ہزار خوف ہو ليکن زباں ہو دل کي رفيق
English title: A host of peril though you face, Yet your tongue with heart ally
A host of peril though you face, yet your tongue with heart ally: From times antique and hoar Qalandars on this mode rely.
Men congregate in numbers large in the mart where wine is sold: For polite and courteous seems the Head of Mart, the Magian Old.
Though the points by Razi touched may be subtle and profound; yet against infirm belief no cure in them is ever found.
The disciple blind shed copious tears, of sinful life he felt contrite. May God aid the shaykh as well to feel ashamed and do the right!
Man is bound still hand and foot in chains by this talisman old: For idols of the age of past still men within their armpits hold.
Enough for me that I affirm with tongue alone my faith and creed: A thousand thanks for mullah’s claim that he with heart avows, indeed.
As good as Muslim’s true belief, if blessed with Love, unfaith is eke: Bereft of Love a Muslim true is no better than Zindiq.
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bal-e-Jibril — ہزار خوف ہو ليکن زباں ہو دل کي رفيق — Digital transcription file at commit 39d44fc0c2b8ca25769c4b36e6eac4d90cb42b35; the source dataset does not identify the underlying print edition.Verified against this pinned digital transcription file; not checked against a print edition.Source
- Iqbal Demystified source list: Bal-e-Jibril — Pinned digital dataset commit 39d44fc0c2b8ca25769c4b36e6eac4d90cb42b35; the underlying print edition is not identified by the dataset.Community dataset list; not reconciled against a print edition.Source
- Bal-e-Jibril English translation at allama-iqbal.com — — Public digital poem page, retrieved 2026-10-06; pinned to allama-iqbal.com commit 82547635bb6b758c45082084b2f152fc453a8056.Translation by Syed Akbar Ali Shah; English Translation by: Syed Akbar Ali ShahSource