قيد خانے ميں معتمدکي فرياد
English title: MU‘TAMID’S LAMENT IN PRISON
اک فغان بے شرر سينے ميں باقي رہ گئيسوز بھي رخصت ہوا ، جاتي رہي تاثير بھي
Mu‘tamid was the king of Seville and an Arabic poet. He was defeated and imprisoned by a ruler of Spain. Mu‘tamid’s poems have been translated into English and published in the ‘Wisdom of the East’ series. In my breast, a wail of grief, without any spark or flash; alone survives, passionless, ineffectual.
مرد حر زنداں ميں ہے بے نيزہ و شمشير آجميں پشيماں ہوں ، پشيماں ہے مري تدبير بھي
A free man is in prison today, without a spear or a sword; regret overwhelms me and also my strategy.
خود بخود زنجير کي جانب کھنچا جاتا ہے دلتھي اسي فولاد سے شايد مري شمشير بھي
My heart is drawn by instinct to chains. Perhaps my sword was of the same steel.
جو مري تيغ دو دم تھي ، اب مري زنجير ہے!شوخ و بے پروا ہے کتنا خالق تقدير بھي
Once I had a two-edged sword – it turned into the chains that shackle me now. How whimsical and indifferent is the Author of fates.
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bal-e-Jibril — قيد خانے ميں معتمدکي فرياد — 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 — Mu‘Tamid’s Lament In Prison — Public digital poem page, retrieved 2026-10-06; pinned to allama-iqbal.com commit 82547635bb6b758c45082084b2f152fc453a8056.Translation by Naeem Siddiqui; English Translation by: Naeem SiddiquiSource