کفر واسلام
English title: INFIDELITY AND ISLAM
One day Iqbal questioned the Kalim of Toor: ‘O You whose foot-prints converted the Valley of Sinai into a garden!
The fire of Namrud* is still ablaze in the world; why your Love’s old fire has been hidden from the eye’?
The reply of Sinai’s Master was: ‘If you are a Muslim, leaving the Invisible do not become the lover of the visible.
If you have taste for the visible you need the Faith of Khalil; otherwise ashes are the adornments of your life.
If you are Lover of the Invisible do not care at all; set your lamp in the Valley of Faran and remain waiting.
The visible’s glory is temporary; the Invisibile’s Majesty is permanent. This Truth has the body-and-soul connection with Love.
نور ما چوں آتش سنگ از نظر پنہاں خوش است
What if the flame of Namrud is alight in the world? The candle melts itself in the midst of the assembly; my light like the stone’s spark is better if concealed.’
شمع انجمن میں اپنا جلوہ دکھاتی ہے (اور صبح تک ختم ہو جاتی ہے)، ہمارا نور آتشِ سنگ کی طرح نظر سے پنہاں ہے لیکن اچھا ہے (کہ دائمی ہے)۔
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bang-e-Dara — کفر واسلام — 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
- Reviewed exact Persian line-language classifications for the digital Urdu collectionsSource
- Original digital source for restored final line in کفر واسلام — Pinned repository content, commit 82547635bb6b758c45082084b2f152fc453a8056; source group 4577.Verified against this pinned digital transcription file; not checked against a print edition.Source
- Bang-e-Dara English translation at allama-iqbal.com — Infidelity And Islam — 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
- 001_145: published English translation, source group 4577 — Pinned digital poem content, repository commit 82547635bb6b758c45082084b2f152fc453a8056; source group 4577.Translation by Dr M.A.K. Khalil; Published English verse text retained from the reviewed source group.Source
- Kufr-o-Islam final Persian lines: published Urdu translation — متفرق فارسی اشعار - 5, 2012-03-17.Translation by Translation published in the author’s post; no separate translator credit stated.; Published by محمد وارث; quoted poet attribution retained as میر رضی دانش.Source
- Source group 4577, final standalone line after 001_145_007.Edition evidence