اے پير حرم
English title: TO ELDER OF THE SHRINE
O Shaikh, who tend the Holy Shrine, discard these monkish modes of thine; grasp what morning songs denote, what aim or end I would promote.
May God preserve the youth you guide, and may they all by Faith abide! Restraint and order you must teach to shun conceit you ought to preach.
Those who blow on glass in West have taught the youth repose and rest; let them imbibe to bear the shocks, and cut the stones and hew the rocks.
The foreign Yoke that ran for periods long has drained the blood or heart, so strong. Think of some cure, panacea or aught to bring to end their sight distraught.
In fits of frenzy strong and great of mysteries, God I start to Prate, bestow on my distracted brain some recompense for this pain.
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Zarb-e-Kalim — اے پير حرم — 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 — To Elder Of The Shrine — 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