The idea of the origin of knowledge from Arabia has been presented by Pakistani poet Mohamed Iqbal again and again. In a long poem entitled A Traveller (Masnawi Musafir published 1934), he presented this thought while addressing Zahir Shah. (October 15, 1914, July 23, 2007) as follows: “When the Arabs spread their influence on Europe, they provided a new basis to knowledge. The crop of modern knowledge which was sowed by these desert dwellers was harvested by the Europeans. The sweetheart of knowledge is yours. So get it back from the Europe.” “This fairy sprang from the glass of our ancestors; win her again because she hailed from our Caucasia.” Iqbal also presented this idea in his famous English lectures captioned The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. He has authenticated this opinion with the help of Robert Briffault's book The Making of Humanity. Robert Briffault has accepted the fact that modern knowledge was brought to Europe by the Arabs. Iqbal also declared that the experimental method of knowledge was also introduced by Islam. Roger Bacon and others have also made references to the Arab contributions in this regard in their research works. Due to these qualities, Iqbal idealises the historical position of the Arabs. His poetry is full of gratitude and praise for the Arab civilisation and the Arabic language. Iqbal's first poetic collection Israr-e- Khudi was in the Persian language. Later on, he also included Ramooz-e- Bekhudi in it and the collection was renamed as Asraar-o-Ramooz. Israr-e-Khudi was first published on September 12, 1915. Ramooz-e-Bekhudi was published on April 10, 1918. Both these collections were published as one book for the first time in 1923. Iqbal's first Urdu collection is bang-e-dara which came out on September 3, 1924. If we look at the books from this sequence of time, we should first see the picture of Arabia in Asraar-o-Ramooz. Israr-e-Khudi is a philosophical masnavi in which he has stressed purity of thought for the Muslims. He believes that for the purity of thought it is imperative to turn towards Arabia. “It behooves thee to meditate well concerning literature, It behooves thee to go back to Arabia: Thou must needs give thine heart to the Salma of Araby, That the morn of the Hijaz may blossom from the night of Kurdistan.” In this verse he is, in fact, stressing upon the need to study the Arabic language, literature and civilisation. He wants to change night of Kurdistan into the dawn of Hijaz. At this point he himself has added a note that “the second line refers to a saying of Sheikh Hissam ul Haq Ziauddin”. “That when I slept I was a Kurd, but when I woke up, I had become an Arab. So, if you adopt the Arab culture you would acquire the Arab qualities despite being a non-Arab.” While elaborating the significance of the Arab culture and civilisation, he says: “You have revelled in luxury outside Arabia for a long time. Now come and face the hardship of desert. Get familiar with the hot sand and have a plunge in the brook of Arabia (Zamzam).” And seen the springtide of India and Iran: Now taste a little of the heat of the desert, Drink the old wine of the date! Lay thine head for once on its hot breast. Yield thy body awhile to its scorching wind! For a long time thou hast turned about on a bed of silk: Now accustom thyself to rough cotton! Now throw thyself on the burning sand. And plunge in to the fountain of Zamzam! The reader can fully enjoy these verses if he has the taste of the diction. Poetic delicacy, use of symbolism and display of a rich expression which is found everywhere in these lines. Let us look at Bang-e-Dara (Iqbal's first collection of Urdu Poetry) with reference to Arabic language and civilisation: Iqbal's love and gratitude for the Arabs, the Arabic language and the Arab civilisation starts from the second part of Bang-e-Dara. It includes his poetry from 1905 to 1908. The first poem in this regard is the one in which he addresses the students of the Aligarh college. He tells them that the development of Arabia depends upon allegiance to the Harram, as its status and system is different from the rest of the world. In a poetic message to his friend Abdul Qadir, Iqbal openly expresses his desire to fall in love with Su'ada and Sulaema (these are two sweethearts in the Arabic literature). We must tell the world about their beauty i.e., beauty and richness of the Arab civilisation. At the same time, he laments that the Arab world which was supposed to lead us is no more in this position and it is our responsibility to put a new hope in it. When he passes by the island of Sicily while travelling through Europe, he becomes extremely melancholic. It reminds him of the great period of the Arab rule in Spain, its splendour and grandeur. This mood has been expressed in his poem “Saqeela”. Iqbal becomes very sad and longs for the revival of that period. This reflects his great association and love for the Arab civilisation. So intense was the emotional attachment that he was made to write a gloomy poem “Saqalliya” on the Arab empire. In another poem entitled March 1907, Iqbal foresees that the promise of nature for the success and rise of the desert dwellers of Arabia will definitely be fulfilled one day. The Arab lion will regain its past glory and power. However, while making this prophesy he becomes sad as this lion of Arabia is still sleeping. However, he is, at the same time, hopeful of a new dawn. (This is the second in a six-article series.) Amir is a regular contributor to The Egyptian Gazette He is the author of 28 books included three anthologies of his poetry and has a PhD in Oriental literature. He is a visiting professor in Urdu & Pakistan Studies at Al-Azhar University, Cairo. [email protected]
