تمہید

جز تو اے دانای اسرار فرنگکس نکو ننشست در نار فرنگ

English translation

No one, O knower of the secrets of the West, has experienced the fire of the West better than thee.
(Fire of the West: Reference is to the fire into which Abraham was cast by his enemies. It is said that Abraham came out of this fire unscathed and better equipped to face the challenge of his enemies.)

Translated by Jamil Naqvi

Urdu translation

اے دانائے اسرار فرنگ ! تیرے بغیر اور کوئی (غلام) یورپ کی آگ میں بیٹھ کر سلامت باہر نہیں آیا ۔

About this couplet

This is couplet 7 of 34 in “⁨تمہید⁩” (Preamble), from Allama Muhammad Iqbal's Persian book Pas Chih Bayad Kard (⁨پس چہ بائد کرد اے اقوامِ شرق⁩), published in 1936.

Read it in the poem

۷ / ۳۴