شمع و پروانہ
Sham`a-o-Parwanah
English title: THE CANDLE AND THE MOTH
O Candle! Why does the moth love you? Why is this restless soul devoted to you?
Your charm keeps it restless like mercury. Did you teach it the etiquette of Love?
It circumambulates the site of your manifestation. Is it inspired with the fire of your lightning?
Do the woes of death give it the peace of life? Does your flame possess the quality of eternal life?
If you do not brighten this sorrowful world; this burning heart's tree of Longing may not green up.
Falling before you is the prayer of this little heart; the taste for impassioned Love knows this little heart.
It has some zeal of the Primeval Beauty's Lover; you are a small Toor, it is a small Kalim.
The moth and the taste for the Sight of the Light! This small insect and the Longing for the Light!
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bang-e-Dara — شمع و پروانہ — 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: Bang-e-Dara — 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
- Iqbal Academy Pakistan Bang-i-Dara Audio Table of Contents — Official audio contents list; cited only for the displayed Urdu and Romanized title pairsPrimary source used to document this poem’s language or title.Source
- Pinned digital source list 001 (Bang-e-Dara section headings) — Pinned repository commit 39d44fc0c2b8ca25769c4b36e6eac4d90cb42b35; digital transcription, not a selected print edition.Verified against this pinned digital transcription file; not checked against a print edition.Source
- Bang-e-Dara English translation at allama-iqbal.com — The Candle And The Moth — Public digital poem page, retrieved 2026-10-05; pinned to allama-iqbal.com commit 82547635bb6b758c45082084b2f152fc453a8056.Translation by Dr M.A.K. Khalil; English Translation by: Dr M.A.K. KhalilSource