فقر
الامان از گردش نہ آسمانمسجد مومن بدست دیگران
English translation
Seek protection from the revolution of the nine heavens,* that the Muslim’s mosque remains in the hands of others.
* ‘Revolution of nine heavens’ is an idiomatic way of saying ‘vicissitudes of fate’. It is based on ancient belief that man’s fate is determined by the revolutions of the sky and other planets.
Translated by Bashir Ahmad Dar
Urdu translation
نو آسمانوں کی گردش سے اللہ تعالے بچائیں ؛ مومن کی مسجد (زمین) دوسروں کے ہاتھ میں آئی۔
About this couplet
This is couplet 20 of 72 in “فقر” (Asceticism), 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 poem۲۰ / ۷۲