فنون لطیفہ
جس سے دل دریا متلاطم نہیں ہوتااے قطرئہ نیساں وہ صدف کیا، وہ گہر کیا
English translation
O vernal drop, what is the worth of mother-shell and such pearl, if truth can not defeat untruth and river does not swell and swirl?
Translated by Syed Akbar Ali Shah
Word meanings
متلاطم: موجیں مارنے والا۔
About this couplet
This is couplet 3 of 5 in “فنون لطیفہ” (Fine Arts) in the section Literature and Fine Arts, from Allama Muhammad Iqbal's Urdu book Zarb-e-Kalim (ضربِ کلیم), published in 1936.
Read it in the poem۳ / ۵