Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa: Meaning and Summary of Iqbal’s Poems

About this novel

Shikwa (شکوہ, “The Complaint”) and Jawab-e-Shikwa (جوابِ شکوہ, “The Answer to the Complaint”) are two of the most famous poems by Allama Muhammad Iqbal. Written a few years apart, they form a conversation between a believer and God, and they are admired for their music, their daring and their depth of thought. Both were later included in Iqbal’s collection Bang-e-Dara.

Shikwa (1909): the complaint

Iqbal first recited Shikwa in April 1909 at a gathering of the Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam in Lahore. In it, the poet speaks for the Muslim community and boldly complains to God. He reminds God how Muslims spread His name across the world, worshipped Him faithfully and sacrificed everything for His message, and then asks why, in return, they now face decline, poverty and humiliation while others prosper.

The poem opens with the poet asking why he should stay silent and suffer loss, instead of speaking his heart: “Kyun ziyan-kaar banun, sood-faramosh rahun“.

The tone was so bold that some religious scholars criticised Shikwa as disrespectful to God.

Jawab-e-Shikwa (1913): God’s answer

A few years later, in 1913, Iqbal recited Jawab-e-Shikwa at a public gathering in Lahore held to raise funds for the Ottoman Turks in the Balkan wars. This time the voice is God’s. God answers that He has not broken His promise; it is Muslims who have turned away from the true path. They have lost the faith, unity, sacrifice and character of their ancestors, and so they have lost the strength those qualities brought.

The poem ends with a message of hope: if Muslims are true to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, then not only this world but the Tablet and the Pen of destiny are theirs, “Ki Muhammad se wafa tu ne to hum tere hain“.

Form

Both poems are written in six-line stanzas in the same Arabic metre (ramal). Shikwa has 31 stanzas and Jawab-e-Shikwa has 36. Their rhythm makes them easy to recite and sing, which is one reason they are so popular.

Themes

• The relationship between believer and God: honest complaint, and an honest answer.
• Decline and revival: why a community falls and how it can rise again.
• Self-reform: the answer lies in returning to faith, unity and good character.

Famous performances

The poems have been sung by many artists, including the Sabri Brothers and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and in Coke Studio Season 11 by Natasha Baig and Fareed Ayaz.

About Allama Iqbal

Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), the “Poet of the East”, wrote in Urdu and Persian. His poetry inspired the movement for Pakistan, and he is honoured as Pakistan’s national poet.

Frequently asked questions

When were Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa written? Shikwa was recited in 1909 and Jawab-e-Shikwa in 1913, both in Lahore.

What is Shikwa about? A complaint to God about the decline of Muslims.

What is Jawab-e-Shikwa about? God’s answer: Muslims declined because they left the right path, and they can rise again by returning to it.

Read more guides in our Urdu Classics section, including Mirat-ul-Uroos, Umrao Jaan Ada and Kafan.