غلاموں کي نماز
English title: SLAVES’ PRAYER
کہا مجاہد ترکي نے مجھ سے بعد نمازطويل سجدہ ہيں کيوں اس قدر تمھارے امام
The Turkish Knight said to me at prayer's end: ‘Why do your Imams prostrate for long and bend’.
وہ سادہ مرد مجاہد ، وہ مومن آزادخبر نہ تھي اسے کيا چيز ہے نماز غلام
He little knew, That free‐born Muslim, that plain warrior, | What kind of thing slaves’ prayers are!
ہزار کام ہيں مردان حر کو دنيا ميںانھي کے ذوق عمل سے ہيں امتوں کے نظام
In this world, A thousand tasks lie ready for the free, | In whom the love of high deeds burns and forges The nations and their laws;
بدن غلام کا سوز عمل سے ہے محرومکہ ہے مرور غلاموں کے روز و شب پہ حرام
But that fire never Touches the bondman’s limbs, | whose nights and days Stand still under an interdict.
طويل سجدہ اگر ہيں تو کيا تعجب ہےورائے سجدہ غريبوں کو اور کيا ہے کام
If our Prostrations are long‐drawn, | why should you wonder?
خدا نصيب کرے ہند کے اماموں کووہ سجدہ جس ميں ہے ملت کي زندگي کا پيام
God teach His ministers in India | A way of worship that shall be to all His people an evangel of new life!
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Zarb-e-Kalim — غلاموں کي نماز — 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 Prayer Of Slaves — 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