غلام قادر رہيلہ
English title: GHULAM QADIR RUHILAH
How cruel, tyrant and vindictive the Ruhilah was? He blinded the Mughal Emperor with the point of his dagger.
The tyrant ordered members of the royal household to dance. This tyranny was no less than the Judgment Day’s signal.
For the delicate ladies of the royal household it was utterly impossible to comply with this shameless order.
Ah! The merciless one made them the means of pleasure; whose beauty had been veiled from sun’s, moon’s and stars.
The feeble hearts were throbbing, the feet were forced to move; a river of blood was flowing from the wet eyes of the princesses.
For some time his eyes remained thus absorbed in seeing; in confusion he freed his head from the load of Mighfar.
He untied the deadly, fire-spitting sword from the waist; whose sharpness was a source of luminescence to the stars.
He put the dagger in front, and lied down in some thought: Sleep was demanding rest from the red eyes so to say.
The water of sleep extinguished the embers of his eyes; the tyrant’s sight became ashamed of the painful spectacle!
He got up and started saying this to Taimur’s household: ‘You should have no complaint against your fate’.
My sleeping in the couch was a mere show, an affectation; because stupor is foreign to the dignity of fighters.
It was my intention that some daughter of Taimur considering me unconscious might kill me with my own dagger.
But at last this secret has dawned to the whole world: Concern for honor has departed from Taimur’s household’
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bang-e-Dara — غلام قادر رہيلہ — 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
- Bang-e-Dara English translation at allama-iqbal.com — Ghulam Qadir Rohilla — 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