مہدي
English title: THE GUIDE
قوموں کي حيات ان کے تخيل پہ ہے موقوفيہ ذوق سکھاتا ہے ادب مرغ چمن کو
A nation's life gets much prolonged by lofty aims and ideals high if dwellers here some zeal possess, they can explore the heights of sky.
مجذوب فرنگي نے بہ انداز فرنگيمہدي کے تخيل سے کيا زندہ وطن کو
The Frankish Sage by guile and skill new lease of life to nation gave the path for birth of Superman by valour great he strove to pave.
اے وہ کہ تو مہدي کے تخيل سے ہے بيزارنوميد نہ کر آہوئے مشکيں سے ختن کو
To Guide's concept you seem averse, too fed up with this thought appear, this view for Muslims has the weight that for Cathay has musk of deer.
ہو زندہ کفن پوش تو ميت اسے سمجھيںيا چاک کريں مردک ناداں کے کفن کو؟
If man alive puts on the shroud, must we take that ass for dead or tear to pieces small and shreds his shroud and cast away the threads?
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Zarb-e-Kalim — مہدي — 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 Guide — 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