Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua (), also known as Bachche Ki Dua (), is a '' duʿā'' or prayer, in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

verse written by

Muhammad Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

in 1902. The dua is recited in morning school assemblies almost universally in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and in Urdu-medium schools in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as well. The song has long been sung in the private

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a Selective school, selective all-boys Private school, private boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

, India, in a secular morning assembly ritual. The Imam of the

Jama Masjid, Delhi The Masjid-e-Jehan-Numa, commonly known as the Jama Masjid () of Delhi, is one of the largest Sunni mosques in India. Its builder is the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, between 1644 and 1656, and inaugurated by its first Imam, Syed Abdul Ghafoor ...

, Muhibullah Nadwi, recited it as a boy in an English-medium primary school in India in the 1940s. Even earlier, the prayer was broadcast by

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, a few months after Iqbal's death in 1938. The prayer has also been interpreted by an all-women's American

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

band, Della Mae, which toured Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan in 2012. In October 2019, a headmaster of a government-run primary school in

Pilibhit Pilibhit () is a city and a municipal board in Pilibhit district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Pilibhit is the north-easternmost district of Bareilly division, situated in the Rohilkhand region of the sub- Himalayan Plateau ...

Uttar Pradesh, India Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a state in northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world – more populous than all but four other co ...

, was suspended by the district education authorities following complaints by two

Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...

organizations (

Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to orga ...

and

Bajrang Dal Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was foun ...

) that the song, which was being recited in the school's morning assembly, was a "

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

prayer." Ali was later reinstated but transferred to another school.

Lyrics

References

{{Muhammad Iqbal Poetry by Muhammad Iqbal Pakistani poems Indian poems 1902 poems Institutional songs Poems in Urdu