خضرراہ
ہوگئی رسوا زمانے میں کلاہ لالہ رنگجو سراپا ناز تھے، ہیں آج مجبور نیاز
English translation
The red cap* has become disgraced in the world! Those who were formerly proud are in need of others!
* This refers to the Turkish cap which was red in colour and had a black frill. It was used as a national cap by Muslims in greater part of the world. It lasted till the beginning of World War II.)
Translated by Dr M.A.K. Khalil
Word meanings
کلاہ لالہ رنگ: سرخ ٹوپی، ترکی ٹوپی۔
About this couplet
This is couplet 65 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 poem۶۵ / ۸۵