ناداں تھے اس قدر کہ نہ جاني عرب کي قدر
ناداں تھے اس قدر کہ نہ جاني عرب کي قدرحاصل ہوا يہي، نہ بچے مار پيٹ سے
مغرب ميں ہے جہاز بياباں شتر کا نامترکوں نے کام کچھ نہ ليا اس فليٹ سے
So naive were they not to appreciate the Arabs’ worth: What they got was that assault and battery they escaped not. In the West camel is called ship of the desert; the Turks made use of this fleet not.
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bang-e-Dara — ظر یفا نہ — 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
- Kulliyat-e-Iqbal (Urdu), special edition and Bang-e-Dara contents — Special edition, 1990; cited for the separately numbered humorous-poem contents only.Primary source used to document this poem’s language or title.Source
- Bang-e-Dara English translation at allama-iqbal.com — — 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