Chapter Guide
In brief
Chapter II treats desire as the creative energy of life: the Self survives by forming purposes, making tools, and bringing ideals into the world.
The chapter opens by making purpose the condition of life. A living self is not preserved by mere existence, but by movement toward an end. Desire is therefore not a distraction from selfhood; it is the inner heat by which the heart stays awake, the dust avoids becoming a tomb, and perception finds its guide.
Iqbal then turns desire into a power of formation. Wishes become wings, ideals become prey to be hunted, and even the body's organs are read as instruments shaped by striving. Sight, song, movement, thought, memory, and understanding are not neutral possessions; they are signs that life has pressed outward and made forms for its own preservation.
The closing movement places knowledge, science, and art under the same rule. They are valuable because they serve life and establish the Self, not because they stand apart as ornaments. The chapter ends by asking the reader to rise with an ideal strong enough to unsettle falsehood and gather human hearts.
Figures in this chapter
- Khizr
- Nicholson points to Al-Quran 18:64-80: Khizr is the mystic seer whose actions Moses cannot immediately understand. Iqbal makes him a figure for insight guiding perception. Encyclopaedia Iranica
Original chapter heading
Showing that the life of the Self comes from forming desires and bringing them to birth.
زندگانی را بقا از مدعا ستکاروانش را درا از مدعا ست
زندگی در جستجو پوشیده استاصل او در رزو پوشیده است
رزو را در دل خود زنده دارتا نگردد مشت خاک تو مزار
رزو جان جهان رنگ و بوستفطرت هر شی امین رزو ست
از تمنا رقص دل در سینه هاسینه ها از تاب او ئینه ها
طاقت پرواز بخشد خاک راخضر باشد موسی ادراک را
دل ز سوز آرزو گیرد حیاتغیر حق میرد چو او گیرد حیات
چون ز تخلیق تمنا باز ماندشهپرش بشکست و از پرواز ماند
آرزو هنگامه آرای خودیموج بیتابی ز دریای خودی
آرزو صید مقاصد را کمنددفتر افعال را شیرازه بند
زنده را نفی تمنا مرده کردشعله را نقصان سوز افسرده کرد
چیست اصل دیدهٔ بیدار مابست صورت لذت دیدار ما
کبک پا از شوخئ رفتار یافتبلبل از سعی نوا منقار یافت
نی برون از نیستان آباد شدنغمه از زندان او آزاد شد
عقل ندرت کوش و گردون تاز چیستهیچ میدانی که این اعجاز چیست
زندگی سرمایه دار از آرزوستعقل از زائیدگان بطن اوست
چیست نظم قوم و آئین و رسومچیست راز تازگیهای علوم
آرزوئی کو بزور خود شکستسر ز دل بیرون زد و صورت به بست
دست و دندان و دماغ و چشم و گوشفکر و تخییل و شعور و یاد و هوش
زندگی مرکب چو در جنگاه باختبهر حفظ خویش این آلات ساخت
آگهی از علم و فن مقصود نیستغنچه و گل از چمن مقصود نیست
علم از سامان حفظ زندگی استعلم از اسباب تقویم خودی است
علم و فن از پیش خیزان حیاتعلم و فن از خانه زادان حیات
ای از راز زندگی بیگانه ، خیزاز شراب مقصدی مستانه خیز
مقصد مثل سحر تابنده ئیماسوی را آتش سوزنده ئی
مقصدی از آسمان بالاتریدلربائی دلستانی دلبری
باطل دیرینه را غارتگریفتنه در جیبی سراپا محشری
ما ز تخلیق مقاصد زنده ایماز شعاع آرزو تابنده ایم
Persian text from Ganjoor · 28 bayts
Life is preserved by purpose:
Because of the goal its caravan-bell tinkles.
Life is latent in seeking,
Its origin is hidden in desire.
Keep desire alive in thy heart,
Lest thy little dust become a tomb.
Desire is the soul of this world of hue and scent,
The nature of every thing is faithful to desire.
Desire sets the heart dancing in the breast,
And by its glow the breast is made bright as a mirror.
It gives to earth the power of soaring,
It is a Khizr to the Moses of perception.[34]
From the flame of desire the heart takes life,
And when it takes life, all dies that is not true.
When it refrains from forming wishes,
Its pinion breaks and it cannot soar.
Desire is an emotion of the Self:
It is a restless wave of the Self’s sea.
Desire is a noose for hunting ideals,
A binder of the book of deeds.
Negation of desire is death to the living,
Even as absence of burning extinguishes the flame.
Our delight in seeing hath taken visible shape.
The partridge’s leg is derived from the elegance of its gait,
The nightingale’s beak from its endeavour to sing.
Away from the reed-bed, the reed became happy:
The music was released from its prison.[35]
Why does the mind strive after new
discoveries and scale the heavens?
Knowest thou what works this miracle?
‘Tis desire that enriches Life,
And the intellect is a child of its womb.
What are social organisation, customs, and laws?
What is the secret of the novelties of science?
A desire which broke through by its own strength
And burst forth from the heart and took shape.
Nose, hand, brain, eye, and ear,
Thought, imagination, feeling, memory, and understanding—
All these are weapons devised for self-preservation
By him that rides into the battle of Life.
The object of science and art is not knowledge,
The object of the garden is not the bud and the flower.
Science is an instrument for the preservation of Life,
Science is a means of establishing the Self.
Science and art are servants of Life,
Slaves born and bred in its house.
Rise, O thou who art strange to Life’s mystery,
Rise intoxicated with the wine of an ideal!
If thou art an ideal, thou wilt shine as the dawn
And be to all else as a blazing fire.
If thou art an ideal, thou art higher than Heaven—
Winning, captivating, enchanting men’s hearts;
A destroyer of ancient falsehood,
Fraught with turmoil, an embodiment of the Last Day.
We live by forming ideals,
We glow with the sunbeams of desire!
زندگانی را بقا از مدعا ستکاروانش را درا از مدعا ست
Life is preserved by purpose:
Because of the goal its caravan-bell tinkles.
زندگی در جستجو پوشیده استاصل او در رزو پوشیده است
Life is latent in seeking,
Its origin is hidden in desire.
رزو را در دل خود زنده دارتا نگردد مشت خاک تو مزار
Keep desire alive in thy heart,
Lest thy little dust become a tomb.
رزو جان جهان رنگ و بوستفطرت هر شی امین رزو ست
Desire is the soul of this world of hue and scent,
The nature of every thing is faithful to desire.
از تمنا رقص دل در سینه هاسینه ها از تاب او ئینه ها
Desire sets the heart dancing in the breast,
And by its glow the breast is made bright as a mirror.
طاقت پرواز بخشد خاک راخضر باشد موسی ادراک را
It gives to earth the power of soaring,
It is a Khizr to the Moses of perception.[34]
دل ز سوز آرزو گیرد حیاتغیر حق میرد چو او گیرد حیات
From the flame of desire the heart takes life,
And when it takes life, all dies that is not true.
چون ز تخلیق تمنا باز ماندشهپرش بشکست و از پرواز ماند
When it refrains from forming wishes,
Its pinion breaks and it cannot soar.
آرزو هنگامه آرای خودیموج بیتابی ز دریای خودی
Desire is an emotion of the Self:
It is a restless wave of the Self’s sea.
آرزو صید مقاصد را کمنددفتر افعال را شیرازه بند
Desire is a noose for hunting ideals,
A binder of the book of deeds.
زنده را نفی تمنا مرده کردشعله را نقصان سوز افسرده کرد
Negation of desire is death to the living,
Even as absence of burning extinguishes the flame.
چیست اصل دیدهٔ بیدار مابست صورت لذت دیدار ما
کبک پا از شوخئ رفتار یافتبلبل از سعی نوا منقار یافت
The partridge’s leg is derived from the elegance of its gait,
The nightingale’s beak from its endeavour to sing.
نی برون از نیستان آباد شدنغمه از زندان او آزاد شد
Away from the reed-bed, the reed became happy:
The music was released from its prison.[35]
عقل ندرت کوش و گردون تاز چیستهیچ میدانی که این اعجاز چیست
Why does the mind strive after new
discoveries and scale the heavens?
زندگی سرمایه دار از آرزوستعقل از زائیدگان بطن اوست
Knowest thou what works this miracle?
‘Tis desire that enriches Life,
چیست نظم قوم و آئین و رسومچیست راز تازگیهای علوم
And the intellect is a child of its womb.
What are social organisation, customs, and laws?
آرزوئی کو بزور خود شکستسر ز دل بیرون زد و صورت به بست
What is the secret of the novelties of science?
A desire which broke through by its own strength
دست و دندان و دماغ و چشم و گوشفکر و تخییل و شعور و یاد و هوش
And burst forth from the heart and took shape.
Nose, hand, brain, eye, and ear,
زندگی مرکب چو در جنگاه باختبهر حفظ خویش این آلات ساخت
Thought, imagination, feeling, memory, and understanding—
All these are weapons devised for self-preservation
آگهی از علم و فن مقصود نیستغنچه و گل از چمن مقصود نیست
By him that rides into the battle of Life.
The object of science and art is not knowledge,
علم از سامان حفظ زندگی استعلم از اسباب تقویم خودی است
The object of the garden is not the bud and the flower.
Science is an instrument for the preservation of Life,
علم و فن از پیش خیزان حیاتعلم و فن از خانه زادان حیات
Science is a means of establishing the Self.
Science and art are servants of Life,
ای از راز زندگی بیگانه ، خیزاز شراب مقصدی مستانه خیز
Slaves born and bred in its house.
Rise, O thou who art strange to Life’s mystery,
مقصد مثل سحر تابنده ئیماسوی را آتش سوزنده ئی
Rise intoxicated with the wine of an ideal!
If thou art an ideal, thou wilt shine as the dawn
مقصدی از آسمان بالاتریدلربائی دلستانی دلبری
And be to all else as a blazing fire.
If thou art an ideal, thou art higher than Heaven—
باطل دیرینه را غارتگریفتنه در جیبی سراپا محشری
Winning, captivating, enchanting men’s hearts;
A destroyer of ancient falsehood,
ما ز تخلیق مقاصد زنده ایماز شعاع آرزو تابنده ایم
Fraught with turmoil, an embodiment of the Last Day.
We live by forming ideals,
Additional English lines (no Persian counterpart in Ganjoor)
We glow with the sunbeams of desire!
Persian text from Ganjoor · 28 bayts