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 poem۷ / ۱۲