خضرراہ
ہے وہی ساز کہن مغرب کا جمہوری نظامجس کے پردوں میں نہیں غیر از نوائے قیصری
English translation
The Western democratic system is the same old orchestra in whose frets is nothing different from the Qaisar’s tune.
(Qaiser’s tune: Reference to the imperialism of the Roman Empire which is famous for its atrocities.)
Translated by Dr M.A.K. Khalil
Word meanings
نوائے قیصری: شہنشاہ کی صدا۔
About this couplet
This is couplet 44 of 85 in “خضرراہ” (The Traveler’s Guide) in the section Poems of Period - 1908-30, from Allama Muhammad Iqbal's Urdu book Bang-e-Dara (بانگِ درا), published in 1924.
Read it in the poem۴۴ / ۸۵