Commentary on Iqbal's Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa: Part 1

Disclaimer: You will notice that I have used “Allah SWT says” or similar sentence construction in the following text. This must NOT be interpreted as the Word of God which is final and contained in the Holy Quran. This is a literary license I have exercised to present the two poems which would not have the same effect if I changed their intended person/point of view. Both poems are the work of a human being and should be interpreted as such.

The translations are from Khushwant Singh’s version. All errors are my own. Please provide constructive criticism by writing to me at here.

Note: There are three versions of the poem - 1) The original in Urdu/Persian script 2) The Urdu prose transliterated in English (Just click the “Transliteration” dropdown) 3) The English translation.

Introduction

Shikwa (Complaint) and Jawab-e-Shikwa (Answer to the Complaint) are a pair of poems written by Allama Mohammad Iqbal, one of the most excellent and fierce poets, philosophers, and religious thinkers of the 20th century. Born Muhammad Iqbal in Sialkot, British India, such far-reaching is the intellectual and literary contribution of this visionary writer, that he was honoured with the honorific “Allama”, meaning the “Learned”. Moreover, he is referred to as the Shair-e-Mashriq (The Poet of the East) by the Western world as well as the national poet of Pakistan. While Muhammad Ali Jinnah furthers the cause of Pakistan on the political front, Allama Iqbal provided the much-needed religio-political philosophy and the moral impetus which culminated in the creation of Pakistan.

A bit of history

Shikwa was recited by Allama Iqbal at Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam (Association for the Advocacy of Islam) at Islamia College, Lahore in April 1909 ¹. Written from the perspective of a troubled modern Muslim, the poem is a direct complaint to God about the state of the Muslim Ummah (community) in the South Asian subcontinent. The strong language and almost blasphemous content created a stir among the Muslim community. While nobody could question the masterful craft and fine literary contribution of the poem, the orthodox clerics hastened to call Iqbal an infidel due to the content of the poem, while others called him a madman (See here from 12:30).

Iqbal recited Jawab-e-Shikwa (Answer to the Complaint) in 1913 at a political rally at Mochi Gate, Lahore, British India. The poem is spoken from the perspective of God and addresses the Muslim who had complained to Him earlier. Once again, the literary quality of the verse is beyond question, and the content of the poem puts to rest each complaint voiced by the Muslim. When it was published, Jawab-e-Shikwa calmed a lot of the critics of Iqbal.

A bit of analysis

Always referred to together, Shikwa Jawab-e-Shikwa is a powerhouse of modern Islamic thought and even almost 115 years after its publication, reinvigorates the docile and lethargic minds of the inquisitive Muslim who reads it. Shikwa contains 31 stanzas, each containing 6 lines. Jawab-e-Shikwa contains 36 stanzas, each containing 6 lines. The rhyming scheme is AAAABB, and while most of the poems are written in Urdu, some verses are in Persian. Both these poems are published in Iqbal’s anthology Baang-e-Daara (translated as The Call of the Marching Bell). (Source)

Allama Iqbal’s poetry is richly imbued with Islamic elements and has a strong connection to the Islamic beliefs and traditions, for example, the poem about the call to self-realisation, “Khudi ka sirr-e-nihan” (The secret of the self is hidden), and much more. Similarly, both these poems are rich in allusions to prominent Islamic traditions and culture, offering us a gateway to recount the prominent figures and events that led to the rise and proliferation of Islam.

There are many English translations available; this post uses Khuswant Singh’s 1981 translation available here².

The Stages of the Complaint

As Shikwa is written from the perspective of a distressed Muslim who is not a stranger to the gradual degradation of his culture and religion, Iqbal takes care to put the grief and hopelessness of the individual front and center. Shikwa starts off with the Muslim exclaiming that his woes know no limits: “Saaz-e-Khamosh Hain, Faryaad se Mamoor hai Hum” (The lute is silent and we are filled to the brim with our cries for help), hearkens back to the sacrifices and victories of the early Muslims and the glories they brought to the religion of Allah, and finally laments the current state of the same Ummah which has lost its zeal and passion for the love of Allah SWT. The gradual change of tone, in the manner and structure of sentences, the intent, and even the words, from one of utter desperation to resignation and finally to a plea, reflects the way mortals generally complain.

Let us examine the stages of complaint of the mortal and wrongful man in more detail.

Stage 1: Desperation

Shikwa, Stanza 2:

We won renown for submitting to Your will – and it is so;
We speak out now, we are compelled to repeat our tale of woe.
We are like the silent lute whose chords are full of voice;
When grief wells up to our lips, we speak; we have no choice.
Lord God! We are Your faithful servants, for a while with us bear,
It is in our nature to always praise you, a small plaint also hear.

It is evident that the vocabulary is of a higher grade, and the verse is impeccable in mastery and eloquence. The repeated m-sounds of the four words start with meem- م - add a literary flair to this stanza, making it engaging to the reader. The subject matter is delicate as the Muslim is directly addressing God and says that let his pleas and complaints be also listened to, just like his regular prayers. This may be interpreted as indirectly implying that God hasn’t been listening to our complaints and pleas, which is not true, of course.

Stage 2: Arrogance

You tell us who were they who pulled down the gates of Khyber?
Who were they that reduced the city that was the pride of Caesar?
Fake gods that men had made, who did break and shatter?
Who routed infidel armies and destroyed them with bloddy slaughter?
Who put out and made cold the ‘sacred’ flame in Iran?
Who retold the story of the one God, Yazdan?

This is an allusion-rich stanza that elucidates the state of the society before the advent of Islam in a terse, rhetorical manner. References to Khyber, the Jewish stronghold in the Arabian peninsula, the Roman seats of power in the Levant, and the fire god of the Sassanians of the Persian Empire are made to impress upon the reader that all these empires were destroyed to spread the message of Allah SWT and His religion.

Stage 3: Distress and Loss

Finally, man expresses what his mortal, short-sighted mind sees in the world and finds unusual:

Stanza 17:

The travesty of our times is such that the disbelievers get maidens and palaces
While the poor Muslim gets only the promise of the maiden.
(My translation)

Why amongst Muslims is worldy wealth rarely found?
Great is Your power beyond measure, without bound,
If it were Your will, water would bubble forth from the bosom of arid land,
And the traveller lashed by waves of mirages in the sand.
Out lot is strangers’ taunts, ill-repute and penury;
Must disgrace be our lot who gave their lives for You?

Stage 4: Contemplation

Stanza 21

Did we abandon You or Your Arab messanger forsake?
Did we trade in making idols? Did we not idols break?
Did we forsake love because of the anguish with which it’s fought?
Give up the traditions of Salman, forget what Owais Qarani taught?
The flame of Allah’s greatness still in our hearts we nourish.
The life of Bilal the Ethiop remains the model that we cherish.

This is another reference-rich stanza where the poor Muslim laments that they have forsaken the ways taught by the Prophet and the traditions followed by the Sahaba (Companions of the Prophet) and the pious (Owais of Qaran never met the Prophet, but he was very pious and righteous). Bilal, an Abyssinian slave who embraced Islam, and Salman (May God be pleased with him) were two of the most pious early Muslims.

Stage 5: Resignation and Plea

Strangers revel in the garden, beside a stream they are sitting;
Wine goblets in their hands, hearing the cuckoo singing.
Far from the garden, far away from its notes of revelry,
Your lovers sit by themselves awaiting the moment to praise You.
Rekindly in Your moths passion to burn themselves on the flame;
Bid the old lightning strike, brand our breasts with Your name.

The Answers to the Complaint

An Answer to the Arrogance

Shikwa, stanza 13:

We blotted out the smear of falsehood from the pages of history.
We freed mankind from the chains of slavery.
The floors of Your Kaaba with our foreheads we swept.
The Quran you sent us we clasped to our breast.
Even so you accuse us of lack of faith on our part;
If we lacked faith, you did little to win our heart.

The tone is highly accusatory and culminates in a direct accusation against Allah SWT. While there is no need to try to justify the above verses but it only enforces the idea that a grieved mortal human being is quick to accuse others and hasty in taking credit. In Jawab e Shikwa, there is a verse by verse rebuttal to this stanza.

The answer:

Who blotted out the smear of falsehood from the pages of history?
Who freed mankind from the chains of slavery?
The floors of My Kaaba with whose foreheads swept?
Who were they who clasped My Quran to their breasts?
Your forefathers indeed they were; tell us who are you, we pray?
With idle hands you sit awaiting the dawn of a better day.

The eloquence, word choice, and rhetorical style of this stanza make it one of my favourite ones - one I revisit often and ponder much about. Allah SWT reminds man not to be too boastful of the deeds that his hands didn’t perform. He points out that the man of today is “muntazir-e-farda” (waiting for the future) while he is idle and is doing nothing about it. All he does is enumerate the achievements of his forefathers and yet there is minimal semblance between him and his forefathers, both in terms of his efforts and struggles in this world and for the Hereafter. God asks man directly, “The toh aaba vo tumhare hi magar tum kya ho?” (Yes, they were your forefathers, but what are you?)

Where is the Unity Among Muslims Today?

The Muslim is boasting about the manner of prayer when the king and the slave are all equal in the eyes of God. Allah SWT points out that yes, the manners of prayer are intact, but the spirit of the faithful is gone (“Rasm-e-adhaan reh gayi, ruh-e-Bilal na rahi”). Allah SWT is condemning the Muslims who have invented reasons to break themselves into factions, diluting the original message of Islam, and found ways to sow seeds of enmity amongst equal humans.

Shikwa, stanza 11:

In the midst of raging battle if the time came to pray,
Hejazis turned to Mecca, kissed the earth and ceased from fray.
Sultan and slave in single file stood side by side,
Then no servant was nor master, nothing did them divide.
Between serf and lord, needy and rich, difference there was none,
When they appeared in Your court, they came as equals and one.

The answer:

You are one people, you share in common your weal and woe.
Your have one faith, one creed and to one Prophet allegiance owe.
You have one sacred Kaaba, one God and one holy book, the Quran.
Was it so difficult to unite in one community every single Mussalman?
It is factions at one place; divisions into castes at another.
In these times are these the ways to progress and to prosper?

Growing up in a Muslim household, these verses uncover a glaring anomaly I have faced firsthand: the many, many different things that people have invented in the name of Islam. It makes things so complicated for a young outsider seeking to understand the religion which at its core is simple.

The Muslim way is forgotten

There is loud talk that Muslims have disappeared from the earth’s face.
We ask you; did true Muslims exist anywhere in any place?
Your style of living is Christian, your culture that of the Hindu;
A Jew would be ashamed if he saw Muslims such as you.
You are Saiyyads as well as Mirzas, and you are Afghans –
You are all these, but tell us are you also Mussalmans?

In the Muslim community, Saiyyads are held in the highest esteem because it is said that they have descended from the family of the Prophet. Similarly, there are creeds and groups divided on the basis of affluence, region, and even tongue. Allah SWT accuses man of diluting his heritage and adopting things that are not his but what he has found enticing. Allah SWT simply asks, “Tum sabhi kuch ho, batao ki Musalman bhi ho?” (Yes, you are all these factions that you have created, but are you also a Muslim - the one who believes, fears, and obeys Allah SWT just like those early Muslims?)

Where is the truthful believer?

Shikwa, stanza 26:

Impatient and eager are the notes to burst forth from the strings
The mountain of Moses trembles eagerly to be ignited by Your lightning.

The response:

Did you say to Muslims we promise houris only in Paradise?
One’s speech should be polite even if there be reason to criticize.
From time eternal we the Creator made justice our sovereign rule;
To infidels who behaved as Muslims we gave heaven’s gifts as prize.
There is not one amongst you who does to heaven’s gift aspire;
There is no Moses to see Sinai’s celestial fire.

There is a clear and direct answer to the man who is claiming that his love and devotion to his Lord is latent in his bosom waiting to take flight and he is waiting for the mountain of Sinai to be reignited by His Lightning. Context: Mount Sinai is a mountain in the Sinai peninsula in Egypt where Prophet Musa PBUH is said to have directly talked to Allah SWT from a burning bush in an area called the Al-Buqʿah Al-Mubārakah or “The blessed Place”. (Source 1, Quran)

Allah SWT points out that the miracle of Sinai is intact and eternal (that is, He is Eternal), but there is no one as devout as Moses to witness such a miracle again. Fantastic writing, one that forces the mind to pause and ponder.

Your downfall is your own doing

Who abandoned Our Chosen Messenger’s code and its sanctions?
Who made time-serving the measure of your actions?
Whose eyes have been blinded by alien ways and civilisations?
Who have turned their gaze away from their forefather’s traditions?
Your hearts have no passion, your souls are of spirit bereft,
Of Muhammad’s message nothing with you is left.

“Qalb mein soz nahi, ruh mein ehsaas nahi” (Your heart doesn’t have the passion, your soul doesn’t have the spirit). Allah SWT is pointing out that the state the Muslims find themselves in today is a product of their own doing - they have been enchanted and led astray by non-Islamic ways and cultures, their souls lack passion, and they have forgotten the Prophet’s message. Then, what gives them the right to complain?

The Last Stanza of Jawab-e-Shikwa

With reason as your shield, and the sword of love in your hand,
Servant of God! The leadership of the world is at your command.
The cry, “Allah-o-Akbar”, destroys all except God; it is a fire.
If you are true Muslims, your destiny is to grasp what you aspire.
If you break not faith with Muhammad, we shall always be with you;
What is this miserable world? To write the world’s history, pen and table we offer you.

In the last stanza of Jawab-e-Shikwa, Allah SWT is reiterating that all is not lost and if Muslims return back to the ways of the Prophet, have faith in Allah SWT, then the world will surely be at his feet once again (“Ye jahan cheez kya, loh-o-qalam tere hai” - What is this world? The pen of destiny will be yours).

Personal Notes

I was introduced to this great work and, in fact, to the literary world of Allama Iqbal, through a song on Coke Studio - the Shikwa Jawab-e-Shikwa rendition by Fareed Ayaz Abu Muhammad Qawwal and Natasha Baig. Then, I listened to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s rendition, who excels at amplifying the potent message with his magnificent vocal talents. Gradually, my mind, which was so happy drawing on the auditory nectar of this poem, grew curious, and I found myself searching for its meaning. The more meaning I found, the more complete my admiration and respect became for the Allama. This post is a labour of love, and God knows I have hesitated so many times lest I should do injustice to this fine work. Nevertheless, I decided to write about it because:

1. The original text is in advanced Urdu, and it takes a lot of effort for a newcomer to understand it.
2. More and more people should revel in and relish, and more importantly, think about the ideas introduced by Iqbal and what they mean for us.

All mistakes in this post are my own; any merit that you derive is solely the work of Allah SWT.

Conclusion

There are two more sections, “Literary Devices” and “Interpretations and Intent” which I will publish in Part 2. I strongly encourage you to read both the poems! And if you cannot read Urdu, here are a few recitations with English translations.

Jawab-e-Shikwa (The Answer To The Complaint)

References

1. Shikwa

2. Explanation Jawab-e-Shikwa

3. Singh, K. (Trans.) (1983). Shikwa and Jawab-i-Shikwa: Iqbal’s Dialogue with Allah. Oxford University Press.

Footnotes

1. Some sources date it to 1911.
2. The Urdu prose are taken from this scanned PDF. Unfortunately, the scan quality is not very great, hence the poor Urdu text. Apologies!