Iqbal's love for Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Though Iqbal, our great poet and philosopher, had striven earnestly to reconcile pure Islamic thought with the modern Western scientific thinking, the allegations laid upon him by some for being an advocate of liberal and secular ideals are false. The fact that Iqbal's philosophical journey returned him to spiritual Islam proves that he was at heart nothing but a humbled Muslim in love with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the God that Muhammad (PBUH) talked of.

Sadly, there is a sector in the society that finds mirth in the character assassination of the poet-philosopher, a sector that strives to mar a national symbol. This attitude bears a negativity that aims to blur the lines between good and bad, make everything relative and snatch away absolute belief from the society. This commentary of a poem from Asrar e Khudi is meant to reestablish the absoluteness of faith in the thought of Iqbal.

It seems that on one side of his experience, Iqbal has tried to rationalise intuitive realities within the diction of the sciences and philosophy of his time. But on the other side, in his Urdu and Persian poetic work, he takes the full liberty of expressing unquestioning and unbounded love for the ragged Prince of Medina, the dusty tracks he treaded upon, and his excellent, non-duplicable exemplar of being the beholder of the deepest meaning of khudi.

The poem titled 'showing that the Self is strengthened by Love', explains how Love is the basic driving force that empowers and cultures man and takes him from his frail position in the Universe, to a point where he becomes the centre of attention for everything in the Universe. The poem focuses on the love of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the essence of true love, and that in this love is hidden the possibility for our weak undirected egos, to find the clues that could connect them with the Ultimate Ego.

This love has the ability to integrate man with the hidden secrets of the universe and beyond. Saving him from tumbling upon the inconceivability faced by mere sense-data, it enables him to grab the very essence of creation. The love of this Finest Man (PBUH) who possessed the ultimate khudi is what opens the possibilities, for common people like you and me, of breaking through into worlds beyond matter. Reynold Nicholson has translated the poem, it says:

'By love of him the heart is made strong

And earth rubs shoulders with the Pleiades

The soil of Najd was quickened by his grace

And...