Chapter Guide
In brief
Chapter XIV argues that communal life needs a possessed tradition: thought that floats above inheritance loses force, while rooted selfhood can grow, resist, and expand.
The Brahmin's problem is not lack of intelligence. He has climbed into philosophy, speculation, and metaphysical difficulty, yet his cup remains empty. The Sheikh answers by bringing him back to earth: a person or people cannot live by abstraction alone. Even an inherited unbelief, if genuinely possessed, can hold a community together better than a borrowed cleverness with no centre.
This is why the chapter turns to Ganges and Himalaya. The river boasts of motion and mocks the mountain's stillness, but Himalaya answers that movement away from selfhood becomes dissolution. The river pours itself into the ocean; the mountain, fixed in its own form, gathers rivers, gems, fire, stars, and hidden knowledge.
The closing exhortation keeps the lesson from becoming mere conservatism. Iqbal is not praising immobility for its own sake. He asks the drop to wrestle with the sea, become jewel-like, and expand into a storm-bearing cloud. Tradition matters because it gives the self and the community enough form to act powerfully in the world.
Figures in this chapter
- Azar and Abraham
- Nicholson identifies Azar as Abraham's father. Iqbal uses the pair to expose half-hearted inheritance: the Brahmin is not fully faithful to Azar's idolatrous path, while the Muslim speaker is not fully faithful to Abraham's devotion. Al-Quran 6:74
- Majnun and Laila
- The romance of Majnun and Laila is Iqbal's shorthand for love carried to consuming intensity. Here, its absence reinforces the chapter's critique of identities that have not become complete devotion. Britannica
Original chapter heading
Story of the Sheikh and the Brahmin, followed by a conversation between Ganges and Himalaya to the effect that the continuation of social life depends on firm attachment to the characteristic traditions of the community.
در بنارس برهمندی محترمسر فرو اندر یم بود و عدم
بهره ی وافر ز حکمت داشتیبا خدا جویان ارادت داشتی
ذهن او گیرا و ندرت کوش بودبا ثریا عقل او همدوش بود
آشیانش صورت عنقا بلندمهر و مه بر شعله ی فکرش سپند
مدتی مینای او در خون نشستساقی حکمت بجامش می نبست
در ریاض علم و دانش دام چیدچشم دامش طایر معنی ندید
ناخن فکرش بخون آلوده ماندعقده ی بود و عدم نگشوده ماند
آه بر لب شاهد حرمان اوچهره غماز دل حیران او
رفت روزی نزد شیخ کاملیآنکه اندر سینه پروردی دلی
گوش بر گفتار آن فرزانه دادبر لب خود مهر خاموشی نهاد
گفت شیخ ای طائف چرخ بلنداندکی عهد وفا با خاک بند
تا شدی آواره ی صحرا و دشتفکر بیباک تو از گردون گذشت
با زمین در ساز ای گردون نورددر تلاش گوهر انجم مگرد
من نگویم از بتان بیزار شوکافری شایسته ی زنار شو
ای امانت دار تهذیب کهنپشت پا بر مسلک آبا مزن
گر ز جمعیت حیات ملت استکفر هم سرمایه ی جمعیت است
تو که هم در کافری کامل نه ئیدر خور طوف حریم دل نه ئی
مانده ایم از جاده ی تسلیم دورتو ز آزر من ز ابراهیم دور
قیس ما سودائی محمل نشددر جنون عاشقی کامل نشد
مرد چون شمع خودی اندر وجوداز خیال آسمان پیما چه سود
آب زد در دامن کهسار چنگگفت روزی با هماله رود گنگ
ای ز صبح آفرینش یخ بدوشپیکرت از رودها زنار پوش
حق ترا با آسمان همراز ساختپات محروم خرام ناز ساخت
طاقت رفتار از پایت ربوداین وقار و رفعت و تمکین چه سود
زندگانی از خرام پیهم استبرگ و ساز هستی موج از رم است
کوه چون این طعنه از دریا شنیدهم چو بحر آتش از کین بر دمید
گفت ای پهنای تو آئینه امچون تو صد دریا درون سینه ام
این خرام ناز سامان فناستهر که از خود رفت شایان فناست
از مقام خود نداری آگهیبر زیان خویش نازی ابلهی
ای ز بطن چرخ گردان زاده ئیاز تو بهتر ساحل افتاده ئی
هستی خود نذر قلزم ساختیپیش رهزن نقد جان انداختی
همچو گل در گلستان خوددار شوبهر نشر بو پی گلچین مرو
زندگی بر جای خود بالیدن استاز خیابان خودی گل چیدن است
قرنها بگذشت و من پا در گلمتو گمان داری که دور از منزلم
هستیم بالید و تا گردون رسیدزیر دامانم ثریا آرمید
هستی تو بی نشان در قلزم استذروه ی من سجده گاه انجم است
چشم من بینای اسرار فلکآشنا گوشم ز پرواز ملک
تا ز سوز سعی پیهم سوختملعل و الماس و گهر اندوختم
«در درونم سنگ و اندر سنگ نارآب را بر نار من نبود گذار»
قطره ئی؟ خود را بپای خود مریزدر تلاطم کوش و با قلزم ستیز
آب گوهر خواه و گوهر ریزه شوبهر گوش شاهدی آویزه شو
یا خود افزا شو سبک رفتار شوابر برق انداز و دریا بار شو
از تو قلزم گدیه ی طوفان کندشکوه ها از تنگی دامان کند
کمتر از موجی شمارد خویش راپیش پای تو گذارد خویش را
Persian text from Ganjoor · 44 bayts
At Benares lived a venerable Brahmin,
Whose head was deep in the ocean of Being and Not-being.
He had a large knowledge of philosophy
But was well-disposed to the seekers after God.
His mind was eager to explore new problems,
His intellect moved on a level with the Pleiades;
His nest was as high as that of the Anká;[88]
Sun and moon were cast, like rue, on the flame of his thought.[89]
For a long time he laboured and sweated,
But philosophy brought no wine to his cup.
Although he set many a snare in the gardens of learning,
His snares never caught a glimpse of the Ideal bird;
And notwithstanding that the nails of his thought were dabbled with blood,
The knot of Being and Not-being remained untied.
The sighs on his lips bore witness to his despair,
His countenance told tales of his distraction.
One day he visited an excellent Sheikh,
A man who had in his breast a heart of gold.
The Sheikh laid the seal of silence on his lips
While he lent his ear to the Sage’s discourse.
Then he said: “O wanderer in the lofty sky,
Pledge thyself to be true, for a little, to the earth!
Thou hast lost thy way in wildernesses of speculation,
Thy fearless thought hath passed beyond Heaven.
Be reconciled with earth, O sky-traveller!
Do not wander in quest of the essence of the stars!
I do not bid thee abandon thine idols.
O inheritor of ancient culture,
Turn not thy back on the path thy fathers trod!
If a people’s life is derived from unity,
Unbelief too is a source of unity.
Thou that art not even a perfect infidel
Art unfit to worship at the shrine of the spirit.
We both are far astray from the road of devotion:
Thou art far from Ázar, and I from Abraham.[91]
Our Majnún hath not fallen into melancholy for his Lailá’s sake:
He hath not become perfect in the madness of love.
When the lamp of Self expires,
What is the use of heaven-surveying imagination?”
Once on a time, laying hold of the skirt of the mountain,
Ganges said to Himalaya:
“O thou mantled in snow since the morn of creation,
Thou whose form is girdled with streams,
God made thee a partner in the secrets of heaven,
But deprived thy foot of graceful gait.
He took away from thee the power to walk:
What avails this sublimity and stateliness?
Life springs from perpetual movement:
Motion constitutes the wave’s whole existence.”
When the mountain heard this taunt from the river,
He puffed angrily like a sea of fire,
And answered: “Thy wide waters are my looking-glass;
Within my bosom are a hundred rivers like thee.
This graceful gait of thine is an instrument of death:
Whoso goeth from Self is meet to die.
Thou hast no knowledge of thine own case,
Thou exultest in thy misfortune: thou art a fool!
O born of the womb of the revolving sphere,
A fallen-in bank is better than thou!
Thou hast made thine existence an offering to the ocean,
Thou hast thrown the rich purse of thy life to the highwayman.
Be self-contained like the rose in the garden,
Do not go to the florist in order to smell sweet!
To live is to grow in thyself
And gather roses from thine own flower-bed.
Ages have gone by and my foot is fast in earth:
Dost thou fancy that I am far from my goal?
My being grew and reached the sky,
Thy being vanishes in the ocean,
But on my crest the stars bow their heads.
Mine eye sees the mysteries of heaven,
Mine ear is familiar with angels’ wings.
Since I glowed with the heat of unceasing toil,
I amassed rubies, diamonds, and other gems.
I am stone within, and in the stone is fire:
Water cannot pass over my fire!”
Art thou a drop of water? Do not break at thine own feet,
But endeavour to surge and wrestle with the sea.
Desire the water of a jewel, become a jewel!
Be an ear-drop, adorn a beauty!
Oh, expand thyself! Move swiftly!
Be a cloud that shoots lightning and sheds a flood of rain!
Let the ocean sue for thy storms as a beggar,
Let it complain of the straitness of thy skirts!
Let it deem itself less than a wave
And glide along at thy feet!
FOOTNOTES:
[88] A mysterious bird, of which nothing is known except its name.
[89] Rue-seed is burned for the purpose of fumigation.
[90] “The badge of unbelief”: here the original has zunnár ([Greek: ζωναριον: zônarion]), i.e. the sacred thread worn by Zoroastrians and other non-Muslims.
[91] Ázar, the father of Abraham, was an idolater.
در بنارس برهمندی محترمسر فرو اندر یم بود و عدم
At Benares lived a venerable Brahmin,
Whose head was deep in the ocean of Being and Not-being.
بهره ی وافر ز حکمت داشتیبا خدا جویان ارادت داشتی
He had a large knowledge of philosophy
But was well-disposed to the seekers after God.
ذهن او گیرا و ندرت کوش بودبا ثریا عقل او همدوش بود
His mind was eager to explore new problems,
His intellect moved on a level with the Pleiades;
آشیانش صورت عنقا بلندمهر و مه بر شعله ی فکرش سپند
مدتی مینای او در خون نشستساقی حکمت بجامش می نبست
For a long time he laboured and sweated,
But philosophy brought no wine to his cup.
در ریاض علم و دانش دام چیدچشم دامش طایر معنی ندید
Although he set many a snare in the gardens of learning,
His snares never caught a glimpse of the Ideal bird;
ناخن فکرش بخون آلوده ماندعقده ی بود و عدم نگشوده ماند
And notwithstanding that the nails of his thought were dabbled with blood,
The knot of Being and Not-being remained untied.
آه بر لب شاهد حرمان اوچهره غماز دل حیران او
The sighs on his lips bore witness to his despair,
His countenance told tales of his distraction.
رفت روزی نزد شیخ کاملیآنکه اندر سینه پروردی دلی
One day he visited an excellent Sheikh,
A man who had in his breast a heart of gold.
گوش بر گفتار آن فرزانه دادبر لب خود مهر خاموشی نهاد
The Sheikh laid the seal of silence on his lips
While he lent his ear to the Sage’s discourse.
گفت شیخ ای طائف چرخ بلنداندکی عهد وفا با خاک بند
Then he said: “O wanderer in the lofty sky,
Pledge thyself to be true, for a little, to the earth!
تا شدی آواره ی صحرا و دشتفکر بیباک تو از گردون گذشت
Thou hast lost thy way in wildernesses of speculation,
Thy fearless thought hath passed beyond Heaven.
با زمین در ساز ای گردون نورددر تلاش گوهر انجم مگرد
Be reconciled with earth, O sky-traveller!
Do not wander in quest of the essence of the stars!
من نگویم از بتان بیزار شوکافری شایسته ی زنار شو
I do not bid thee abandon thine idols.
ای امانت دار تهذیب کهنپشت پا بر مسلک آبا مزن
O inheritor of ancient culture,
Turn not thy back on the path thy fathers trod!
گر ز جمعیت حیات ملت استکفر هم سرمایه ی جمعیت است
If a people’s life is derived from unity,
Unbelief too is a source of unity.
تو که هم در کافری کامل نه ئیدر خور طوف حریم دل نه ئی
Thou that art not even a perfect infidel
Art unfit to worship at the shrine of the spirit.
مانده ایم از جاده ی تسلیم دورتو ز آزر من ز ابراهیم دور
We both are far astray from the road of devotion:
Thou art far from Ázar, and I from Abraham.[91]
قیس ما سودائی محمل نشددر جنون عاشقی کامل نشد
Our Majnún hath not fallen into melancholy for his Lailá’s sake:
He hath not become perfect in the madness of love.
مرد چون شمع خودی اندر وجوداز خیال آسمان پیما چه سود
When the lamp of Self expires,
What is the use of heaven-surveying imagination?”
آب زد در دامن کهسار چنگگفت روزی با هماله رود گنگ
Once on a time, laying hold of the skirt of the mountain,
Ganges said to Himalaya:
ای ز صبح آفرینش یخ بدوشپیکرت از رودها زنار پوش
“O thou mantled in snow since the morn of creation,
Thou whose form is girdled with streams,
حق ترا با آسمان همراز ساختپات محروم خرام ناز ساخت
God made thee a partner in the secrets of heaven,
But deprived thy foot of graceful gait.
طاقت رفتار از پایت ربوداین وقار و رفعت و تمکین چه سود
He took away from thee the power to walk:
What avails this sublimity and stateliness?
زندگانی از خرام پیهم استبرگ و ساز هستی موج از رم است
Life springs from perpetual movement:
Motion constitutes the wave’s whole existence.”
کوه چون این طعنه از دریا شنیدهم چو بحر آتش از کین بر دمید
When the mountain heard this taunt from the river,
He puffed angrily like a sea of fire,
گفت ای پهنای تو آئینه امچون تو صد دریا درون سینه ام
And answered: “Thy wide waters are my looking-glass;
Within my bosom are a hundred rivers like thee.
این خرام ناز سامان فناستهر که از خود رفت شایان فناست
This graceful gait of thine is an instrument of death:
Whoso goeth from Self is meet to die.
از مقام خود نداری آگهیبر زیان خویش نازی ابلهی
Thou hast no knowledge of thine own case,
Thou exultest in thy misfortune: thou art a fool!
ای ز بطن چرخ گردان زاده ئیاز تو بهتر ساحل افتاده ئی
O born of the womb of the revolving sphere,
A fallen-in bank is better than thou!
هستی خود نذر قلزم ساختیپیش رهزن نقد جان انداختی
Thou hast made thine existence an offering to the ocean,
Thou hast thrown the rich purse of thy life to the highwayman.
همچو گل در گلستان خوددار شوبهر نشر بو پی گلچین مرو
Be self-contained like the rose in the garden,
Do not go to the florist in order to smell sweet!
زندگی بر جای خود بالیدن استاز خیابان خودی گل چیدن است
To live is to grow in thyself
And gather roses from thine own flower-bed.
قرنها بگذشت و من پا در گلمتو گمان داری که دور از منزلم
Ages have gone by and my foot is fast in earth:
Dost thou fancy that I am far from my goal?
هستیم بالید و تا گردون رسیدزیر دامانم ثریا آرمید
هستی تو بی نشان در قلزم استذروه ی من سجده گاه انجم است
Thy being vanishes in the ocean,
But on my crest the stars bow their heads.
چشم من بینای اسرار فلکآشنا گوشم ز پرواز ملک
Mine eye sees the mysteries of heaven,
Mine ear is familiar with angels’ wings.
تا ز سوز سعی پیهم سوختملعل و الماس و گهر اندوختم
Since I glowed with the heat of unceasing toil,
I amassed rubies, diamonds, and other gems.
«در درونم سنگ و اندر سنگ نارآب را بر نار من نبود گذار»
I am stone within, and in the stone is fire:
Water cannot pass over my fire!”
قطره ئی؟ خود را بپای خود مریزدر تلاطم کوش و با قلزم ستیز
Art thou a drop of water? Do not break at thine own feet,
But endeavour to surge and wrestle with the sea.
آب گوهر خواه و گوهر ریزه شوبهر گوش شاهدی آویزه شو
Desire the water of a jewel, become a jewel!
Be an ear-drop, adorn a beauty!
یا خود افزا شو سبک رفتار شوابر برق انداز و دریا بار شو
Oh, expand thyself! Move swiftly!
Be a cloud that shoots lightning and sheds a flood of rain!
از تو قلزم گدیه ی طوفان کندشکوه ها از تنگی دامان کند
Let the ocean sue for thy storms as a beggar,
Let it complain of the straitness of thy skirts!
کمتر از موجی شمارد خویش راپیش پای تو گذارد خویش را
Let it deem itself less than a wave
And glide along at thy feet!
FOOTNOTES:
[88] A mysterious bird, of which nothing is known except its name.
[89] Rue-seed is burned for the purpose of fumigation.
[90] “The badge of unbelief”: here the original has zunnár ([Greek: ζωναριον: zônarion]), i.e. the sacred thread worn by Zoroastrians and other non-Muslims.
[91] Ázar, the father of Abraham, was an idolater.
Persian text from Ganjoor · 44 bayts