شعاع آفتاب
English title: THE SUN’S RAY
At the dawn when my eye was enjoying the panorama I saw that a ray of the sun was wandering about.
I asked the ray, ‘O head to foot restlessness! What kind of restlessness your impatient life has!
Are you a small little lightning, which the sky is nurturing to fall on the harvest of nations.
Is this a flash, or your eternal nature, what is it? Is it a dance? Wandering? Seeking what is it?’
‘A sea of tumults is asleep in my silent life; my existence has been nurtured by the morning’s breeze.
My destiny keeps me constantly restless. Taste for enlightenment keeps me busy in seeking.
I am not fire-brand lightning, though by nature fire I am. Message of awakening from the world-illuminating sun I am!
Becoming collyrium I shall enter the human eye; whatever night had hidden I shall show to the eye.
Among your ecstatics is there any seeker of prudence also? Among the sleeping people is anyone with taste of awakening also?’
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bang-e-Dara — شعاع آفتاب — 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 — The Sun’s Ray — 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