.<\/strong>
\nThis was not a call for Asia or Africa alone. Today, even within the West, those communities crushed by capitalism\u2019s iron grip are finding strength in Iqbal\u2019s defiant yet dignified voice.<\/p>\n

Iqbal\u2019s Standing in the Western Academy
\nWherever one goes\u2014colleges, libraries, conferences\u2014one encounters conversations on Iqbal. It is no surprise that Oxford, Harvard, the Sorbonne, Berlin, Vienna, and Cambridge now host dissertations, seminars, and courses on him. His poetry adorns Western shelves; his ideas inspire Western minds.<\/p>\n

The British scholar Raymond Dawson observed:
\n\u201cIqbal is the voice of Eastern revival.\u201d<\/strong>
\nThe German philosopher Annemarie Schimmel remarked:
\n\u201cHe is one of the few poets whose words seem to speak beyond centuries.\u201d<\/strong>
\nAnd truly, such a voice is no ordinary voice\u2014it is a melody that traverses eras.<\/p>\n

Iqbal did not merely see Europe; he read its mind. He admired its strengths but did not shy from exposing its flaws. He once wrote:
\n\u201cEurope astonished me with its face, yet I did not remain heedless of its heart.\u201d
\nThus, Western thinkers regard him as a critic who was scrupulously just\u2014lavishing neither blind praise nor unfair condemnation.<\/p>\n

Iqbal \u2014 The Voice That Points to the Future
\nToday, humanity wields enormous power yet stands bereft of direction. We stand at the threshold of an age shaped by artificial intelligence, genomics, robotics, and nuclear capabilities. The question before mankind is no longer: What can we do?
\nThe question is: What ought we to do?
\nThis is the question the West has not yet answered\u2014
\nbut Iqbal answered it a century ago:
\n\u060e \u0639\u0642\u0644 \u0639\u06cc\u0627\u0631 \u06c1\u06d2\u060c \u0633\u0648 \u0628\u06be\u06cc\u0633 \u0628\u062f\u0644 \u0644\u06cc\u062a\u06cc \u06c1\u06d2
\n\u0639\u0634\u0642 \u0628\u06d2 \u0686\u0627\u0631\u06c1 \u0646\u06c1 \u0645\u0644\u0627 \u06c1\u06d2\u060c \u0646\u06c1 \u0632\u0627\u06c1\u062f\u060c \u0646\u06c1 \u062d\u06a9\u06cc\u0645
\nReason is cunning, assuming a hundred guises;
\nLove, poor love\u2014neither the mystic nor the scholar has yet truly met it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iqbal does not repudiate reason; he seeks the harmony of reason and love.
\nFor intellect alone cannot guide civilisation; spiritual consciousness must accompany it.
\nHere I add, by your permission, a Qur\u2019\u0101nic verse whose essence resonates profoundly with Iqbal\u2019s message:
\n\ufd3f \u0623\u064e\u0641\u064e\u0645\u064e\u0646 \u064a\u064e\u0645\u0652\u0634\u0650\u064a \u0645\u064f\u0643\u0650\u0628\u0651\u064b\u0627 \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0649\u0670 \u0648\u064e\u062c\u0652\u0647\u0650\u0647\u0650 \u0623\u064e\u0647\u0652\u062f\u064e\u0649\u0670 \u0623\u064e\u0645\u0651\u064e\u0646 \u064a\u064e\u0645\u0652\u0634\u0650\u064a \u0633\u064e\u0648\u0650\u064a\u0651\u064b\u0627 \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0649\u0670 \u0635\u0650\u0631\u064e\u0627\u0637\u064d \u0645\u0651\u064f\u0633\u0652\u062a\u064e\u0642\u0650\u064a\u0645\u064d \ufd3e
\n\u201cIs he who walks with his face bowed down more rightly guided, or he who walks upright upon a straight path?\u201d (67:22)<\/p>\n

If the West grasps this equilibrium\u2014of intellect wedded to spirit, of power bound to ethics\u2014
\nthen it may not only overcome its present crisis but offer humanity a new horizon.<\/p>\n

For Iqbal, true civilisation is born only when knowledge and spirit walk hand in hand.
\nIn this synthesis lies the future of humanity itself.<\/p>\n

Iqbal offers the modern West five cardinal teachings\u2014principles not merely for an age, but for the long pilgrimage of civilisation itself.<\/p>\n

First, that Man is the very purpose of the cosmos; he is not a stray particle abandoned to the void, but the vicegerent of God upon earth, entrusted with meaning, will, and moral imagination.
\nSecond, that freedom without a transcendent purpose degenerates into ruin, and liberty severed from ethics becomes but a polished illusion\u2014fair to behold, yet hollow within.
\nThird, that science is indeed indispensable, yet its surest compass is the spirit. A civilisation armed with science but denuded of spiritual anchorage is like a ship empowered by mighty engines but deprived of a rudder\u2014a peril to itself and others.
\nAs the Qur\u2019an declares:
\n\ufd3f\u0623\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0627 \u0628\u0650\u0630\u0650\u0643\u0652\u0631\u0650 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u0650 \u062a\u064e\u0637\u0652\u0645\u064e\u0626\u0650\u0646\u0651\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0642\u064f\u0644\u064f\u0648\u0628\u064f\ufd3e
\n\u201cVerily, in the remembrance of God do hearts find their rest.\u201d (Qur\u2019an 13:28)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fourth, democracy without ethics is but a nuanced deceit; capitalism and socialism alike remain maimed without a conception of man at the centre. Capitalism unrestrained descends into tyranny, and socialism without liberty sinks into a subtler bondage.<\/p>\n

Fifth, that life is the name of constant becoming\u2014of movement, striving, discovery, renewal; an unending ascent, a ceaseless evolution. For Iqbal, life is not a static inheritance but a task, a summons, a perpetual rising.
\nIt is in this spirit that he proclaims:
\n\u060e \u0633\u062a\u0627\u0631\u0648\u06ba \u0633\u06d2 \u0622\u06af\u06d2 \u062c\u06c1\u0627\u06ba \u0627\u0648\u0631 \u0628\u06be\u06cc \u06c1\u06cc\u06ba
\n\u0627\u0628\u06be\u06cc \u0639\u0634\u0642 \u06a9\u06d2 \u0627\u0645\u062a\u062d\u0627\u06ba \u0627\u0648\u0631 \u0628\u06be\u06cc \u06c1\u06cc\u06ba
\n\u201cBeyond the stars lie realms yet undiscovered;
\nAnd Love has many trials still to come.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a message to the West: progress has not reached its terminus; its direction, not its velocity, is the true question of the age. These lessons are the inheritance of every civilisation, yet the West stands today in greater need of them than any other. For the first time in its history, its intellectual vanguard openly confesses:<\/p>\n

The West stands at a crossroads. It has acquired science, yet not tranquillity; freedom, yet not belonging; wealth, yet not affection; power, yet not purpose. Iqbal is the very name of that purpose. He returns man to his rightful centrality; he breathes life back into the spirit; he restores ethics to civilisation; he shows reason and love how to walk hand in hand.
\nOnce more he reminds:
\n\u060e \u0633\u062a\u0627\u0631\u0648\u06ba \u0633\u06d2 \u0622\u06af\u06d2 \u062c\u06c1\u0627\u06ba \u0627\u0648\u0631 \u0628\u06be\u06cc \u06c1\u06cc\u06ba
\n\u0627\u0628\u06be\u06cc \u0639\u0634\u0642 \u06a9\u06d2 \u0627\u0645\u062a\u062d\u0627\u06ba \u0627\u0648\u0631 \u0628\u06be\u06cc \u06c1\u06cc\u06ba
\n\u2014a declaration that the journey of progress is far from over, but its compass must be set aright.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ladies and Gentlemen,
\nIqbal is not merely the poet of the East, nor is his thought the private inheritance of Muslims alone. He is a poet of humanity. His gaze is not confined to the misted horizons of the earth; it extends to the vast architecture of the heavens.
\nHis anguish is global; his vision, cosmic; his message, timeless.<\/p>\n

The hour has come for the West to recognise Iqbal not merely as the \u201cVoice of the East,\u201d but as an \u201cArchitect of the Human Future.\u201d
\nLet us close with a few of his verses\u2014verses that are less poetry and more revelation of destiny:
\n\u06a9\u06be\u0648\u0644 \u0622\u0646\u06a9\u06be\u060c \u0632\u0645\u06cc\u06ba \u062f\u06cc\u06a9\u06be\u060c \u0641\u0644\u06a9 \u062f\u06cc\u06a9\u06be\u060c \u0641\u0636\u0627 \u062f\u06cc\u06a9\u06be
\n\u0645\u0634\u0631\u0642 \u0633\u06d2 \u0627\u064f\u0628\u06be\u0631\u062a\u06d2 \u06c1\u0648\u0626\u06d2 \u0633\u0648\u0631\u062c \u06a9\u0648 \u0630\u0631\u0627 \u062f\u06cc\u06a9\u06be
\n\u0627\u0633 \u062c\u0644\u0648\u06c2 \u0628\u06d2 \u067e\u0631\u062f\u06c1 \u06a9\u0648 \u067e\u0631\u062f\u0648\u06ba \u0645\u06cc\u06ba \u0686\u06be\u064f\u067e\u0627 \u062f\u06cc\u06a9\u06be
\n\u0627\u06cc\u0651\u0627\u0645\u0650 \u062c\u064f\u062f\u0627\u0626\u06cc \u06a9\u06d2 \u0633\u0650\u062a\u0645 \u062f\u06cc\u06a9\u06be\u060c \u062c\u0641\u0627 \u062f\u06cc\u06a9\u06be
\nOpen your eyes\u2014behold the earth, the heavens, the boundless air;
\nGaze upon the sun rising from the Orient\u2019s rim;
\nContemplate how this unveiled splendour veils itself behind its own radiance;
\nWitness the cruelties of days of separation, and the rigours of love\u2019s long exile.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And elsewhere he commands:
\n\u060e \u0646\u06cc\u0627 \u0632\u0645\u0627\u0646\u06c1\u060c \u0646\u0626\u06d2 \u0635\u0628\u062d \u0648 \u0634\u0627\u0645 \u067e\u06cc\u062f\u0627 \u06a9\u0631
\n\u062e\u0648\u062f\u06cc \u0645\u06cc\u06ba \u0688\u0648\u0628 \u06a9\u06d2 \u0636\u0631\u0628\u0650 \u06a9\u0644\u06cc\u0645 \u067e\u06cc\u062f\u0627 \u06a9\u0631
\nFashion a new age\u2014summon new dawns and new dusks into being;
\nPlunge into the depths of the self, and from its crucible forge the thunderbolt of Moses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And then this thunderbolt:
\n\u060e \u0627\u06af\u0631 \u06c1\u0648 \u0639\u0634\u0642 \u062a\u0648 \u06c1\u06d2 \u06a9\u0641\u0631 \u0628\u06be\u06cc \u0645\u0633\u0644\u0645\u0627\u0646\u06cc
\n\u0646\u06c1 \u06c1\u0648 \u062a\u0648 \u0645\u0631\u062f\u0650 \u0645\u0633\u0644\u0645\u0627\u06ba \u0628\u06be\u06cc \u06a9\u0627\u0641\u0631 \u0648 \u0632\u0646\u062f\u06cc\u0642
\nIf Love be present, even unbelief is touched with the grace of faith;
\nBut if Love be absent, then even a professing Muslim is but a heretic and a wanderer astray.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The West today stands in dire need of these very truths\u2014and Iqbal is the name of that truth. This is not merely the wisdom of the earth; it is the counsel of the heavens. And perhaps that is why the West has never needed him more than it does at this moment in history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ladies and Gentlemen, This gathering of ours is not merely an intellectual symposium; it is, in its deeper essence, a spiritual sojourn. The flame of thought we hold aloft today belongs to a man whose voice cast its radiance across centuries of darkness\u2014a voice whose verse breathed warmth into the hearts of subjugated nations, and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,24,26,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-columns","category-international-columns","category-pakistan-columns","category-today-columns"],"yoast_head":"\nIqbal\u2019s Thought in the West | Its Necessity and Significance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The West today stands in dire need of these very truths\u2014and Iqbal is the name of that truth. is not merely the wisdom of the earth;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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