Chapter Guide
In brief
Chapter XIII explains value as ripened strength: coal and diamond share one origin, but only the self hardened by struggle becomes radiant and honoured.
This chapter stays with the diamond image but shifts the question from usefulness to worth. Coal complains that it shares the diamond's source yet lives in darkness, is trampled underfoot, and is burned away in ordinary service. The contrast is deliberately social as well as material: one substance is ash-bound, the other belongs to crowns and daggers.
The diamond's answer is Iqbal's doctrine of formation in miniature. Difference does not come from origin alone, but from pressure, strife, and ripeness. Coal remains soft and immature, so it is consumed; diamond has hardened through resistance, so it can reflect light without losing itself.
The closing reference to the Black Stone widens the fable into a sacred image. A little earth can rise above ordinary rank when it becomes firm enough to bear meaning. Solidity, in this chapter, is not dead weight; it is the mature form of life, the condition by which the self escapes fear, grief, and worthlessness.
Figures in this chapter
- Black Stone
- Iqbal invokes the Black Stone of Mecca as a sign that even a small piece of earth can receive extraordinary rank. The image supports the chapter's claim that firmness, not mere origin, makes value visible. Britannica
Original chapter heading
Story of the diamond and the coal.
از حقیقت باز بگشایم دریبا تو می گویم حدیث دیگری
گفت با الماس در معدن ، زغالای امین جلوه های لازوال
همدمیم و هست و بود ما یکیستدر جهان اصل وجود ما یکیست
من بکان میرم ز درد ناکسیتو سر تاج شهنشاهان رسی
قدر من از بد گلی کمتر ز خاکاز جمال تو دل آئینه چاک
روشن از تاریکی من مجمر استپس کمال جوهرم خاکستر است
پشت پا هر کس مرا بر سر زندبر متاع هستیم اخگر زند
بر سروسامان من باید گریستبرگ و ساز هستیم دانی که چیست؟
موجه ی دودی بهم پیوسته ئیمایه دار یک شرار جسته ئی
مثل انجم روی تو هم خوی توجلوه ها خیزد ز هر پهلوی تو
گاه نور دیده ی قیصر شویگاه زیب دسته ی خنجر شوی
گفت الماس ای رفیق نکته بینتیره خاک از پختگی گردد نگین
تا به پیرامون خود در جنگ شدپخته از پیکار مثل سنگ شد
پیکرم از پختگی ذوالنور شدسینه ام از جلوه ها معمور شد
خوار گشتی از وجود خام خویشسوختی از نرمی اندام خویش
فارغ از خوف و غم و وسواس باشپخته مثل سنگ شو الماس باش
می شود از وی دو عالم مستنیرهر که باشد سخت کوش و سختگیر
مشت خاکی اصل سنگ اسود استکو سر از جیب حرم بیرون زد است
رتبه اش از طور بالا تر شد استبوسه گاه اسود و احمر شد است
در صلابت آبروی زندگی استناتوانی ، ناکسی ناپختگی است
Persian text from Ganjoor · 20 bayts
Now I will open one more gate of Truth,
I will tell thee another tale.
The coal in the mine said to the diamond,
“O thou entrusted with splendours everlasting,
We are comrades, and our being is one;
The source of our existence is the same,
Yet while I die here in the anguish of worthlessness,
Thou art set on the crowns of emperors.
My stuff is so vile that I am valued less than earth,
Whereas the mirror’s heart is rent by thy beauty.
My darkness illumines the chafing-dish,
Then my substance is incinerated at last.
Every one puts the sole of his foot on my head
And covers my stock of existence with ashes.
My fate must needs be deplored;
Dost thou know what is the gist of my being?
Thou art a condensed wavelet of smoke,
Endowed with the properties of a single spark;
Both in feature and nature thou art star-like,
Splendours rise from every side of thee.
Now thou becom’st the light of a monarch’s eye,
Now thou adornest the haft of a dagger.”
“O sagacious friend!” said the diamond,
“Dark earth, when hardened, becomes in dignity as a bezel.
Having been at strife with its environment,
It is ripened by the struggle and grows hard like a stone.
‘Tis this ripeness that has endowed my form with light
And filled my bosom with radiance.
Because thy being is immature, thou hast become abased;
Because thy body is soft, thou art burnt.
Be void of fear, grief, and anxiety;
Be hard as a stone, be a diamond!
Whosoever strives hard and grips tight,
The two worlds are illumined by him.
A little earth is the origin of the Black Stone
Which puts forth its head in the Ka`ba:
Its rank is higher than Sinai,
It is kissed by the swarthy and the fair.
In solidity consists the glory of Life;
Weakness is worthlessness and immaturity.”
از حقیقت باز بگشایم دریبا تو می گویم حدیث دیگری
Now I will open one more gate of Truth,
I will tell thee another tale.
گفت با الماس در معدن ، زغالای امین جلوه های لازوال
The coal in the mine said to the diamond,
“O thou entrusted with splendours everlasting,
همدمیم و هست و بود ما یکیستدر جهان اصل وجود ما یکیست
We are comrades, and our being is one;
The source of our existence is the same,
من بکان میرم ز درد ناکسیتو سر تاج شهنشاهان رسی
Yet while I die here in the anguish of worthlessness,
Thou art set on the crowns of emperors.
قدر من از بد گلی کمتر ز خاکاز جمال تو دل آئینه چاک
My stuff is so vile that I am valued less than earth,
Whereas the mirror’s heart is rent by thy beauty.
روشن از تاریکی من مجمر استپس کمال جوهرم خاکستر است
My darkness illumines the chafing-dish,
Then my substance is incinerated at last.
پشت پا هر کس مرا بر سر زندبر متاع هستیم اخگر زند
Every one puts the sole of his foot on my head
And covers my stock of existence with ashes.
بر سروسامان من باید گریستبرگ و ساز هستیم دانی که چیست؟
My fate must needs be deplored;
Dost thou know what is the gist of my being?
موجه ی دودی بهم پیوسته ئیمایه دار یک شرار جسته ئی
Thou art a condensed wavelet of smoke,
Endowed with the properties of a single spark;
مثل انجم روی تو هم خوی توجلوه ها خیزد ز هر پهلوی تو
Both in feature and nature thou art star-like,
Splendours rise from every side of thee.
گاه نور دیده ی قیصر شویگاه زیب دسته ی خنجر شوی
Now thou becom’st the light of a monarch’s eye,
Now thou adornest the haft of a dagger.”
گفت الماس ای رفیق نکته بینتیره خاک از پختگی گردد نگین
“O sagacious friend!” said the diamond,
“Dark earth, when hardened, becomes in dignity as a bezel.
تا به پیرامون خود در جنگ شدپخته از پیکار مثل سنگ شد
Having been at strife with its environment,
It is ripened by the struggle and grows hard like a stone.
پیکرم از پختگی ذوالنور شدسینه ام از جلوه ها معمور شد
‘Tis this ripeness that has endowed my form with light
And filled my bosom with radiance.
خوار گشتی از وجود خام خویشسوختی از نرمی اندام خویش
Because thy being is immature, thou hast become abased;
Because thy body is soft, thou art burnt.
فارغ از خوف و غم و وسواس باشپخته مثل سنگ شو الماس باش
Be void of fear, grief, and anxiety;
Be hard as a stone, be a diamond!
می شود از وی دو عالم مستنیرهر که باشد سخت کوش و سختگیر
Whosoever strives hard and grips tight,
The two worlds are illumined by him.
مشت خاکی اصل سنگ اسود استکو سر از جیب حرم بیرون زد است
A little earth is the origin of the Black Stone
Which puts forth its head in the Ka`ba:
رتبه اش از طور بالا تر شد استبوسه گاه اسود و احمر شد است
Its rank is higher than Sinai,
It is kissed by the swarthy and the fair.
در صلابت آبروی زندگی استناتوانی ، ناکسی ناپختگی است
In solidity consists the glory of Life;
Weakness is worthlessness and immaturity.”
Persian text from Ganjoor · 20 bayts