سياسي پيشوا
English title: POLITICAL LEADERS
اميد کيا ہے سياست کے پيشواؤں سےيہ خاک باز ہيں ، رکھتے ہيں خاک سے پيوند
On political leaders what hopes can we fix? | They are wedded to dust, in the dust play their tricks,
ہميشہ مور و مگس پر نگاہ ہے ان کيجہاں ميں صفت عنکبوت ان کي کمند
Their gaze always fastened on maggots and flies, | A web like the spider’s their ladder to rise.
خوشا وہ قافلہ ، جس کے امير کي ہے متاعتخيل ملکوتي و جذبہ ہائے بلند
How lucky the Caravan, whose Chief possesses the stock of lofty angelic thoughts, and passions firm as rock.
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Zarb-e-Kalim — سياسي پيشوا — 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 — Political Leaders — 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
- Poems from Iqbal — First edition, 1955Translation by V. G. Kiernan; Published English translations attributed to V. G. Kiernan; the 231 previously imported exact passages remain, with one additional independently reviewed final standalone line at PDF page 100. Each new locator names its exact passage scope.Source