حيات ابدي
English title: ETERNAL LIFE
زندگاني ہے صدف، قرہ نيساں ہے خوديوہ صدف کيا کہ جو قطرے کو گہر کر نہ سکے
ہو اگر خودنگر و خودگر و خودگير خودييہ بھي ممکن ہے کہ تو موت سے بھي مر نہ سکے
Life acts just like the mother shell, it takes in lap the drop of vernal rain unless it change the drop to pearl the Shell is worthless quite and vain. If Self can pick its faults, perfection seek, and for its perfection mount a guard: Such man is likely to have lasting life, perhaps, death may not claim him as reward.
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Zarb-e-Kalim — حيات ابدي — 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: Zarb-e-Kalim — 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
- Zarb-e-Kalim English translation at allama-iqbal.com — The Eternal Life — Public digital poem page, retrieved 2026-10-06; pinned to allama-iqbal.com commit 82547635bb6b758c45082084b2f152fc453a8056.Translation by Syed Akbar Ali Shah; English Translation by: Syed Akbar Ali ShahSource