طفل شير خوار
English title: THE SUCKLING BABY
You scream as I snatch away the knife from you; do you consider me unkind though I am kind to you?
O Newcomer of this sorrowful land, you will scream. Beware! The pen's point is sharp, the prick may hurt you.
Ah! Why fond of the troublesome things are you? This piece of paper is harmless, play with it.
Where is your ball? Where is your China cat? Where is that small animal with broken head?
Your mirror had been free of want's dust cloud; with eye's opening has been flashed the want's spark.
In your hand's movement, in your looks is hidden; your want also is newly born just like you.
Your life is free of the discretion's restrictions, but the secret of Nature is displayed in your eyes.
When being annoyed at something with me you scream: What is the matter a mere scrap of paper you accept.
Ah! In this habit I am also concordant with you; you love fidgetiness and I also love fidgetiness.
I am the lover of ephemeral pleasures, I cry. I soon become angry, I soon calm down.
My eyes are attracted by apparent beauty. My ignorance is no less than your ignorance.
I am also now crying now laughing like you; outwardly I am elderly, I am also simply a baby.
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bang-e-Dara — طفل شير خوار — 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
- 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 Suckling Baby — 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