گل رنگیں

سو زبانوں پر بھی خاموشی تجھے منظور ہےراز وہ کیا ہے ترے سینے میں جو مستور ہے

English translation

In spite of innumerable tongues* you have chosen silence. What is the secret which is concealed in your bosom?
* This alludes to the anatomy of the rose flower, whose petals are innumerable, look like tongues and also add to its beauty, which proclaims the artistry of its Creator in spite of the apparent silence of the flower.

Translated by Dr M.A.K. Khalil

Word meanings

مستور: چھپا ہوا۔

About this couplet

This is couplet 7 of 12 in “⁨گل رنگیں⁩” (The Colorful Rose) in the section Part 1 -- Before 1905, from Allama Muhammad Iqbal's Urdu book Bang-e-Dara (⁨بانگِ درا⁩), published in 1924.

Read it in the poem

۷ / ۱۲