Chapter Guide
In brief
Chapter XII turns a thirsty bird's mistake into a warning about self-preservation: the weak drop is consumed, while the diamond keeps its own being.
The fable begins with need distorting perception. A bird dying of thirst sees a diamond and mistakes brilliance for water. Iqbal lets the image work against easy expectation: the dazzling stone is useless to the bird's immediate appetite, but its refusal to dissolve is precisely what gives it selfhood.
The dewdrop appears gentler and more helpful, yet its beauty is precarious. It borrows its glitter from the sun, trembles before the same sun, and finally loses itself in the bird's mouth. The small act of relief exposes a larger danger: a self without firmness can be absorbed by another's need.
The moral turns sharply from fable to command. The reader who wants deliverance from enemies must ask whether he is water or gem. Iqbal does not praise hardness as cruelty; he praises the gathered, diamond-like self that can bear storms, hold abundance, and make its inner secret visible without being spent.
Original chapter heading
Story of the bird that was faint with thirst.
طایری از تشنگی بیتاب بوددر تن او دم مثال موج دود
ریزه ی الماس در گلزار دیدتشنگی نظاره ی آب آفرید
از فریب ریزه ی خورشید تابمرغ نادان سنگ را پنداشت آب
مایه اندوز نم از گوهر نشدزد برو منقار و کامش تر نشد
گفت الماس ای گرفتار هوستیز بر من کرده منقار هوس
قطره ی آبی نیم ساقی نیممن برای دیگران باقی نیم
قصد آزارم کنی دیوانه ئیاز حیات خود نما بیگانه ئی
آب من منقار مرغان بشکندآدمی را گوهر جان بشکند
طایر از الماس کام دل نیافتروی خویش از ریزه ی تابنده تافت
حسرت اندر سینه اش آباد گشتدر گلوی او نوا فریاد گشت
قطره ی شبنم سر شاخ گلیتافت مثل اشک چشم بلبلی
تاب او محو سپاس آفتابلرزه بر تن از هراس آفتاب
کوکب رم خوی گردون زاده ئییکدم از ذوق نمود استاده ئی
صد فریب از غنچه و گل خورده ئیبهره ئی از زندگی نا برده ئی
مثل اشک عاشق دلداده ئیزیب مژگانی چکید آماده ئی
مرغ مضطر زیر شاخ گل رسیددر دهانش قطره ی شبنم چکید
ای که می خواهی ز دشمن جان بریاز تو پرسم قطره ئی یا گوهری؟
چون ز سوز تشنگی طایر گداختاز حیات دیگری سرمایه ساخت
قطره سخت اندام و گوهر خو نبودریزه ی الماس بود و او نبود
غافل از حفظ خودی یک دم مشوریزه ی الماس شو شبنم مشو
پخته فطرت صورت کهسار باشحامل صد ابر دریا بار باش
خویش را دریاب از ایجاب خویشسیم شو از بستن سیماب خویش
نغمه ئی پیدا کن از تار خودیآشکارا ساز اسرار خودی
Persian text from Ganjoor · 23 bayts
A bird was faint with thirst,
The breath in his body was heaving like waves of smoke.
He saw a diamond in the garden:
Thirst created a vision of water.
Deceived by the sunbright stone
The foolish bird fancied that it was water.
He got no moisture from the gem:
He pecked it with his beak, but it did not wet his palate.
“O thrall of vain desire,” said the diamond,
“Thou hast sharpened thy greedy beak on me;
But I am not a dewdrop, I give no drink,
I do not live for the sake of others.
Wouldst thou hurt me? Thou art mad!
A life that reveals the Self is strange to thee.
My water will shiver the beaks of birds
And break the jewel of man’s life.”[87]
The bird won not his heart’s wish from the diamond
And turned away from the sparkling stone.
Disappointment swelled in his breast,
The song in his throat became a wail.
Upon a rose-twig a drop of dew
Gleamed like the tear in a nightingale’s eye:
All its glitter was owing to the sun,
It was trembling in fear of the sun—
A restless sky-born star
That had stopped for a moment, from desire to be seen;
Oft deceived by bud and flower,
It had gained nothing from Life.
There it hung, ready to drop,
Like a tear on the eyelashes of a lover who hath lost his heart.
The sorely distressed bird hopped under the rose-bush,
The dewdrop trickled into his mouth.
O thou that wouldst deliver thy soul from enemies,
I ask thee—“Art thou a drop of water or a gem?”
When the bird melted in the fire of thirst,
It appropriated the life of another.
The drop was not solid and gem-like;
The diamond had a being, the drop had none.
Never for an instant neglect Self-preservation:
Be a diamond, not a dewdrop!
Be massive in nature, like mountains,
And bear on thy crest a hundred clouds laden with floods of rain!
Save thyself by affirmation of Self,
Compress thy quicksilver into silver ore!
Produce a melody from the string of Self,
Make manifest the secrets of Self!
FOOTNOTES:
[87] I.e. if he swallow a diamond, he will die.
طایری از تشنگی بیتاب بوددر تن او دم مثال موج دود
A bird was faint with thirst,
The breath in his body was heaving like waves of smoke.
ریزه ی الماس در گلزار دیدتشنگی نظاره ی آب آفرید
He saw a diamond in the garden:
Thirst created a vision of water.
از فریب ریزه ی خورشید تابمرغ نادان سنگ را پنداشت آب
Deceived by the sunbright stone
The foolish bird fancied that it was water.
مایه اندوز نم از گوهر نشدزد برو منقار و کامش تر نشد
He got no moisture from the gem:
He pecked it with his beak, but it did not wet his palate.
گفت الماس ای گرفتار هوستیز بر من کرده منقار هوس
“O thrall of vain desire,” said the diamond,
“Thou hast sharpened thy greedy beak on me;
قطره ی آبی نیم ساقی نیممن برای دیگران باقی نیم
But I am not a dewdrop, I give no drink,
I do not live for the sake of others.
قصد آزارم کنی دیوانه ئیاز حیات خود نما بیگانه ئی
Wouldst thou hurt me? Thou art mad!
A life that reveals the Self is strange to thee.
آب من منقار مرغان بشکندآدمی را گوهر جان بشکند
My water will shiver the beaks of birds
And break the jewel of man’s life.”[87]
طایر از الماس کام دل نیافتروی خویش از ریزه ی تابنده تافت
The bird won not his heart’s wish from the diamond
And turned away from the sparkling stone.
حسرت اندر سینه اش آباد گشتدر گلوی او نوا فریاد گشت
Disappointment swelled in his breast,
The song in his throat became a wail.
قطره ی شبنم سر شاخ گلیتافت مثل اشک چشم بلبلی
Upon a rose-twig a drop of dew
Gleamed like the tear in a nightingale’s eye:
تاب او محو سپاس آفتابلرزه بر تن از هراس آفتاب
All its glitter was owing to the sun,
It was trembling in fear of the sun—
کوکب رم خوی گردون زاده ئییکدم از ذوق نمود استاده ئی
A restless sky-born star
That had stopped for a moment, from desire to be seen;
صد فریب از غنچه و گل خورده ئیبهره ئی از زندگی نا برده ئی
Oft deceived by bud and flower,
It had gained nothing from Life.
مثل اشک عاشق دلداده ئیزیب مژگانی چکید آماده ئی
There it hung, ready to drop,
Like a tear on the eyelashes of a lover who hath lost his heart.
مرغ مضطر زیر شاخ گل رسیددر دهانش قطره ی شبنم چکید
The sorely distressed bird hopped under the rose-bush,
The dewdrop trickled into his mouth.
ای که می خواهی ز دشمن جان بریاز تو پرسم قطره ئی یا گوهری؟
O thou that wouldst deliver thy soul from enemies,
I ask thee—“Art thou a drop of water or a gem?”
چون ز سوز تشنگی طایر گداختاز حیات دیگری سرمایه ساخت
When the bird melted in the fire of thirst,
It appropriated the life of another.
قطره سخت اندام و گوهر خو نبودریزه ی الماس بود و او نبود
The drop was not solid and gem-like;
The diamond had a being, the drop had none.
غافل از حفظ خودی یک دم مشوریزه ی الماس شو شبنم مشو
Never for an instant neglect Self-preservation:
Be a diamond, not a dewdrop!
پخته فطرت صورت کهسار باشحامل صد ابر دریا بار باش
Be massive in nature, like mountains,
And bear on thy crest a hundred clouds laden with floods of rain!
خویش را دریاب از ایجاب خویشسیم شو از بستن سیماب خویش
Save thyself by affirmation of Self,
Compress thy quicksilver into silver ore!
نغمه ئی پیدا کن از تار خودیآشکارا ساز اسرار خودی
Produce a melody from the string of Self,
Make manifest the secrets of Self!
FOOTNOTES:
[87] I.e. if he swallow a diamond, he will die.
Persian text from Ganjoor · 23 bayts