ز آغاز خودی کس را خبر نیست
English title: Nobody knows how Selfhood came to be
ز آغاز خودی کس را خبر نیستخودی در حلقۂ شام و سحر نیست
No soul knows whence the Khudi first came —
Nor does it rest in dawn or dusk's frame.
خودی کے آغاز کی کسی کو خبر نہیں —
خودی شام و سحر کے حلقے میں نہیں سماتی۔
ز خضر این نکتۂ نادر شنیدمکہ بحر از موج خود دیرینہ تر نیست
This rare truth from Khidr I discern —
The sea is not older than the waves that churn.
میں نے یہ نادر نکتہ خضر (علیہ السلام) سے سنا ہے —
کہ بحر اپنی موج سے قدیم تر نہیں۔
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Payam-e-Mashriq — ز آغاز خودی کس را خبر نیست — 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: Payam-e-Mashriq — 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
- payam-e-mashriq: published English translation by مخدوم حسان — Published digital poem page (ly6dx1bi.json); retrieved 2026-10-05.Translation by مخدوم حسان; Published English translation credited on the Zinderood digital poem page; the exact source unit is recorded with each imported passage.Source
- payam-e-mashriq: published Urdu translation by مخدوم حسان — Published digital poem page (ly6dx1bi.json); retrieved 2026-10-05.Translation by مخدوم حسان; Published Urdu translation credited on the Zinderood digital poem page; the exact source unit is recorded with each imported passage.Source