ما ہمہ عبد فرنگ او عبدہاو نگنجد در جہان رنگ و بو

English translation

We are all slaves of the Franks, he is His slave*, he cannot be contained in this world of colour and smell.
* Abduhu, His slave; it is based on the famous Qur’anic verse describing the Prophet’s ascension: ‘Glory to Him Who carried His Servant by night from the Sacred Mosque.’ The Qur’an uses words like ‘abdina, ‘abdan, ‘ibadan, etc., all signifying God’s creatures, as, for instance, xix. 93: ‘There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes to the Beneficent as a servant (‘abdan).’ The ‘abduhu (His slave) is used here by Iqbal in the sense of Perfect Man, especially the Holy Prophet S.A.W.
With regard to the character of the Perfect Man, expressed in this verse, Iqbal says: ‘Maulana Rumi has very beautifully expressed this idea (of man’s absorption of God into himself). The Prophet S.A.W., when a little boy, was once lost in the desert. His nurse Halima was almost beside herself with grief but while roaming the desert in search of the boy she heard a voice saying [Mathnavi, iv, 976]: ‘Do not grieve, he will not be lost to thee; Nay, the whole world will be lost in him.’ The true individual cannot be lost in the world; it is the world that is lost in him.

Translated by Bashir Ahmad Dar

Urdu translation

ہم سب فرنگیوں کے بندے ہیں اور وہ اللہ تعالے کا بندہ ہے (اس لیے) وہ اس جہان رنگ و بو میں نہیں سماتا۔