35. NALA-E-FIRAQ ( LAMENT OF SEPARATION ) (In Memory of Arnold)


Introduction


This short poem is the outburst of affection and reverence which Allama Iqbal had for his teacher and mentor, Sir Thomas Arnold. He was an intellectual and eminent orientalist of his time. Among the five eminent faculty members of the Universities of Cambridge and London mentioned by Sir Abd al- Qadir in his preface to Bang-i-Dara Sir Thomas Arnold exerted the greatest influence on the education of Allama Iqb"l and in molding his thought and actions. Arnold started his academic career in India in 1888 as Professor of Philosophy at the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental Collage, Aligarh. Here he did invaluable work for Muslim education in addition to teaching and was himself very much influenced by his association with the luminaries of the time like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Maulana Khwajah Alèaf Husain £ali and Maulana Shibli Nomani. On the death of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in 1898 Arnold move to Government College, Lahore as Professor of Philosophy. Allama Iqbal came in contact with him here when he was working for his B.A. and M.A. degrees. Arnold's interests were many, among which religion, art and oriential philosophy were very prominent. Though he was not a Muslim his love and respect for Islam is evidenced by the fact that he used to lecture on Islam in Islamic dress. After his return to England in 1904 he worked in the India Office Library (1904-21), Lecturer in Arabic at the University College, London, and Chairman, Department of Arabic at the precursor of the present School of Oriental and African Studies, London (1904-30).

Translation


O house! Your resident is now residing in the West
Ah! The land of the East was not liked by him
Today my heart is convinced of this truth
The light of the separation's day is darker than night
"As from his departure's breast the scar is picked up
Sight is asleep in my eyes like the extinguished candle"
I am fond of seclusion, I hate the habitation
I run away from the city in excruciation of love
I make the heart restless from the olden days'  memory
For satisfaction I come ardently running towards you
Though the eye is familiar with your nook and corner
Still some strangeness is apparent from my speed
My heart's speck was just to be acquainted with the sun
The broken mirror was just to expand into the universe 1
The tree of my longings was just going to green up
Ah ! what does any one know what I was going to be!
Mercy's cloud gathered up its skirt from my garden and departed
Rained a little over the flower buds of my desires and departed 2
Where are you! O Kalim of the  pinnacle Sina of learning!
Your breath was the breeze promoting the joy of learning
Gone is that zeal for walking in the vast expanse of learning!
In my intellect also you were the inspirer of love of learning
"Where is Lailah's fervor, so as to decorate Love again
May make the dust of Majnun mixed with wilderness again 3
The wilderness of solitude will open the fate's knot
I shall reach you after breaking the chains of the Punjab
The bewildered eye looks upon your picture
But how can one searching for speech be happy?
"No power to speak the picture's mouth has
Silence is the speech which the picture has"

Expanatory Notes

1. This is based on the concept of "Waédat al-Wojood" that the whole universe is made of the same material, so that the speck of dust and the sun are really the same substance. This verse is full of mystic meanings. The first hemistich means that the Allama's Intellect was about to comprehend the reality of the universe. The second hemistich means that the broken mirror i.e. his incompletely trained Intellect was going to be perfected under Arnold's supervision to be able to understand the nature of all things. All this was interrupted by the Arnold's departure for England.
2. This refers to the relatively short time for which Allama Iqbal could be associated with Sir Thomas Arnold at the Government College, Lahore.
3. This refers to the story of Lailah and Majnon.