Allama Iqbal Poetry in Urdu with English Translation: 5 Famous Poems

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Read Allama Iqbal poetry in Urdu: five famous poems with full English translation, from Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua Banke Tamanna Meri to Sare Jahan Se Acha.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal (علامہ محمد اقبال, 1877–1938) is the most loved poet of Pakistan and one of the greatest poets of the Urdu and Persian languages. People call him Shair-e-Mashriq, the Poet of the East. His verses are learned by heart in schools, recited at national events and quoted in speeches across Pakistan, India and the diaspora.

This page gives the complete Urdu text of five of his best-known poems, among the most loved Allama Iqbal shayari, with a line-by-line English translation under every couplet and a short summary of each poem. All five come from Bang-e-Dra (بانگِ درا, “The Call of the Marching Bell”), his first Urdu collection, published in 1924. Iqbal’s poetry is in the public domain, so you can read and share it freely.

1. Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua Banke Tamanna Meri (Bachay Ki Dua) – بچے کی دعا

Allama Iqbal’s Bachay Ki Dua (“A Child’s Prayer”), known everywhere by its first line Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua Banke Tamanna Meri, is the most famous children’s prayer in Urdu. Generations of schoolchildren in Pakistan have recited it every morning in assembly. In Bang-e-Dra it is marked as written “for children” and “adapted” (ماخوذ).

لب پہ آتی ہے دعا بن کے تمنا میری
زندگی شمع کی صورت ہو خدایا میری

My wish comes to my lips as a prayer: O God, may my life be like a candle.

دور دنیا کا مرے دم سے اندھیرا ہو جائے
ہر جگہ میرے چمکنے سے اجالا ہو جائے

May the world’s darkness vanish because of me; may every place be lit up by my shining.

ہو مرے دم سے یونہی میرے وطن کی زینت
جس طرح پھول سے ہوتی ہے چمن کی زینت

May I bring beauty to my homeland, just as a flower brings beauty to a garden.

زندگی ہو مری پروانے کی صورت یا رب
علم کی شمع سے ہو مجھ کو محبت یا رب

O Lord, may my life be like the moth’s; may I love the candle of knowledge.

ہو مرا کام غریبوں کی حمایت کرنا
درد مندوں سے ضعیفوں سے محبت کرنا

May my work be to stand up for the poor, and to love the suffering and the weak.

مرے اللہ! برائی سے بچانا مجھ کو
نیک جو راہ ہو اس رہ پہ چلانا مجھ کو

My God, keep me away from evil; lead me on the path that is good.

In short: A child prays that its life may be like a candle, driving away the darkness of the world and spreading light everywhere. It asks to bring beauty to its homeland the way a flower beautifies a garden, to love knowledge as a moth loves the flame, to stand up for the poor and to love the weak and the suffering. It ends by asking God to keep it away from evil and to guide it on the right path.

2. Sare Jahan Se Acha (Tarana-e-Hind) – ترانۂ ہندی

Written in 1904, when Iqbal was a young lecturer in Lahore, this patriotic song about the land of the subcontinent became one of the most sung poems in South Asia. Its title in the book is Tarana-e-Hindi, “Song of the Indians”, though most people know it as Sare Jahan Se Acha (also spelled Saare Jahan Se Achha) or Tarana-e-Hind. A few years later Iqbal wrote a different anthem with a wider Muslim outlook, Tarana-e-Milli.

سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا
ہم بلبلیں ہیں اس کی، یہ گلستاں ہمارا

Our land is better than the whole world; we are its nightingales, and it is our garden.

غربت میں ہوں اگر ہم، رہتا ہے دل وطن میں
سمجھو وہیں ہمیں بھی، دل ہو جہاں ہمارا

Even when we live far away, our hearts stay in our homeland; know that we are wherever our heart is.

پربت وہ سب سے اونچا، ہمسایہ آسماں کا
وہ سنتری ہمارا، وہ پاسباں ہمارا

That mountain, the highest of all and neighbour of the sky, is our sentry and our guard.

گودی میں کھیلتی ہیں اس کی ہزاروں ندیاں
گلشن ہے جن کے دم سے رشکِ جناں ہمارا

Thousands of rivers play in its lap; because of them our garden is the envy of paradise.

اے آبِ رودِ گنگا! وہ دن ہیں یاد تجھ کو
اترا ترے کنارے جب کارواں ہمارا

O waters of the Ganges, do you remember the day our caravan came down to your banks?

مذہب نہیں سکھاتا آپس میں بیر رکھنا
ہندی ہیں ہم، وطن ہے ہندوستاں ہمارا

Religion does not teach us to hate one another; we are of Hind, and our homeland is Hindustan.

یونان و مصر و روما سب مٹ گئے جہاں سے
اب تک مگر ہے باقی نام و نشاں ہمارا

Greece, Egypt and Rome have all vanished from the world, yet our name and trace still remain.

کچھ بات ہے کہ ہستی مٹتی نہیں ہماری
صدیوں رہا ہے دشمن دورِ زماں ہمارا

There is something in us that keeps our existence from being wiped out, though time has been our enemy for centuries.

اقبال! کوئی محرم اپنا نہیں جہاں میں
معلوم کیا کسی کو دردِ نہاں ہمارا

Iqbal, there is no one in the world who shares our secret; who can know the pain hidden in our heart?

In short: Our land is the best in the whole world; we are its nightingales and it is our garden. Even when we are far away, our hearts stay in our homeland. The highest mountain, neighbour of the sky, is our sentry and our guardian, and thousands of rivers play in its lap, making our garden the envy of paradise. The poet reminds the river Ganges of the day “our caravan” arrived on its banks, and says that religion does not teach people to hate one another. Greece, Egypt and Rome have vanished, yet our name survives; something in us cannot be destroyed, though time has been our enemy for centuries. In the last couplet the poet sighs that no one in the world truly knows the hidden pain in his heart.

3. Hamdardi (Sympathy) – ہمدردی

A short poem for children about helping others. Bang-e-Dra notes that it is adapted from the English poet William Cowper (ماخوذ از ولیم کوپر).

ٹہنی پہ کسی شجر کی تنہا
بلبل تھا کوئی اداس بیٹھا

On the branch of a tree, all alone, a nightingale sat sadly.

کہتا تھا کہ رات سر پہ آئی
اڑنے چگنے میں دن گذارا

It said: night has fallen, and I spent the whole day flying and pecking for food.

پہنچوں کس طرح آشیاں تک
ہر چیز پہ چھا گیا اندھیرا

How shall I reach my nest? Darkness has covered everything.

سن کر بلبل کی آہ و زاری
جگنو کوئی پاس ہی سے بولا

Hearing the nightingale’s cries, a firefly spoke up from nearby:

حاضر ہوں مدد کو جان و دل سے
کیڑا ہوں اگرچہ میں ذرا سا

I am here to help you with all my heart, though I am only a tiny insect.

کیا غم ہے جو رات ہے اندھیری
میں راہ میں روشنی کروں گا

Why worry that the night is dark? I will light up the way.

اللہ نے دی ہے مجھ کو مشعل
چمکا کے مجھے دیا بنایا

God has given me a torch; He made me shine and turned me into a lamp.

ہیں لوگ وہی جہاں میں اچھے
آتے ہیں جو کام دوسروں کے

The good people in this world are those who are of use to others.

In short: A lonely nightingale sits sadly on the branch of a tree. Night has fallen, it spent the whole day flying and pecking for food, and now everything is dark: how will it find its way home? A firefly nearby hears its cries and says: I am here to help you with all my heart, small insect though I am. Why worry about the dark night? I will light up the way. God has given me a torch and made me shine like a lamp. The poem ends with its famous moral: the good people in this world are those who are useful to others.

4. Parinday Ki Faryad (The Bird’s Complaint) – پرندے کی فریاد

A caged bird remembers its lost freedom. Written for children, the poem is often read as a picture of any people who have lost their liberty.

آتا ہے یاد مجھ کو گذرا ہوا زمانا
وہ باغ کی بہاریں، وہ سب کا چہچہانا

I remember the days gone by: the spring in the garden, and everyone singing.

آزادیاں کہاں وہ اب اپنے گھونسلے کی
اپنی خوشی سے آنا، اپنی خوشی سے جانا

Where now is that freedom of my own nest, to come and go as I pleased?

لگتی ہے چوٹ دل پر، آتا ہے یاد جس دم
شبنم کے آنسوؤں پر کلیوں کا مسکرانا

It hurts my heart whenever I remember the buds smiling at the tears of dew.

وہ پیاری پیاری صورت، وہ کامنی سی مورت
آباد جس کے دم سے تھا میرا آشیانا

That lovely form, that delicate figure, who made my nest come alive.

آتی نہیں صدائیں اس کی مرے قفس میں
ہوتی مری رہائی اے کاش میرے بس میں!

That companion’s voice no longer reaches my cage; if only my freedom were in my own hands!

کیا بدنصیب ہوں میں گھر کو ترس رہا ہوں
ساتھی تو ہیں وطن میں، میں قید میں پڑا ہوں

How unlucky I am, longing for home; my friends are free in the homeland while I lie in prison.

آئی بہار، کلیاں پھولوں کی ہنس رہی ہیں
میں اس اندھیرے گھر میں قسمت کو رو رہا ہوں

Spring has come and the buds are laughing, while I weep over my fate in this dark house.

اس قید کا الٰہی! دکھڑا کسے سناؤں
ڈر ہے یہیں قفس میں میں غم سے مر نہ جاؤں

O God, to whom shall I tell the sorrow of this prison? I fear I will die of grief right here in this cage.

جب سے چمن چھٹا ہے یہ حال ہو گیا ہے
دل غم کو کھا رہا ہے، غم دل کو کھا رہا ہے

Since I lost my garden this is my state: my heart eats grief, and grief eats my heart.

گانا اسے سمجھ کر خوش ہوں نہ سننے والے
دکھے ہوئے دلوں کی فریاد یہ صدا ہے

Listeners, do not be pleased thinking this is a song; it is the cry of a wounded heart.

آزاد مجھ کو کر دے، او قید کرنے والے
میں بے زباں ہوں قیدی، تو چھوڑ کر دعا لے!

Set me free, O you who caged me; I am a voiceless prisoner, release me and earn my blessing.

In short: The bird remembers the old days: spring in the garden, everyone singing, the freedom to come and go from its nest as it pleased, and buds smiling under drops of dew. Now no sound from home reaches its cage. Its friends are free in the homeland while it sits in a dark prison, crying over its fate as spring returns outside. It fears it will die of grief in the cage. Since leaving the garden, sorrow eats its heart and its heart eats sorrow. It begs listeners not to mistake its cry for a happy song, and asks its captor to set it free and earn the blessing of a voiceless prisoner.

5. Maa Ka Khwab (The Mother’s Dream) – ماں کا خواب

A gentle and moving poem, also written “for children” and marked as adapted, about a mother who has lost her son.

میں سوئی جو اک شب تو دیکھا یہ خواب
بڑھا اور جس سے مرا اضطراب

One night I slept and saw a dream, which made my distress grow even more.

یہ دیکھا کہ میں جا رہی ہوں کہیں
اندھیرا ہے اور راہ ملتی نہیں

I saw that I was going somewhere; it was dark and I could not find the way.

لرزتا تھا ڈر سے مرا بال بال
قدم کا تھا دہشت سے اٹھنا محال

Every hair on my body trembled with fear; I was too terrified to take a step.

جو کچھ حوصلہ پا کے آگے بڑھی
تو دیکھا قطار ایک لڑکوں کی تھی

When I found a little courage and went on, I saw a line of boys.

زمرد سی پوشاک پہنے ہوئے
دیے سب کے ہاتھوں میں جلتے ہوئے

They were dressed in emerald green, and each carried a burning lamp in his hands.

وہ چپ چاپ تھے آگے پیچھے رواں
خدا جانے جانا تھا ان کو کہاں

They walked silently, one behind the other; God knows where they were going.

اسی سوچ میں تھی کہ میرا پسر
مجھے اس جماعت میں آیا نظر

As I was thinking this, I saw my own son in that group.

وہ پیچھے تھا اور تیز چلتا نہ تھا
دیا اس کے ہاتھوں میں جلتا نہ تھا

He was at the back and could not walk fast; the lamp in his hands was not burning.

کہا میں نے پہچان کر، میری جاں!
مجھے چھوڑ کر آ گئے تم کہاں!

Recognising him I said: my darling, where have you gone, leaving me behind?

جدائی میں رہتی ہوں میں بیقرار
پروتی ہوں ہر روز اشکوں کے ہار

I live restless in this separation; every day I string garlands of tears.

نہ پروا ہماری ذرا تم نے کی
گئے چھوڑ، اچھی وفا تم نے کی

You did not care for me at all; you left me, what loyalty you have shown!

جو بچے نے دیکھا مرا پیچ و تاب
دیا اس نے منہ پھیر کر یوں جواب

When the child saw my anguish, he turned his face away and answered:

رلاتی ہے تجھ کو جدائی مری
نہیں اس میں کچھ بھی بھلائی مری

My parting makes you weep, but there is no good for me in your weeping.

یہ کہہ کر وہ کچھ دیر تک چپ رہا
دیا پھر دکھا کر یہ کہنے لگا

Saying this he stayed silent for a while, then showed me his lamp and said:

سمجھتی ہے تو ہو گیا کیا اسے؟
ترے آنسوؤں نے بجھایا اسے!

Do you understand what happened to it? Your tears have put it out!

In short: A mother dreams that she is walking through darkness, lost and trembling with fear. Gathering courage, she sees a line of boys dressed in emerald green, each carrying a lit lamp, walking silently somewhere. Among them she sees her own son, walking slowly at the back, and his lamp is not burning. She cries out: my dear, where did you go and leave me? I weep for you every day. He turns away and answers: your grief over our parting does me no good. Then he shows her his lamp and says: do you see what happened to it? Your tears have put it out. The poem gently teaches that endless mourning troubles those who have passed away.

Allama Iqbal: life, quick facts and books

• Full name: Muhammad Iqbal, known as Allama Iqbal and Shair-e-Mashriq (Poet of the East)
• Date of birth: 9 November 1877, Sialkot
• Iqbal Day: 9 November, his birthday, marked every year in Pakistan
• Father: Sheikh Noor Muhammad; mother: Imam Bibi
• Title of “Sir”: knighted by the British Crown in the New Year Honours of 1 January 1923
• Date of death: 21 April 1938, Lahore (aged 60)
• Tomb: Mazar-e-Iqbal, beside the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore
• First Urdu poetry book: Bang-e-Dra (1924)

Muhammad Iqbal was born in Sialkot on 9 November 1877. He studied in Sialkot and Lahore, and later at Cambridge and in Munich, where he earned a doctorate in philosophy. He also qualified as a barrister in London. He died in Lahore on 21 April 1938 and is buried beside the Badshahi Mosque. His birthday, Iqbal Day, is marked every year in Pakistan.

His main Urdu collections are Bang-e-Dra (1924), Bal-e-Jibril (1935), Zarb-e-Kalim (1936) and Armaghan-e-Hijaz (1938, partly in Persian). His Persian works include Asrar-e-Khudi, Rumuz-e-Bekhudi, Payam-e-Mashriq, Zabur-e-Ajam and Javid Nama. A central idea in his poetry is khudi, the self: a person’s inner strength, dignity and will to rise.

Iqbal is also remembered for his 1930 Allahabad address, in which he spoke of a separate homeland for the Muslims of north-western India, an idea that later shaped the creation of Pakistan.

Frequently asked questions

Who wrote Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua?

Allama Muhammad Iqbal wrote it. Its title is Bachay Ki Dua (A Child’s Prayer), and it appears in his first Urdu collection, Bang-e-Dra (1924), where he marked it as written for children and adapted from another source. The full Urdu text and English translation are at the top of this page.

Who wrote Sare Jahan Se Acha, and when?

Allama Iqbal wrote Sare Jahan Se Acha in 1904, while he was teaching in Lahore. It was later printed in Bang-e-Dra under the title Tarana-e-Hindi. Read it in full with translation.

When was Allama Iqbal born, and when did he die?

He was born in Sialkot on 9 November 1877 and died in Lahore on 21 April 1938. His birthday is marked every year in Pakistan as Iqbal Day.

When did Allama Iqbal get the title of Sir?

Iqbal was knighted by the British Crown in the New Year Honours dated 1 January 1923, after which he was known as Sir Muhammad Iqbal. Some books give the year as 1922, because the honours list was printed in the last days of December 1922.

What are Allama Iqbal’s most famous poems?

Among his best-known Urdu poems are Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua, Sare Jahan Se Acha, Shikwa and its reply Jawab-e-Shikwa, Tarana-e-Milli, Hamdardi, Parinday Ki Faryad and Maa Ka Khwab. You can read Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa in full with English translation on our site.

Read more

Read the meaning and story of Iqbal’s great pair of poems in Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa, explore Mirza Ghalib’s life and poetry, read 29 famous couplets in Urdu poetry in English, write an Allama Iqbal essay in Urdu, or enjoy love poetry and sad Urdu poetry with translation, or browse all our Urdu Classics.

Source: the Urdu text above was typed from بانگِ درا (Bang-i Dara), an early printed edition held by the University of Toronto Library and digitised by the Internet Archive. The English translations and explanations are our own.