WE CIRCUMAMBULATE THE WINE‑CUP LIKE THE WINE'S  REFLECTION

Translation
We circumambulate the wine‑cup like the wine's  reflection
We are offering this prayer from morning till evening ¹

You are not singular in this O Kalâm ²
Trees and stones are also talking with God ³

O Candle! Search for a new world, because here ⁴
We are enduring tyrannies of the incomplete Love

O Companions! Silence in this garden is good
As the melodious ones are kept in cages here

Those whose purpose is pleasure from wine
Are changing the lawful into the unlawful ⁵

How can you and we reconcile, O preacher
As we are making the custom of Love universal!

O God! What magic is concealed in the saints, clad in rags!
That they subdue the youth with a single glance

I shudder at the pleasures  of  their  assemblies
Who are getting fame by destroying their homes

May the meadows of the motherland be ever flourishing
We are saluting you from the ship ⁶ sailing away

When those un-accustomed to prayers ⁷ assemble for one, Iqb«l
Calling me back from temple they make me their Imam ⁸

Explanatory Notes
1. Our daily prayers are only ritual in nature. They resemble circumambulation of the wine‑cup rather that of the wine. Similarly our circumambulation of the Holy Ka'bah does not make us close to God which the Holy Ka'bah represents.

2. Kalâm‑ S. Mës« A.S. for whom see Appendix I, No. 48.

3. Allusion to the verses of the Holy Qur'«n which give this information, e.g. 62:1 and 64:1. This means that the Love of and approach to God is universally present in the nature of all His creation, even in inanimate objects.

4. This and the next verse express the quest for a new world because the world of the Indian sub‑continent was not suitable for expression of the true Love for God, which among other things, includes political freedom, which was anathema to the British Government in India.

5. This verse refers to the two kinds of wine. One is the wine of the Love of God, which is not only lawful but essential for the fulfillment of the potentials of human life. The other one is the ordinary wine which people drink for pleasure, which is not only unlawful, but dulls those potentials.

6. This expresses ‘All«mah Iqb«l's patriotism at the time of his departure from India.

7. The portion in italics refers to the people who are un‑accustomed to prayers for show. This is sarcasm on the ostentatious people who look down upon people who do not show off their piety.

8. Im«m- Leader of the Muslim congregational prayer.