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Awaken the Desire

I put on an old CD of Junoon last week while I was driving home and heard their famous "Saqi-Nama" by Iqbal. Came across this beautiful verse...

"Jigar Say Wohi Teer Phir Paar Kar... Tamanna ko Seenon mein Bedaar kar..."


Translation & My Two Cents

To make it word-to-word, this is what it means. Send that arrow through the liver and awaken the desire in your chests...

Its basically one of those powerful verses by Allama Iqbal trying to wake up the people of the subcontinent in his times before independence of India & Pakistan. He is known for such famous verses which charged up people in those times.

Bring up that desire in your hearts. Where is that will? Where is that drive? You can only reach what you want if you desire it to the highest level possible.

I think this is one of the most motivational piece of writing I have read or heard in the longest of times. Its emotionally charged up. Find that energy, that height of emotion which you can get if an arrow is passed through your body. Find that desire to reach the most highest of goals.

Its the appropriate time somehow to find something of the sort as everyone is trying to find something or the other within themselves to keep motivated. To find something to look forward to. To keep going on.

1 comment:

  1. I have heard that one before and I do like it quite a bit. It's such a pity that the band-members seem to have gone their own separate ways.

    What can I say about Iqbal as a poet? There never could be enough words of praise.

    My personal favourite couplet of his is:

    "NahiN tera nash-e-mann qasr-e-sultani ke gumbad par
    Tu shaaheeN hai, basera kar pahaaRoN ki chattaanoN par
    "

    BTW, your literal translation had me in splits. :D

    I mean I know that jigar is liver in English, but I think there has to be another equivalent that conveys the sentiment rather than the literal meaning, even though I don't quite know the right word myself.

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