''What Should Then Be Done O People of the East; Traveller'' (; ) was a philosophical poetry book in Persian of

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 ...

, a poet-philosopher of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. It was published in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. A translation, commentary and literary appreciation in Urdu by Elahi Bakhsh Akhtar Awan was published by University Book Agency Khyber Bazar, Peshawar, Pakistan in 1960. The book includes the mathnavi Musafir. Iqbal's

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...

, the master, utters this glad tiding "East awakes from its slumbers" (''Khwab-i ghaflat''). Inspiring detailed commentary on voluntary poverty and free man, followed by an exposition of the mysteries of Islamic laws and Sufic perceptions is given. He laments the dissention among the

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

ns as well as Muslim nations. The book is an account of a journey to Afghanistan. In the Mathnavi, the people of the Sob'ha Sarhat region (

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

) are counseled to learn the "secret of Islam" and to "build up the

self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

" within themselves because they are a great righteous people. The title has also been translated as ''What Then Is to Be Done, O Nations of the East''.

Topics

; Preface * Introduction * Address to the World-illuminating Sun * The Wisdom of

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

* The Wisdom of the

Pharaohs Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty () until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic in 30 BCE. However, ...

* There is No Deity Except

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

Faqr Maqām ( "station"; plural ''maqāmāt'') refers to each stage a Sufi's soul must attain in its search for God.Gardet, L. "Ḥāl." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; , Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; , E. van Donzel; a ...

* The Free Man * The Essence of the

Shari'ah Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

* Lament on the Differences Among

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

* Present-day

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

* A Few Words to the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

People * What Should Then Be Done, O People of the East? * To the

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

* Dedication

; The Traveller * Prelude * Address to People of the

Frontier A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...

* The Traveller enters Kabul and visits the Mausoleum of the late Martyr King * At the Tomb of the heaven Resting

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

* Visiting

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

and offering Reverence to Hakim Sanai * Sanai's Spirit Speaks from Heaven * At the Tomb of Sultan

Mahmud Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Given name Mahmood * Mahmood Ali (1928 ...

* Supplication of Frenzied One * Seeing Prophet's Garb at Qandhar. * The Chant * At the Mausoleum of Hadrat

Ahmad Shah Baba Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (; ; – 4 June 1772), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the first ruler and founder of the Durrani Empire. He is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan. Throughout his reign, Ahmad Shah fought ov ...

, Founder of the Afghan Nation * Talk with the King of Islam

Zahir Shah Mohammad Zāhir Shāh (15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last King of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Ruling for 40 years, Zahir Shah was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan since t ...

References

External links

;Read online * * * * ;Iqbal Academy, Pakistan * ;Iqbal Cyber Library * 1936 poetry books Poems in Persian Islamic philosophical poetry books Poetry by Muhammad Iqbal Poetry collections {{islam-book-stub

Topics

See also

References

External links